Ohio Man Sentenced for Threatening Officers Jeffrey A. Hinkle, Jr. Will Serve 30 Months in Federal Prison   ABINGDON, VA (Dec. 4, 2014) — A Crooksville, Ohio man, who threatened to shoot officers of the Lee County, Virginia Sherriff’s Office, was sentenced yesterday in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon. Jeffrey Allen Hinkle, Jr., 31, of Crooksville, Ohio, previously pled guilty to one count of transmitting in interstate commerce a threat to injure another person. At his plea hearing, Hinkle admitted that on May 21, 2014, he called the Lee County, Virginia Sherriff’s Office and threated to “pull-up beside every cruiser . . .with [a] county deputy and shoot the officer in his face” if the Sheriff’s Office did not intervene in a civil dispute Hinkle’s relatives were having with a neighbor in Lee County, Virginia. Yesterday in District Court, Hinkle was sentenced to 30 months of federal incarceration. “United States Attorney Timothy J. Heaphy praised the swift action of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and United States Marshal’s Service in responding to the threat and ensuring that Mr. Hinkle was promptly taken into custody, stating “Those who threaten law enforcement officers will always be vigorously prosecuted by our office.” The investigation of the case was led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation with the assistance of the Lee County, Virginia Sheriff’s Office. The United States Marshals Service led the execution of the arrest warrant in Ohio. Special Assistant United States Attorney Kevin L. Jayne prosecuted the case for the United States.

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