Fort Smith Man Sentenced to 24 Months for Placing Harassing Telephone Calls to Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency Officers

FORT SMITH, AR—Conner Eldridge, United States Attorney for the Western District of Arkansas, announced today that James Mitchell Hicks, age 33 of Fort Smith, Arkansas, was sentenced to 24 months in prison and one year of supervised release for placing harassing telephone calls to officers of the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency. Chief United States District Judge P. K. Holmes, III presided over the sentencing, which took place in federal court in Fort Smith.

According to court records, Hicks was involved in a boating accident on Tims Ford Lake near Lynchburg, Tennessee, on July 31, 2010. The accident was investigated by two Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency officers, and Hicks was charged with boating under the influence. After the accident, Hicks began making telephone calls to the agents who investigated the accident, requesting paperwork pertaining to the accident. The officers directed Hicks to the boating and law enforcement division of their office and were advised by their supervisor not to answer any more of Hicks’s phone calls. Hicks continued to place calls to the officers and left numerous harassing messages over a six-month period. One officer received approximately 52 calls from Hicks.

Hicks was originally charged in an eight-count indictment on April 10, 2012. The United States filed a 13-count superseding indictment on October 11, 2012. On November 1, 2012, Hicks pleaded guilty to count one of the superseding indictment.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency. Assistant United States Attorney Mark Webb prosecuted the case for the United States.