By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support local journalism.
Soldier guilty of threatening judge
Placeholder Image
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal jury in East Tennessee has convicted a soldier of putting on the Internet a video threat against a Knox County judge days before a hearing on child visitation.Jurors on Thursday convicted Army Sgt. Franklin Delano "Dale" Jeffries II of threatening Chancellor Michael W. Moyers.Jeffries was charged with transmitting a threat in interstate commerce because prosecutors said it was in a video he put on the Internet.The conviction carries a maximum possible sentence of five years in prison.Jeffries has been in custody since July. Sentencing is May 9.Defense attorney Ralph Harwell told The Knoxville News Sentinel there will likely be an appeal on grounds of free speech.Prosecutors said the profanity-laced song and monologue included violent references that made it a threat to Moyers.