Ex-Policeman admits Civil-Rights Crimes [View All]

[Judi Lynn]

Ex-Policeman admits Civil-Rights Crimes
By DAVID DISHNEAU
Associated Press Writer

August 8, 2006, 7:55 PM EDT


HAGERSTOWN, Md. -- A former police officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to two civil-rights charges for making anonymous death threats against black school children and Hagerstown's first black city council member.

Jeffrey S. Shifler, 42, entered the pleas in federal court in Baltimore and faces up to 20 years in prison and $500,000 in fines at his Dec. 8 sentencing.

"When a law enforcement officer makes racist threats against government officials and school students, it is a threat to the very fabric of our society," U.S. Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein said.

Shifler was working for the Boonsboro Police Department when he made a series of calls to Hagerstown school officials and threatened to shoot black students, according to court records. The calls prompted several school lockdowns.
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