A former Wilton Manors resident will not face a federal charge for allegedly making online threats against members of the gay community in that city.
Prosecutors filed a document in court Tuesday to drop the charge against 50-year-old Craig Jungwirth, who was alleged to have made a Facebook threat to "exterminate" members of the LGBTQ community. A federal judge approved the request to drop the charges on Wednesday.
The move comes weeks after the federal government admitted the evidence in the case was "weak."
Jungwirth, who now lives in Orlando, has been in jail since September following his arrest for the offense – after prosecutors say he wrote a message saying "none of you deserve to live" and alluded to planning a mass shooting even bigger than the Pulse nightclub incident this June in which 49 people were killed.
He was facing a sentence of 10 to 16 months in jail if convicted of the charges. Jungwirth still will remain in jail, however, on two unrelated charges from the state over separate incidents in Wilton Manors – including failure to pay a food bill at a restaurant in 2014.
News that the charges were dropped had some who live in the area shocked.
"I've got several emails from the community, they're worried this guy is going to be back on the street in our town," resident Nick Berry said.
