Mother-son Duo Convicted of Witness Tampering, Threats-Respectively

A Tennessee woman and her son have pleaded guilty to their respective crimes against a Burnsville woman.

Janice Marie Sherley, 43, mounted a campaign of telephonic harassment and threats against the accuser of her son, 26-year-old Stanley Gerald Sherley, Jr.

Stanley Sherley, Jr. was the subject of two separate felony cases, charging him with third-degree assault against the victim's father in April and making terroristic threats in August, when he allegedly threatened to "stomp (the victim's) head until the white meat comes out.”

After charges against the younger Sherley were filed, calls and harassing text messages against the victim poured in. Police recorded 14 voice-mail messages from the victim’s phone left by Janice Sherley, and took photographs of several text messages, one of which read, “It a shame to be a lowdown snake [expletive] but u haven’t seen lowdown yet I will be joining my son only he will get out not me si I will be bringing your present in person hope u like it.”

Janice Sherley was subsequently charged with first-degree witness tampering, a felony with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $10,000 fine, and stalking, a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $3,000 fine. 

She pleaded guilty to witness tampering on Nov. 27. The charge of stalking was dismissed. She was sentenced to five years of probation and 30 days in the Dakota County Jail, with credit for 30 already served.

On Oct. 24, Stanley Sherley, Jr. pleaded guilty to making terroristic threats and third-degree assault. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.