FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday, July 1, 2024

Contact: Tony Mangan, Communications Director, 605-773-6878

PIERRE, S.D. – South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley announces that a Wagner man has pleaded guilty but mentally ill and has been sentenced for threatening two public officials.

Jason Shields, 40, entered guilty pleas Friday in Charles Mix County Circuit Court to one count of Threatening the Governor and one count of Threatening a Judge. The charges occurred in October 2022. 

Prosecutors had requested that Shields be sentenced to the maximum of 10 years in prison. Shields was sentenced to five years in prison on each count and credit for 614 days already served. All jail time was suspended, and he was placed on probation for four years.

The court based its decision on Senate Bill 70, which was approved by the 2013 South Dakota Legislature, and which determined that a probationary sentence should be presumed for non-violent offenders. Prosecutors argued that Shields was a danger to the community and not entitled to presumptive probation.

“Threatening the Governor and a Judge are serious offenses, and ones that will be prosecuted,” said Attorney General Jackley. “The use of Senate Bill 70 in this manner speaks to the need for the upcoming Legislature to consider changes to the presumptive probation statute.”

The South Dakota Highway Patrol and the Charles Mix County Sheriff’s Office first responded to the threats. The case was handled by the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation (DCI), Wagner Police Department, and Charles Mix County Sheriff’s Office.

Prosecution was handled by the Attorney General’s Office.

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