Mississippi Man Sentenced for Cyberstalking and Sending Interstate Threats to Fresno Business

FRESNO, Calif. — William Lee Robinson, 43, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was sentenced today to three years and 10 months in prison for five counts of sending threatening interstate communications and three counts of cyberstalking, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, Robinson worked at a business in Fresno from June to November in 2017. After the business fired him, Robinson began sending threatening messages to his former supervisor and other coworkers in an attempt to extort money from them. Robinson directed his threats at employees of the company and stated his intent to murder, rape, and commit other violent acts against the recipients and their family members. Robinson made the threats because he wanted the company to pay him between $10,000 and $20,000 to cover the cost of relocating to a different city.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gappa prosecuted the case.