The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that it is seeking felony charges for a man accused of threatening a sheriff’s deputy on Facebook.
JCSO authorities compiled an affidavit which was forwarded Wednesday to Jefferson County prosecutors seeking the formal filing of felony charges against Montrell Wine, 33, of Pine Bluff for first degree terroristic threatening for allegedly posting a message to his Facebook page Oct. 20 that threatened the life of Deputy Sheriff K-9 Handler Courtney Kelley.
JCSO Major and Public Information Officer Lafayette Woods Jr. wrote in a media release that in addition to the contents of the post by Wine being prohibited by Facebook administrators, the post in itself is against the law pursuant to Arkansas Criminal Code Annotated § 5-13-301, which states that 1st degree terroristic threatening is a Class D Felony.
If charged and found guilty, Wine could face up to six years in the Arkansas Department of Correction and a fine of no more than $10,000, according to Woods.
Woods said that this is the first time a law enforcement officer affiliated with the JCSO has been threatened via social media, in this case Facebook.
“We will not turn a blind eye to threats against deputies whether direct or indirect,” Woods said. “We as law enforcement officers take an oath of office at which time we swear to support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Arkansas. In doing so, we have a great sense of responsibility to ensure that our deputes do just that and we have an even greater responsibility as first line supervisors, managers and administrators to ensure the protection of our own personnel when threatened.”