Mobile Men Sentenced for Making Threats to Police Officer

MOBILE, AL - Two Mobile, Alabama, men were sentenced last week after pleading guilty to making online threats to injure an officer of the Mobile Police Department. Jamarcus Manuel, 21, was sentenced to serve twelve months of imprisonment and Justin Gorman, 22, was sentenced to time-served after pleading guilty to Interstate Communication of Threats to Injure. Both men will be subject to three years of supervised release.

According to court documents, in April of 2023 Mobile Police Officers executed a traffic stop on a vehicle in Mobile, Alabama. One of the passengers of the vehicle live-streamed the interaction on Instagram. Manuel and Gorman posted comments on the video threatening to injure the officer conducting the traffic stop.

"Using social media, the internet, or any other communication channel to make threats is unacceptable," said Sean P. Costello, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama. "This is especially true when threats are made to those merely doing their jobs, like the men and women in law enforcement. We take any threat seriously, and will investigate and prosecute the criminals who violate federal laws by doing so."

The Federal Bureau of Investigation investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Kasee S. Heisterhagen prosecuted the case on behalf of the United States.