The jury didn’t buy it.

He admitted on the witness stand, after all, to making hundreds of phone calls leading up to a protective order, coming after the protective order and continuing for the next 15 months. Even though Michael McClellan, 42, of Waterloo denied sending the emails and making the threatening voice mail messages, an Allen Superior Court jury convicted him late Friday of two of three counts of stalking.

He was found guilty of two Class C felonies punishable by up to eight years in prison that accuse the former Allen County resident of putting his ex-girlfriend in fear of being seriously injured, sexually assaulted or killed, as well as violating a protective order. He was acquitted of a third stalking charge, a Class D felony punishable by up to three years that accused McClellan of stalking his ex-girlfriend’s now-husband, stemming from repeated threatening emails McClellan sent him.

Allen Superior Court Judge Fran Gull revoked his bond and ordered him taken into custody until his sentencing March 9.

After four long days inside the Allen County Courthouse, the jury began deliberating the stalking case against McClellan on Friday evening.

Their deliberations began after hearing his explanation as to the hundreds of telephone calls, text messages and emails his ex-girlfriend received during a 15-month period from October 2006 to January 2008.

After the woman broke off what she described as a casual dating relationship in the summer of 2005, she said McClellan reappeared about 11 months later.

Prosecutors alleged McClellan sent threatening emails, made hundreds of phone calls to her, her friends and family and hacked into her email account to distribute personal information and photographs to her business associates, friends and family. McClellan was charged in January 2011.

When he testified Friday afternoon, McClellan admitted that he had called her on many occasions, including times when she had active protective orders in place to prevent him from contacting her.

“Is it possible she didn’t want to talk to you?” Allen County Deputy Prosecutor Christine Neilson asked.

“Actually,” McClellan said, trying to launch into a longer explanation.

“It’s a yes-or-no question,” Neilson said.

“Oh, knowing what I know now, no,” McClellan said.

McClellan did not admit, though, to sending the hundreds of emails, many from email addresses seemingly created for the sole purpose of harassing the woman – itriedireallyreallytried@yahoo.com and moneywontcureit@hushmail.com.

Hushmail, according to testimony, allows people to send untraceable emails.

McClellan claimed he did not have a working computer, or access to one, for much of the time in question. When Neilson asked him how his business website was still functioning, McClellan explained to her that you can still have an operating website without your own personal computer.

Fort Wayne Police Detective Lorrie Bandor explained information found on a flash drive taken from McClellan in February 2007 and copied.

On that drive, which had 80 percent of its content deleted, police found information from Hushmail accounts, as well as a email tracking program that was attached to many of the emails sent to the woman and her friends.

There were also pictures that had been solely the property of the woman, having been in her personal email account only.

Bandor said McClellan confessed to her after his arrest, telling her he was sorry for making the woman’s life miserable.

McClellan denied making such statements to the police. He claimed the emails and computer programs found on the flash drive were ones sent to him, which he saved to use in the protective order hearings before a judge. McClellan said he also did not make the explicit and threatening voice mail message left on the woman’s phone and played for the jury earlier in the week.

He acknowledged the voice on the telephone messages was his but said someone else was making the harassing calls to him as well. When he picked up the phone to yell at whoever it was, that person must have recorded his voice, edited the content and used it in the messages.

rgreen@jg.net