A federal indictment was unsealed on Dec. 26 charging a Warrenton man with threatening the St. Louis office of the NAACP. 

Darryl Jasperling, 62, of Warrenton, was indicted for one count of transmitting threatening communications and one count of interference with federally protected activities. According to the indictment, Jasperling wrote a message on the NAACP’s contact page “in which he used racially charged threats to physically harm the recipients of his message.”

Jasperling “intimidated and interfered with and attempted to intimidate and interfere with” NAACP employees “because of their race and color” and threatened the use of a dangerous weapon, according to the indictment. 

Jasperling faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both prison and a fine for the charge of transmitting threatening communications. He also faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 or both prison and a fine for the charge of interference with federally protected activities. If convicted, a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. 

Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Department’s Civil Right Division, U.S. Attorney Sayler Fleming for the eastern District of Missouri and Special Agent in Charge Ashley Johnson of the FBI St. Louis field office made the announcement. 

The FBI St. Louis Field Office investigated the case. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christine Krug for the eastern District of Missouri and Trial Attorney Taylor Payne of the Civil Rights Division’s Criminal Section are prosecuting the case. 

For more information and resources on the department’s efforts to combat hate crimes, visit www.justice.gov/hatecrimes. 

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.