A Vandalia man charged with making threats to members of the Vandalia Police Department is seeking new counsel in his case. 30-year old Tad A. Keeling appeared with public defender Bill Starnes for a pre-trial hearing on Tuesday in Fayette County Court. During the appearance, a motion to withdraw from Starnes was allowed by Judge Don Sheafor as Keeling will be hiring private counsel. With the change of counsel, a first appearance of Keeling with the new counsel is now set for May 8 at 9am. Keeling is charged with one count of threatening a public official, as information states Keeling allegedly “knowingly conveyed indirectly to the Vandalia Police Department, public officials a threat, being a video post to Facebook, containing a threat to burn down the homes of police officers employed by the Vandalia Police Department, and the threat was made because of hostility of the defendant toward the status or positions of the officers employed by the Vandalia Police Department.” The count is a Class 3 felony, punishable by two to five years in prison.