A former Idaho State University and Brigham Young University football player has been sentenced to 40 days in jail after a jury found him guilty of domestic battery and harassment, capping a case that included testimony about physical violence during a camping trip and threatening text messages sent to the victim.
District Judge Steven Boyce handed down the sentence against Jonryheem Wolfley-Peoples, a Rigby High School alumnus who once drew attention as a college football prospect and earned a tryout invitation from an NFL franchise. Along with the jail term — with four days credited for time already served — Wolfley-Peoples received two years of supervised probation and was ordered to pay at least $900 in court fines and fees.
Jury Convicts on Three Counts, Acquits on Two Others
Following an April jury trial, Wolfley-Peoples was found guilty of misdemeanor domestic battery without traumatic injury, use of a telecommunications device to harass, and assault. Jurors acquitted him on the more serious charges of felony domestic battery with traumatic injury and aggravated assault.
The underlying incident took place on August 14, 2025, at a campsite located between Davis Butte and Birds Eye Butte in Fremont County. According to testimony, Wolfley-Peoples shoved the victim during the camping trip, causing her to fall backward. She suffered a nosebleed and a blood clot in her left nostril.
Prosecutors also presented text messages, reviewed on September 10, in which Wolfley-Peoples threatened to shoot the victim. Additional messages from June 2025 formed the basis of the harassment conviction.
Bannock County Prosecutor Rocky Wixom described the communications as deeply troubling, saying Wolfley-Peoples was “making threats about putting a bullet between the victim’s eyes in front of (her) kids and just nonstop violence,” and calling the texts “inexcusable and so foul.”
Victim Describes Pattern of Abuse
During sentencing, the victim told the court that the abuse she experienced was not limited to physical incidents. She described a pattern that began with verbal degradation before escalating to physical violence, saying, “The abuse didn’t start with violence. It started with words. I was called names, torn down, and made to feel small.”
She also recounted prior incidents not directly tied to the charged offenses, including being choked while pregnant and struck across the face in front of her son.
A Football Career Marked by Early Promise and Legal Trouble
Wolfley-Peoples had a football background that drew regional and national attention during his playing years. He attended Rigby High School before being recruited to BYU, where he played defensive line in 2013. He transferred to Idaho State University the following year.
His time at ISU ended under difficult circumstances. In 2016, he was suspended from the Bengal football program after being charged with two felony counts of delivering a controlled substance — specifically marijuana. Despite that setback, he received an invitation to the New Orleans Saints rookie minicamp in 2018, though he was not selected in the NFL Draft.
The case now closes a chapter for a player whose athletic career never fully recovered from the 2016 legal issues, and whose post-football years have been marked by continued run-ins with the law. The conviction adds a permanent record of domestic battery and harassment to that history.
Domestic violence cases involving threats and repeated patterns of abuse have drawn increased prosecutorial attention across Southeast Idaho in recent years. Bannock County courts have seen a range of serious criminal cases this summer, including a felony sex charges case involving a minor with a preliminary hearing set for later this month.
What Comes Next
Wolfley-Peoples will serve out the remainder of his 40-day jail sentence, minus the four days already credited, and begin his two-year supervised probation term. Any violations of probation conditions could result in additional jail time. The case was prosecuted in Fremont County, where the offense occurred, though Wolfley-Peoples has ties to the ISU and Bannock County area from his time as a Bengal. No appeal had been announced as of sentencing.