(CNN) A grand jury has indicted the sitting Granville County, North Carolina, sheriff on two felony obstruction of justice charges, alleging the lawman ignored and encouraged a plot to kill one of his deputies, according to court documents.

Sheriff Brindell Wilkins not only knew of the threat to kill the now-former deputy, Joshua Freeman, but he coached a would-be assailant on how to get away with the crime, the indictment handed down Monday alleges.

Sheriff Brindell B. Wilkins, Jr.

"The defendant failed to properly execute his duties because of his personal animosity towards Joshua Freeman, who defendant was told had expressed an intention to publicly disclose to authorities a purported audio recording of the defendant using racially offensive language," says the indictment, which followed a 10-month investigation.

After learning of the recording, the indictment says, Wilkins in August 2014 told a would-be assailant, who is not named, to "take care of it."

The indictment quotes the sheriff as saying, "If you need to take care of something, just take care of something," and "The only way you gonna stop him is kill him."

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