Source: United States Department of Justice News
WASHINGTON –A 19-year-old D.C. resident was sentenced yesterday to 30 months in prison for threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend. He pleaded guilty on December 12, 2022, in front of the Honorable Judge Tonya S.Chutkan.
According to court documents, the defendant was in a relationship with a fellow high-school student which ended in March 2022. Following the end of the relationship, from March 2022 until June 2022, the defendant sent his ex-girlfriend, who was 17-years old at the time, a series of text messages threatening her life. The defendant threatened to kill his ex-girlfriend before killing himself, telling her that if he could not have her, no one would. The defendant also sent sexually explicit videos depicting his ex-girlfriend to her mother, one of her co-workers, and to one of her friends. As a result of the defendant’s threats, the 17-year old’s family obtained a civil protection order against the defendant. Despite this protection order, the defendant continued to attempt to contact the minor victim.
The defendant was arrested in June of 2022, and he has remained in custody ever since. In addition to the prison term, Judge Chutkan ordered three years of supervised release and ordered the defendant to stay away from the victim.
Healthy relationships are important for everyone, especially for teenagers. Healthy relationships are ones where adolescents can safely feel and express respect for themselves and others. More information is available at https://opa.hhs.gov/adolescent-health/healthy-relationships-adolescence. Anyone seeking help can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7283.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, FBI Special Agent in Charge Wayne A. Jacobs, of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal and Cyber Division, and Chief Robert J. Contee, III, of the Metropolitan Police Department commended the work of the FBI agents and MPD detectives. They also expressed appreciation to those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including paralegal specialist Alexis Spencer-Anderson. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorney Janani Iyengar, who investigated and prosecuted the case.