Jonesboro, AR – Jonesboro Right Now – A Hoxie man has been sentenced to prison time following a series of assaults on healthcare workers and a jailer at two different Jonesboro hospitals this past summer.
John Thomas Keiffer, 29, appeared before Circuit Judge Scott Ellington on Nov. 9 and entered negotiated guilty pleas in two separate cases.
Court documents show that Keiffer was sentenced to 18 months in the Arkansas Department of Correction, with credit for 101 days of jail time already served. Following his release, he will serve a 48-month suspended imposition of sentence.
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The charges stem from two separate incidents occurring just over a week apart in July and August.
In the first case, Keiffer pled guilty to a Class D felony charge of aggravated assault upon a healthcare worker. According to a probable cause affidavit, the charge followed a July 23 incident at NEA Baptist hospital where Keiffer became upset during a treatment discussion and spat in a doctor’s face, with the saliva landing in the doctor’s mouth.
A misdemeanor disorderly conduct charge tied to this incident was nolle prossed, or dismissed, as part of the plea agreement.
Keiffer also pled guilty to two Class D felony counts of aggravated assault upon a certified law enforcement officer and aggravated assault upon a healthcare worker for a subsequent incident on Aug. 2.
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In that event, a separate probable cause affidavit detailed that Craighead County deputies responded to the St. Bernards Emergency Department after Keiffer, who was in custody, began yelling and threatening staff after being denied food and water ahead of a scheduled medical procedure.
The affidavit states that while being moved to a private room to contain the disruption, Keiffer intentionally spat on a doctor, two nurses, and a jailer, and attempted to bite staff members as they applied a spit hood.
A related felony charge of first-degree terroristic threatening—stemming from threats Keiffer made to “shoot up the whole hospital,” as quoted in the affidavit—was dismissed as part of the Nov. 9 plea deal, according to the sentencing order.
As part of his sentencing conditions outlined in the court’s probation orders, Keiffer must pay fines and court fees to the Craighead County Sheriff’s Office in $75 monthly installments beginning 90 days after his release from state custody. The orders also strictly prohibit him from making contact with any of the victims involved in either incident.
Additionally, court documents mandate that Keiffer must enroll in and complete a course to obtain his GED, and he must submit to warrantless searches of his person, residence, and vehicles by law enforcement.
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