A man with ties to Warren County, Pa., has been charged after allegedly threatening a Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office deputy.

Layton Love, 46, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with interstate communication of a threat, which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison.

According to the complaint, the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office contacted the FBI regarding threatening text messages sent on May 18, 2026, to the cellular telephone number of a detective with the Sheriff’s Office.

“You and your family are going to die soon!” the text message stated, according to a report from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Buffalo. “I will personally do the job if necessary. Death to the weaponized government means death to the weaponized government literally, (Victim) you are living on borrowed time. The home you own on (REDACTED)… is a legitimate target and will be hit at a time and place of my choosing. Prepare to die, (Victim), and everyone you hold dear. Your terrorist regime will burn.”

Subsequent investigation identified Love as the user of the telephone number the threatening text messages were sent from. On May 21, a New York State arrest warrant was issued, charging Love with making a terroristic threat, and aggravated harassment. Love was located and arrested by the Pennsylvania State Police at his parents’ residence in Eldred, Pa.

Love made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge H. Kenneth Schroeder Jr. and was held pending a detention hearing on June 8.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey E. Intravatola. The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent-in-Charge Brendan Dunford and the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Eric Butler.