A man from Seattle has been sentenced to nine years in prison for dispatching thousands of menacing online messages, USA Today reports. Former privacy consultant Sumit Garg sent death and rape threats to lawyers, police, prosecutors, a former roommate and her romantic partners through dozens of online accounts, prosecutors said. A federal jury found him guilty in March of cyberstalking charges based on investigations by the Secret Service and Seattle Police Department. “The cyberstalking activities of this defendant are unparalleled in this District and indeed nationwide. Through thousands of email and text messages Mr. Garg threatened violence against his victims – including police and prosecutors,” said U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman. Federal cyberstalking lawsuits have increased since 2014 as use of social media platforms and other communication technology grows, but researchers warn the U.S. legal system is ill-equipped to prosecute such crimes.
Seattle police launched its investigation in 2020 when the first victim, a former roommate of Garg, showed evidence of threatening emails she received that included details from her diary about past relationships. The woman, referred to as “Victim-1” in the complaint, appeared at the center of the cyberstalking campaign. Victim-1 and Garg’s wife shared an apartment, and he moved in with them in January 2019. The victim said his behavior changed after that as he began to call her derogatory names, texted sexual messages and had “random outbursts,” court documents said. The woman hastily moved out of their shared apartment after a violent encounter with Garg in June 2019 and sought a temporary domestic violence protection order. Garg used his technological skills to make threats against several others in Victim-1's life, including her boyfriend, the Seattle police detective who investigated the threats, and the attorney who prosecuted Garg for stalking. A federal jury convicted Garg of conspiracy to engage in cyberstalking, three counts of cyberstalking in violation of a criminal order and three counts of cyberstalking.