Mississippi man accused of threatening to kill U.S. Senator Roger Wicker found not guilty; released from being in jail since May 2023

Published 4:25 pm Wednesday, September 11, 2024

A Mississippi man accused of threatening to kill U.S. Senator Roger Wicker, who has been in jail since he was arrested in May 2023, has been found not guilty by a federal jury.

The Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reports that after deliberating for about an hour and a half on Tuesday, the jury—comprising six women and six men—unanimously found William Carl Sappington not guilty of the charge of threatening to injure or kill a U.S. official.

The charge stemmed from a confrontation between Sappington and one of Wicker’s relatives. However, Sappington’s defense attorney, Tom Levidiotis, argued that federal prosecutors failed to establish the credibility of the alleged threat.

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Sappington had been in jail since his arrest in May 2023. Following the two-day trial, he was released from custody. If convicted, Sappington could have faced up to 10 years in federal prison.