Convicted Stalker Attorney Faces Sanction; Has “Better Things To Do”

An attorney convicted of numerous offenses should be disbarred, according to a recommendation by the California State Bar Court Review Department

Between November 2011 and January 2012, respondent engaged in a campaign of threats, harassment and intimidation by sending emails to victims, targeting his wife, his 11-year old daughter, and others with sexual violence and death threats.

After a jury trial, respondent was convicted of violating 20 counts of stalking 11 victims, 9 counts of making criminal threats to 9 victims, 1 count of creating a disruptive presence at an elementary school, 1 count of resisting a peace officer by threat and 1 count of battery on that officer, and 15 counts of violating restraining orders.

In summary, the jury found respondent guilty of 30 felonies and 17 misdemeanors, involving 17 victims, as follows:

Eleven counts of Penal Code section 646.9, subdivision (a) [stalking];

Nine counts of Penal Code section 646.9, subdivision (b) [stalking in violation of restraining order];

Nine counts of Penal Code section 422 [criminal threats];

One count of Penal Code section 69 [resisting officer];

One count of Penal Code section 243, subdivision (b) [battery on officer];

One count of Penal Code section 626.8, subdivision (a) [disruptive school presence]; and

Fifteen counts of Penal Code section 166, subdivision (a)(4) [contempt of court by violating a civil harassment restraining order].

He was sentenced to a seven year prison term in 2013 and released in mid-2016.

After his release from prison, he informed the State Bar

On May 12, 2016, respondent sent an email to the State Bar, stating: “I have no use whatsoever for a legal license, and have better things to do with my time than waste it with the ease referenced in the subject line of this email. Do what you must with regards to the ease, but please do not send me any further communications by any means.”

The Examiner (San Francisco) called him the San Francisco Stalker in a story by Mike Aldax.

A parking ticket became the catalyst for a bizarre stalking case in San Francisco a year and a half ago that had two downtown companies and a Pacific Heights elementary school on edge.

Now the many victims of 28-year-old city resident Anatoly Smolkin can rest easier, according to prosecutors, as the attorney is expected to be locked up after he’s sentenced today on 47 stalking-related counts.

Over a two-month period in 2011, prosecutors said, Smolkin threatened police and stalked several former employers, attorneys and their families, as well as the Town School for Boys on Jackson Street, which he had attended.

The widespread stalking campaign apparently began Oct. 26, 2011, when Smolkin found a parking ticket on his prized Nissan 370Z outside his office at 1 Bush St.

The licensed California attorney thought the building staff was out to get him and tried to make them pay for the ticket. Soon after, he was fired by TinyCo, where he had worked for less than four months, and he started stalking the company’s employees.

“He emails all former co-workers, sends texts, stands outside of the building … for several weeks,” prosecutor Nathan Quigley said, adding that he tried to hack into the company’s network, among other incidents of bizarre behavior.

Eventually, he was slapped with retraining orders, Quigley said. But then Smolkin began stalking another former employer, Evolv On Demand, where he had worked for nine months.

On Dec. 1, 2011, Smolkin reportedly tricked a former co-worker into letting him inside Evolv’s Second Street offices. Once inside, he immediately rushed to his former boss and threw a parking stub at him.

“He clearly believed there was some conspiracy against him,” Quigley said.

Smolkin’s stalking list only grew from there. When he was arrested Dec. 2, Smolkin threatened to kill a police officer. After receiving more restraining orders, he found a new target: his elementary school.

Smolkin began showing up and acting bizarrely at Town School. During a fire drill that brought teachers and students outdoors, Smolkin “flipped them off,” blasted music in his Nissan and began peeling out and doing doughnuts, Quigley said.

In Smolkin’s mind, Quigley said, the school was the “training ground for all the rich people who will run the world.”

Smolkin also reportedly responded to lawsuits against him with lawsuits of his own, and stalked attorneys representing his victims. In one case, he emailed a photo to an attorney of the attorney’s 11-year-old daughter at a swim meet.

Despite representing himself in the stalking case, Smolkin, who also taunted victims on his Facebook page, was convicted on 47 of 53 counts.

The Lowell High School graduate received a law degree at Northwestern University and an electrical engineering degree at UC Berkeley.

Additional reporting from the San Francisco Appeal. (Mike Frisch)