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LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A San Fernando Valley man was sentenced Friday to seven years behind bars for stalking females, including two sisters he threatened with rape and murder by sending them text messages.
Alex Roberts, 27, of Chatsworth, was sentenced to a total of 85 months in federal prison following two separate sentencing hearings in Los Angeles federal court.
He pleaded guilty last year to one count of cyberstalking, and -- in a separate case brought by federal prosecutors in Macon, Georgia, but transferred to Los Angeles -- also pleaded guilty to one count of stalking, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
According to his plea agreement in the Los Angeles case, in July and August 2020, Roberts used text messages and internet communications to place the two victims "in reasonable fear of death and serious bodily injury," and that he intended to cause "substantial emotional distress."
After Roberts was told by the victim and her family that she did not want to communicate with him, he created a listing on Craigslist that offered a room for rent at her home and invited prospective renters to "stop by anytime," according to the indictment filed in Los Angeles federal court.
He also sent anonymous text messages to a friend of the victim that demanded her phone number, threatened to publish nude photographs of the woman and threatened to send someone to rape the victim, court papers show. He also threatened the victim's sister.
Information about a possible motive was not immediately available.
In the Georgia case, Roberts claimed to possess nude images of the 15- year-old victim and threatened to send the images to her parents as "payback" if she did not send additional nude images, according to prosecutors.