Area Man Gets Probation for Threatening Police Chief

WEST UNION, Iowa (AP) — A Northeast Iowa man convicted of threatening to kill a northeast Iowa police chief has been given probation and suspended prison sentences.

33-year-old Joshua Sargent of Fayette was sentenced Wednesday to two to five years of probation that he will begin at a halfway house. His two five-year prison sentences were suspended.

Sargent was released on bond in March after being arrested on burglary charges. Prosecutors say that, moments after his release, Sargent called Fayette Police Chief Richard Pisanti and threated to kill him. Deputies found Sargent a few miles from the jail, carrying a knife.