Lawrenceburg Man Indicted for Online Threats, False Statements, and Illegal Possession of Firearm

LEXINGTON, Ky. – A Lawrenceburg, Ky., man was indicted today for threatening a school shooting, making threats to and intimidating other individuals over social media, illegally possessing a firearm in furtherance of those threats, and related crimes.          

A federal grand jury in Lexington returned an indictment charging 21-year-old Dylan Lee Jarrell with three counts of threatening interstate communications, two counts of cyberstalking, one count of false statements, and one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a crime of violence.          

The indictment alleges that Jarrell used the internet site Reddit, in May 2018, to post a statement that was interpreted as a threat to attack a school and injure its occupants, and that he then lied to an FBI agent to conceal his activities.  According to the indictment, in July and September 2018, Jarrell also used Instagram to make a series of threatening and harassing statements to an individual identified as D.B.  Finally, in October 2018, Jarrell used Facebook to harass and intimidate an individual identified as K.B.  The indictment alleges that Jarrell obtained and possessed an AR-15 rifle in furtherance of his threats to the school and to D.B. 

Robert M. Duncan, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky; James Robert Brown, Jr., Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation; and Richard W. Sanders, Commissioner, Kentucky State Police jointly announced the indictment.

The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Kentucky State Police. The indictment was presented to the grand jury by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew T. Boone. 

A date for Jarrell to appear in court has not yet been scheduled.  He faces up to five years in prison for each threatening interstate communication count, up to five years in prison for each cyberstalking count, up to eight years in prison for the false statements count, and not less than five years in prison for the firearms possession count.  Each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000.  However, any sentence following a conviction would be imposed by the Court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and the federal statutes. 

Any indictment is an accusation only. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.