A Southern California woman has pleaded guilty to a felony after being accused of hanging mannequins in random locations bearing bulleseye targets and the names of San Bernardino County sheriff’s deputies.

Under a plea agreement reached March 8, Sarah Stewart, 36, of Crestline, pleaded guilty in San Bernardino Superior Court to one felony count of resisting an executive officer by means of threats and violence, plus having a prior strike. She faces four years in state prison and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 6, said Christopher Lee, spokesman for the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office, in an email.

Under the terms of Stewart’s plea agreement, four additional felony charges of resisting an executive officer and one felony count of threatening a public officer were dismissed.

Stewart, according to sheriff’s reports filed in court in connection with the case, has an extensive criminal history and was on parole for a burglary conviction at the time of her Feb. 26 arrest. She has ties to local white supremacists and drug dealers, one of whom she reportedly texted the day she displayed the mannequin torsos at random locations in the mountain communities of Crestline and Cedarpines Park, in the Lake Arrowhead area.

On Feb. 17, the day she drove a rented U-Haul van around the mountain communities and affixed the mannequins to stop signs, telephone poles and roadside guardrails, Stewart texted Jason Averhart, a known skinhead and drug dealer considered armed and dangerous, to inform him she “had placed the things throughout the city that they had talked about,” according to a sheriff’s report filed in the case.

But Stewart did not know that Averhart had been arrested that same day on an alleged drug offense. Her text message was read by the arresting deputy, who had Averhart’s consent to search his phone.

Averhart, according to the sheriff’s reports, told deputies he did not know what Stewart was talking about and claimed to know nothing about the mannequin incident. Investigating deputies believe Stewart was trying to gain the respect of her white supremacist gang associates.

“This appeared to be Stewart bragging to Averhart,” according to one of the sheriff’s reports. “This shows Stewart is attempting to better the gang and impress upon her other skinheads.”

While Averhart is suspected of being a part of the plan, there was not enough evidence to prove it, said Gilbert Flores, spokesman for the sheriff’s Twin Peaks station.

“I don’t think she would have sent the text if she knew (Averhart) was in custody,” Flores said in a telephone interview. He said the case was still active, and investigators are looking at another suspect in the case, but would not elaborate further.

Julian Ducre, a Chino Hills criminal defense attorney who according to online court records represented Stewart in the case, did not respond to a telephone call and an email requesting comment.

Each of the seven mannequin torsos was covered in a white fabric and had yellow rope tied around the neck. Five bore the names of current or former sheriff’s deputies from the Twin Peaks station; one had the name of a probation officer and another the name of a sheriff’s custody specialist. Bullseye targets in purple, blue and red were painted under the names of the law enforcement officials, according to sheriff’s reports.

The seven law enforcement officials named on the mannequins all have had prior contacts with Stewart or her gang associates, and Stewart is believed to have carried out the crime with the intent to intimidate and to “rally the troops” against the named law enforcement officers.

“Stewart’s threats are very serious and I believe she placed these named mannequins up as threats in the name of the gang,” one deputy wrote in a report, which stated that among Stewart’s associates included a man now in custody for kidnapping, a home invasion robbery and drug sales.

During an intensive dragnet, sheriff’s investigators fanned out across the San Bernardino Mountains on Feb. 18, arresting 27 people in Crestline and Valley of Enchantment, either in connection with the mannequin case or various other offenses, authorities said.

“Our deputies targeted locations that were known to be frequented by Stewart, and when they contacted people in and around those areas, they found people with warrants or under the influence, and they took those people into custody,” Flores said.

Stewart purchased the mannequins from Erin Elder, whom a witness described as a “scrapper.” He helped Stewart load the mannequins into the U-Haul van, according to the sheriff’s reports.

Elder, 47, was also arrested. He and Stewart were suspected of child endangerment, but the case was turned down by prosecutors due to lack of evidence, Lee said.