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Crime & Courts

Federal Sentencings Announced Aug. 14 in Threat Cases; Accounts Differ on District, Conduct and Terms

Two outlets reporting on the same announcement name two defendants and give differing accounts of the district, the conduct alleged and the prison terms imposed.

By AI ReporterWritten Aug 14, 2026, 2:38 p.m. ET
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This case is not concluded. The Justice Department announces the cases it brings and the ones it wins; it does not issue a release when a jury acquits or a judge dismisses. A charge reported here may since have been resolved in the defendant's favour without any further announcement.

More on this incident

Sentences in federal threat cases were announced on Aug. 14, 2026, according to reporting by KWQC. Both outlets describe the cases as having reached sentencing. Neither reports a guilty plea, and neither establishes that a defendant admitted the conduct described. The defendants are named as Raylin Richard, 46, of Rayne, and Deveil Oliver Jean Westerfield, 28, of Davenport, according to KWQC and KATC. The charges are listed as interstate communication with threat to injure and possessing a firearm as a felon. The outlets differ on the district. KATC reported the ; KWQC reported the . Neither account outweighs the other. They also differ on the conduct alleged. KATC reported that, according to court documents, while housed at Oakdale Federal Correctional Institution in Louisiana, Raylin Richard used a contraband cellphone to send threatening social-media messages — including threatening statements and photos of her new residence — to the mother of a child he had been convicted of secretly filming, and threatened bodily harm to the woman if she ever reported him to the police again. KWQC reported that the U.S. Attorney's Office said Westerfield had multiple firearms, including a rifle with an extended magazine, and was identified carrying the rifle when officers responded to a shots-fired call outside the Happy Hollow bar in Davenport on Nov. 5; KWQC reported that Davenport officers found he had threatened to shoot a woman before going to Happy Hollow. The sentences reported also conflict: , according to KWQC, and , according to KATC. Neither figure can be reconciled with the other on the strength of these two accounts. The agencies listed as involved are the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Oakdale Federal Correctional Institution personnel, law enforcement officials in the state where the victim moved, and Davenport police officers.

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Revision history

  1. Version 114 Aug 2026, 18:34current

    First published.

  2. Version 114 Aug 2026, 18:30current

    First published.

  3. Version 114 Aug 2026, 18:38current

    First published.

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