Vernon Mark Carter (PCSD file photo)
By Patti Weaver
STILLWATER — A 61-year-old man has admitted threatening acts of violence including to kill the sheriff and undersheriff in retaliation for the conduct of the Payne County Sheriff’s Office in an unrelated criminal matter.
Vernon Mark Carter, who was scheduled to have a pre-trial hearing last week before one judge, instead pleaded guilty before another judge on May 23 and was sentenced to five years of probation except 30 days in jail, court records show.
Payne County District Judge Jason Reese ordered Carter to have a substance abuse evaluation, perform any recommended follow-up treatment, take an anger management course, do 40 hours of community service, and have no contact with the Payne County Sheriff’s Office unless he has a true emergency.
Carter must also pay court costs, his incarceration cost, a $500 fine, and $150 to the victims’ compensation fund, as well as provide a DNA sample, as part of a plea agreement with the prosecution approved in court by Judge Reese.
Carter, whose address was listed in court documents as Riviera Beach, Fl., was sought for nearly two months before he was transported from Nodaway, Mo., to the Payne County Jail on Jan. 8, sheriff’s jail records show. He was ordered held without bond on a charge of threatening a terroristic act, which is punishable by up to life in prison.
According to Payne County court records, Carter was not expected to be freed but instead transported to the Oklahoma County Jail where he was wanted for failing to appear in court there on a June 13, 2008, revocation docket on a felony charge of domestic abuse in Oklahoma City in 2001.
In his Payne County case, “Between 11/13/2024, and 11/15/2024, Vernon Mark Carter made multiple phone calls to the Payne County Sheriff’s Office, the Payne County Court Clerk’s Office, and the Payne County Undersheriff,” Sheriff’s Investigator Brandon Myers wrote in an affidavit.
“During these interactions, Mr. Carter expressed frustration regarding his son’s incarceration in the Payne County Jail without bond and no calls returned to him by the Payne County Sheriff. The conversations escalated into threats of violence and intimidation directed at law enforcement and government personnel.
“Vernon Carter was identified through the caller ID, which registered his phone number. He self-identified during various phone calls and provided personal information, including his name, date of birth, and middle name, Mark,” the affidavit said.
According to the sheriff’s investigator, “Vernon Carter has a very lengthy three-state criminal history that includes armed robbery, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, drug offenses, theft, burglary, terroristic threats and harassment,” the affidavit alleged.
