Man Sentenced to Three Years for Cyberstalking After Months of Harassment and Violent Threats to a North Carolina Family

WILMINGTON, N.C. – Timothy Mann, of Brooklyn, New York, was sentenced today to 36 months in prison for two counts of cyberstalking.  Mann, 25, pled guilty to the charge on August 23, 2023.

“Online harassment, threats, and cyberstalking cause immense trauma for victims.  They are also federal crimes,” said U.S. Attorney Michael Easley.  “Those who would try to send heinous death threats through anonymous social media accounts should take note.  The sentences are stiff, and there is no screen time in federal prison.”  

According to court documents and other information presented in court, around May 2021, D.E., a Raleigh NC resident, met and befriended the defendant Timothy Mann through social media online.  Mann, who lived in New York, later moved to North Carolina.  D.E., however, began to distance himself from Mann after Mann’s behavior became erratic, and this resulted in increased hostility.  Mann began contacting and harassing D.E. and D.E.’s mother repeatedly.  Despite their attempts to block and otherwise avoid him, Mann persisted contacting them using dozens of anonymous phone numbers, social media accounts, and email accounts, as well as through messages to other family members. 

Many of these messages were violent and threatening.  For example, in early 2022, Mann commented on an Instagram photo of D.E.’s daughter, stating that Mann hoped the daughter would be present when he “takes out” D.E. “so her last memory is her father getting his brains out.”  In a separate Instagram message to D.E.’s girlfriend, Mann wrote that he knew where she lived, would “handle” her too, was “gonna shoot” her, hoped her “baby dies and [she] bleed[s] out,” and finally that he would “piss on [her] child.”  The same day, Mann sent D.E.’s stepfather a text message photo of a Glock pistol along with the statement that Mann “will not be held accountable” and was not concerned about the police because “after i kill him im going kill myself.”  In March 2022, D.E.’s mother received a message stating that “bullets go threw windows houses and cars im just getting started.”  With the message, Mann attached a photo of the mother’s home.  The harassment continued into the fall.  In an October 2022, message to D.E. and his mother, Mann stated that the mother would have “bullet holes all threw ya body” and that she wouldn’t be able to stay in her home all day.  He added that they better “hope nd pray Raleigh police department gets there fast enough.”  In messages to D.E.’s aunt in November, Mann announced repeatedly that he planned to kill the mother on Christmas Day, that he had “been planning this for a while year,” and that he was “ready to die” if necessary. 

Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II.  The Raleigh Police Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation  investigated the case, which Assistant U.S. Attorney Jake D. Pugh prosecuted.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:23-cr-00014-FL.

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