DeBerardinis’ Facebook messages turned violent once the Massachusetts couple, a white woman and a Black man, warned they’d report him to the police, court documents show. — Bloomberg
A newly engaged couple received threatening and racist messages from a stranger on Facebook shortly after they announced their engagement, according to US federal prosecutors.
Stephen M. DeBerardinis’ messages turned violent once the Massachusetts couple, a white woman and a Black man, warned they’d report him to the police, court documents show.
Now DeBerardinis, a 46-year-old resident of Boston and Dedham, has pleaded guilty in connection with the harassment after he previously entered a plea of not guilty in October 2021, according to court records.
McClatchy News contacted DeBerardinis’ court-appointed defense attorney, Mark W. Shea, for comment March 21 and didn’t receive an immediate response.
Violent threats and a photo of brass knuckles
After the woman shared she was engaged to her fiance on Facebook in late December 2020, she discovered a Facebook Messenger chat from DeBerardinis, according to the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts.
She wasn’t friends with DeBerardinis on Facebook, but he was friends with one of her or her fiance’s friends, prosecutors said. Because of this, he could view the engagement post.
In the first message DeBerardinis sent about the couple’s interracial relationship, he wrote “EWWWWWWWW,” used a racial slur and called the woman “white trash” on Jan. 6, 2021, according to court documents.
More menacing messages followed after the woman’s fiance used her Facebook account to respond to him, an indictment says.
When the couple said they’d report DeBerardinis to police, DeBerardinis threatened to hurt the woman and sent a photo of brass knuckles, according to an indictment.
The photo displayed a large warning: “SNITCHES GET STITCHES,” the indictment shows.
DeBerardinis “renewed his threats of violence” and warned that the woman would be raped and killed after he realised they were searching for information about him online, according to the indictment.
“Read up more on me lol... you will see how me and my crew burn (racial slur) alive...And white (expletive) like you well (sic).... get rape and killed THAN (sic) we cut off body parts and mail them to your family lol,” DeBerardinis wrote within an hour of his first message, the indictment says.
“This will be reported to the cops. I promise you,” the woman’s fiance responded on her account, according to the indictment.
DeBerardinis messaged back, using a racial slur, and then said: “The COPS hahahaha,” the indictment says.
The couple reported him to police as promised, then federal authorities took over the case, according to the indictment.
Possible prison time
On March 20, the attorney’s office announced DeBerardinis pleaded guilty to:
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One count of transmitting in interstate commerce threats to injure a person
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One count of tampering with a witness and victim by intimidation, threats and corrupt persuasion
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One count of tampering with a witness and victim by harassment
“You can’t just threaten people online with racially motivated, violent physical harm and not face repercussions,” Jodi Cohen, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Boston division, said in a statement.
“What Stephen DeBerardinis put this couple through is despicable,” Cohen added.
DeBerardinis was indicted in the case in September 2021, prosecutors said.
A few months later, his fiance wrote a letter to a federal judge, saying he was “suddenly” detained on Sept 29, 2021, and that Sept 28 was the last day he held their newborn baby.
She wrote Bernardinis is a “very sentimental family man” and a “sweet soul” and promised to “keep Stephen home” and “out of trouble” if he could be with his family, the November 2021 letter says.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 10, the attorney’s office said.
For the charge of transmitting in interstate commerce threats to injure a person, DeBerardinis could be sentenced to up to five years in prison, according to prosecutors.
He could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison for the charge of tampering with a witness and victim by intimidation, threats and corrupt persuasion, the attorney’s office said.
Additionally, he could be sentenced to up to three years in prison on the charge of tampering with a witness and victim by harassment, according to prosecutors.
“This case demonstrates that you cannot cowardly hide behind a keyboard and spread bigotry, intimidation and fear,” US Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement. – The Charlotte Observer/Tribune News Service
