CHARLESTON — A Lincoln County man was jailed Tuesday after he allegedly threatened at gunpoint a Secretary of State’s Office investigator and an FBI agent who were continuing their probe into election law violations in the May 2010 primary.

James Metheny, 61, of Midkiff was arrested by FBI Special Agents from the Huntington and Charleston Resident Agencies, along with West Virginia State Police officers out of the Hamlin detachment, at his home following the alleged confrontation.

The warrant, which charges Metheny with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon, was issued by United States Magistrate Judge Mary E. Stanley in Charleston.

The report from the Secretary of State’s office said a Secretary of State investigator and an FBI agent approached Metheny’s home near Midkiff on Tuesday and attempted to question him in connection to the May 2010 primary election. The report said that it was then that Metheny allegedly brandished a handgun and threatened the investigator and the FBI agent.

“This incident clearly shows the seriousness of the crimes involved,” Secretary of State Natalie E. Tennant said in a press release issued Wednesday. “Violations of election law are often not administrative or procedural. The perpetrators are criminals committing criminal acts with malicious intent – and who are sometimes dangerous.”

Neither the Secretary of State investigator nor the FBI agent were injured.

After Metheny was arrested, he was lodged in the South Central Regional Jail. He was expected to appear yesterday morning before Magistrate Judge Stanley.

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To contact Staff Writer Michael Browning, call 304-752-6950, extension 309, or email him at mbrowning@loganbanner.com.