The former deputy with the Mahoning County Sheriff's Department says he'snot guilty of threatening the sheriff and his staff.

Richard Rowe of Campbell appeared in court Tuesday to answer multiple charges of retaliation and aggravated menacing.

Sheriff Jerry Green says Rowe's stepdaughter alerted him that Rowe may be planning to shoot him and three members of his command staff.

That's when the Bureau of Criminal Investigation raided the former deputy's home and found recordings and writings that backed up the stepdaughter's concerns.

In a separate incident, Rowe is also charged with the rape of a woman in December of last year.