A man who prosecutors said became infatuated with and harassed a female patrol officer was sentenced this week for witness tampering and retaliation.

Roy Smith, 30, received 20-year sentences on the cases, which were consolidated, according to a news release from the Rusk County and District Attorney’s Office.

Rusk County and District Attorney Micheal Jimerson said the offenses, third-degree felonies, were enhanced, and 20 years was the maximum sentence possible on each. The sentences will run concurrently.

Jimerson called the situation “very unusual.”

He said everything started in 2009, when Smith was an inmate at the Bradshaw State Jail in Henderson.

At the time, he said Smith developed an infatuation with parole official Krystal McCoy, and began sending her messages.

“The two were never formally introduced, nor did they ever have any direct contact,” a news release reads. “The infatuation continued via vulgar letters and false allegations made by Smith in 2010.”

Jimerson said Smith didn’t know Ms. McCoy’s first name, and began calling various groups of McCoys, including John McCoy, a former Henderson city councilman who happens to have the same name as Ms. McCoy’s father.

“Smith was able to disconnect utilities, discover phone numbers and call with vulgar messages sometimes 20 times a day for ultimately three different, distinct and unrelated McCoy families in Rusk County,” according to a news release.

At one point, Jimerson said Smith told John McCoy, “You better watch your back.”

Jimerson said Smith eventually got Ms. McCoy’s contact information, and told her he would pay her not to testify before a Rusk County grand jury.

According to a news release, Smith on Wednesday was found guilty of the witness tampering and retaliation.

Thad Davidson, who represented Smith, said Smith went into the trial with a criminal history that included three state jail felony convictions, and the Rusk State Mental Hospital found him competent to stand trial.

The state withdrew its plea offers, he said, so Smith’s choices were an open plea or trial.

And in the end, “the jury did its job,” and he fought for his client “105 percent,” Davidson said.

“The evidence in the case was overwhelming. The defendant … did terrible things to more than one victim for several years. He was cautioned, advised (and) told to stop by numerous people, but he never did and finally he was held accountable for his actions,” he said.