PIKEVILLE, Ky. — An inmate who had been incarcerated in Floyd County now faces a new charge for allegedly threatening to kill a federal judge.

Jerome Earl Franklin, 49, of Hopkinsville, was serving a five-year at the Southeast State Correctional Complex in Wheelwright, after being convicted of theft in Todd County. While he was there, court records allege he sent a letter to the federal courthouse in Lexington, saying, “I would personally like to shoot your judge right between the eyes with a .38 special.”

He has now been charged with sending a threatening interstate communication, which could result in a 10-year prison sentence if he is convicted.

State records now show Franklin is now being housed at the Little Sandy Correctional Complex at Sandy Hook. He is scheduled to appear in court in Pikeville Sept. 22.