LEWISBURG, W.Va. (WVDN) – A Lewisburg man with a history of making threats against city officials has been charged again after allegedly leaving multiple harassing and threatening voicemails at Lewisburg City Hall earlier this week.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Greenbrier County Magistrate Court, Michael Joseph Neeley Jr., 54, is accused of making at least seven threatening phone calls between March 4 and March 5. The voicemails received by a city employee escalated to death threats and references to past bomb threats against the municipal government.
The Lewisburg Police Department was assigned to investigate the case after reports of disturbing phone messages were left in a voicemail inbox accessed by city employees. Law enforcement obtained transcripts of the voicemails, in which the caller identified himself as Neeley.
Neeley’s messages allegedly grew increasingly hostile, focusing primarily on former Lewisburg Mayor John Manchester, who is deceased. He also threatened an unnamed city hall secretary, according to the complaint.
In a voicemail left on March 5 at 6:54 p.m., Neeley reportedly stated, “And you, Mrs. Secretary, you’re dead first because you’re the one that will call the cops.”
He went on to say, “If I cannot get law enforcement to do their job, I will do it for them, and I bring the death penalty,” according to the criminal complaint. Investigators noted that Neeley also referenced “taking matters into his own hands” and warned there would be “hell to pay.”
Authorities said this is not the first time Neeley has been involved in making threats against city officials. The complaint notes that during his recent messages, Neeley admitted to previously calling in bomb threats to Lewisburg City Hall on at least three occasions.
Records confirm that Neeley was charged in 2020 for making similar threats, including a bomb threat that led to the evacuation and closure of government offices for an entire day.
Neeley is now facing charges of making threats of terrorist acts, conveying false information about terrorist acts and committing acts of terrorism. If convicted, Neeley faces a fine of no less than $5,000 and no more than $25,000, a prison sentence of one to three years in a state correctional facility or both.
Neeley is being held in Southern Regional Jail with bail set at $25,000.
This is a developing story. More updates will be provided as additional information becomes available.
