Jamaican facing deportation vowed to ‘bash the head’ of federal judge

A federal judge in Columbus has sentenced a Jamaican man being held at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Ga., to 41 months in prison for threatening a federal official.

Chief U.S. District Court Judge Clay Land sentenced Delroy Anthony McLean for threatening to “bash the head” of Judge Sandra Arrington-Dempsey, threatening her husband and repeating the threats outside a courtroom.

A jury heard McLean’s case Oct. 4-5 in Columbus.

McLean, 42, was awaiting deportation at the Lumpkin facility when he made the threats during a hearing there, authorities said.

“Respect for the law and the courts essential to the functioning of our judicial system,” U.S. Attorney Pete Peterman wrote in a news release. “This substantial sentence should make clear that behavior such as that of Mr. McLean will not be tolerated in the Middle District of Georgia.”

McLean is to be deported home to Jamaica after serving his sentence.

This story was originally published February 14, 2017 at 3:31 PM with the headline "Jamaican facing deportation vowed to ‘bash the head’ of federal judge."