A local man charged with threatening his neighbors with a firearm will spend the next four years in jail after entering a plea agreement Wednesday.
James Gregory Keel, appearing before Judge Bart Stanley during Wednesday’s Circuit Court proceedings, entered guilty pleas to four counts of aggravated assault, a Class C felony.
Keel received four concurrent four-year sentences as a Range I offender, as well as a $50 fine for each count plus court costs. He is to have no contact with any of the victims in the case, and his sentences will run consecutively to any other judgements pending against him.
According to arrest warrants filed May 2, 2024, deputies from the Warren County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to an address on Pearsall Rd. where the complainant advised a neighbor, Keel, had pointed a gun at both her and her two minor children from his front porch. The mother reported her children immediately went back into their home, and she called her husband, who arrived at the residence and began searching to see if Keel was still outside. At that point Keel was alleged to have walked toward the husband, pointing a firearm at him, as well.
After his initial arraignment, Keel waived his right to a preliminary hearing in General Sessions court May 28, 2024, opting to have his cases bound over to the Warren County Grand Jury, which returned the four indictments after their August session.
According to state law, the sentencing range for a Range I offender who commits a Class C felony is no more than three years, and no less than six years. Tennessee’s “Truth in Sentencing Act” designates aggravated assault as a crime which necessitates offenders serve at least 85% of their sentence before being eligible for parole.
