FREEHOLD – A Plainfield man has pleaded guilty to harassing a state congressman, Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni said.
Dereal Finklin, 43, is accused of cyber-harassing Congressman Chris Smith.
Finklin entered a guilty plea to one count of fourth-degree cyber harassment in front of Judge Richard W. English Oct. 19.
He’s scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 21.
He made comments on his Facebook page about Smith, including captioning a picture of the Congressman with “dead man walking.”
“Finklin admitted that his purpose in writing the post was to harass the Congressman, and acknowledged his words constituted a threat to cause physical injury or harm to the Congressman,” the prosecutor’s office said. “Under the terms of the plea agreement, the State will recommend a sentence of probation, conditioned upon time served, a mental health evaluation and no further contact with Congressman Smith.”
He was charged on July 28 and housed in the Monmouth County Correctional Facility pending trial. He was indicted by a grand jury of third-degree terroristic threats and fourth-degree cyber harassment.
The case is assigned to Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Martha Nye.
