Former Marine admits to cyberstalking young women in 'sextortion' campaign
05/27/2022 3:46 pm PDT
LOS ANGELES (TCD) -- A 25-year-old man from Torrance recently pleaded guilty to cyberstalking young women in a "sextortion" campaign while he was on active duty in the United States Marine Corps.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Johao Miguel Chavarri, aka Michael Frito, admitted that from May 2019 to February 2021, he "stalked and sent anonymous threatening communications to numerous victims."
Chavarri reportedly contacted victims on social media applications, including Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter, where he would compliment their photos and inquire about a relationship. He allegedly offered to pay victims in exchange for explicit photos or videos.
According to the Attorney’s Office, some of Chavarri’s victims sent over nude, sexually explicit, or compromising photos, and when victims refused, Chavarri would allegedly threaten, harass, and extort victims using multiple online accounts.
Chavarri would reportedly tell victims he would publish sexual photos and videos of the victims onto pornography websites or distribute them to people the victims personally knew. According to the Attorney’s Office, "Chavarri threatened his victims and their friends and family that he would ruin their lives."
On Friday, May 27, the Attorney’s Office announced that Chavarri pleaded guilty to three counts of cyberstalking and is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 15. He will face a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison for each count.
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