A North Carolina sheriff is accused of urging the murder of a former deputy who planned on going public with an audio recording of the sheriff using racist language, prosecutors said.
Granville County Sheriff Brindell Wilkins was indicted by a grand jury Monday on two counts of felony obstruction of justice following a 10-month investigation that involved the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, NBC News reports.
In August 2014, Wilkins was allegedly recorded encouraging someone he knew to "murder" former Deputy Joshua Freeman, according to the indictment.
Freeman planned to disclose to authorities an audio recording of Wilkins using "racially offensive language," the document states. The indictment does not reveal what was on the alleged recording, and Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman did not immediately return NBC News' request for comment.
