Dmitriy V. Sklyarov

MUNCIE -- A self-proclaimed white supremacist and Satan worshiper is now also a convicted felon.
Dmitriy V. Sklyarov, 20, of rural Muncie, has pleaded guilty to battery resulting in bodily injury, a Class D felony, filed after he was accused of biting a 9-year-old boy at least 13 times on the arms and legs last Oct. 8.

Delaware Circuit Court 5 Judge Thomas Cannon Jr. accepted the terms of a plea agreement that called for a one-year jail term and $100 fine.

A charge of neglect of a dependent was dismissed.

At last week's hearing, public defender Steven Bruce said his client was engaged in horseplay with a child left in his care when the boy bit him.

"I bit him back," Sklyarov said.

"Multiple times, correct?" Bruce asked.

"Yes," the defendant responded.

Last week's court session was considerably more low key than a Dec. 1 hearing that saw Sklyarov curse at Cannon's predecessor on the Circuit Court 5 bench, Chris Teagle, also shouting "Heil Hitler!" and "white power" before drawing a 90-day sentence for contempt of court.

The former Wes-Del High School student also wrote Teagle a letter telling the judge he sat on a "throne of lies."

Because he is serving the 90-day contempt sentence, Sklyarov received credit for the 53 days he spent in jail before the Dec. 1 hearing, but will not begin serving the remainder of his one-year sentence until March 1.

Cannon told Sklyarov he was willing to "revisit that contempt" and asked the defendant if he wanted to offer an explanation of his behavior.
"I don't agree with how the court functions, so that's why I disrupted the court," Sklyarov said. Cannon let the 90-day sentence stand.

Sklyarov had introduced himself to Cannon, who became judge Jan. 1, in a Jan. 21 letter that offered "infernal greetings."

"I'm just writing to say hi and to say I hope the whole process of me having to come to court goes through fast so I won't have to keep coming to court over and over again," the defendant wrote.

Discussion at the Dec. 1 hearing had focused at times on the mental competency of Sklyarov, who moved to the U.S. with his mother more than a decade ago from Ukraine in the former Soviet Union.

In his letter to Cannon, Sklyarov wrote he was "more than competent to stand trial," and suggested claims to the contrary were based entirely on his Nazi beliefs and worship of Satan.

"It does not take too much to be considered insane when you are not a brainwashed sheep that believes everything they say on the mass media," he wrote. "Jews and Christians communicate with their God in their places of worship, but when I communicate with my God, I am insane."