SC man who lost lawsuit accused of sending threatening letter to judge, officials say
A South Carolina man is accused of sending a threatening letter after losing a lawsuit, officials say.
Now, 71-year-old Nyah El Dey and his 68-year-old wife, Brenda Rivers, are facing charges associated with attempts to intimidate a judge, the S.C. Law Enforcement Division said Tuesday in a news release.
El Dey is accused of sending a 28-page letter to the 14th Circuit Court in January 2018, according to the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office. In the document, El Dey allegedly demanded the judge in his lawsuit case should “stand the hell down.”
“El Dey was found in Contempt of Court, and a detention order was issued,” authorities wrote Tuesday on Facebook. “Deputies from the Colleton County Sheriff’s Office immediately responded to El Dey’s residence, only to discover that he had fled the area.”
For almost two years after that, El Dey was accused of harassing local public officials.
In March 2018, police say he sent a package to an attorney involved in El Dey’s lawsuit. The attorney got an allergic reaction while opening the parcel, which contained an “unknown irritant,” requiring a hazmat team to respond, according to the sheriff’s office.
Rivers — who officials say was with her husband when he mailed the first package — was allegedly spotted sending another to the Colleton County sheriff the next day, according to his department. She was taken into custody at the time.
The couple is also accused of conspiring to share or sign fake documents that appeared to come from a court, according to state officers.
The two were arrested on Oct. 22 and taken to jail. McClatchy News could not immediately find a contact for the couple or their attorney.
El Dey was charged with conspiracy and intimidation of a court official, records show. Rivers, who was charged with impersonation and conspiracy, has bonded out of jail.
The couple is from Walterboro, roughly 50 miles west of Charleston.
