Missouri Man Indicted for Federal Hate Crime

St. Louis, Mo. (KFMO) - A federal indictment is charging a Missouri man with threatening the St. Louis office of the NAACP.

62-year-old Darryl Jaspering, of Warrenton, was indicted for one count of transmitting threatening communications and one count of interference with federally protected activities.

According to the indictment, Jaspering wrote a message on the NAACP’s contact page “in which he used racially charged threats to physically harm the recipients of his message.” Jaspering, the indictment says, “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.

Jaspering 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.