DUBOIS – A DuBois man has been charged for allegedly making social media threats against former DuBois City Manager John F. “Herm” Suplizio.
Justin M. Heffner, 40, was charged in late August by DuBois-based state police with harassment-communication lewd, threatening, etc. language, a misdemeanor of the third-degree.
Suplizio was federally charged with allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in city funds in November of 2023 following his initial arrest in March of that same year.
State police were assigned this investigation Aug. 8 after a relative of Suplizio discovered the threatening Facebook comments by Heffner on DuBoisLIVE and supplied screenshots to the District Attorney’s office.
Heffner allegedly made a pair of comments Aug. 3 in reference to Suplizio, posting “can someone just take him out,” and “every person in DuBois should get to kick his a** … Street justice.”
State police were able to observe Heffner’s initial comment on DuBoisLIVE itself but did indicate that his second comment (which appeared in the screenshots) had been deleted, according to court documents.
Suplizio was interviewed Aug. 20 at the Shaw Legal Group with Attorney William A. Shaw Jr. present.
Suplizio said he learned of Heffner’s comments from a relative and interpreted them as threats, especially given the July assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump in Butler, Pa.
Suplizio spoke of his fear that Heffner could “shoot up” his home, and how he personally felt the comments were much more serious than simple statements.
State police interviewed Heffner Aug. 25 and he allegedly admitted to having made the threatening comments against Suplizio on Facebook.
Currently Heffner is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing at 10:45 a.m. Friday, Sept. 20 at the DuBois magistrate’s office.