Massachusetts man sentenced for threatening interracial couple on Facebook

A Massachusetts man with a criminal record of more than 100 different arrests was sentenced Monday for threatening an interracial couple on Facebook Messenger in January 2021 and trying to prevent the couple from reporting the threats, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Acting Massachusetts Joshua S. Levy. in a report.

Stephen DeBerardinis, of Boston and Dedham, was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison followed by three years of supervised release. In March, he pleaded guilty to one count of transmitting in interstate commerce threats to injure a person, one count of tampering with a witness and a victim by intimidation, threats and corrupt persuasion and one count of tampering with a witness and victim by harassment.

The subjects of the harassment, a white woman and a black man, announced their engagement on Facebook in late December 2020. DeBerardinis did not know the couple but was able to view their Facebook pages because they had mutual friends on Facebook, Levy's office said .

On January 6, 2021, DeBerardinis, using his own Facebook account, sent the couple a series of threatening and harassing messages, which included insults. When the couple responded to tell DeBerardinis they planned to report him to law enforcement, he responded with a message saying, “snitches get stung” along with a photo of punches Americans. He also continued to threaten the couple, according to Levy's office.

After the harassment was reported to police and ultimately federal investigators, officials discovered DeBerardinis had an “extensive” criminal record that includes more than 100 arrests over the past 24 years. He had previously been convicted of threats, intimidation, making false reports of a crime, impersonating a police officer and theft, among other crimes, according to Levy's office.

Investigators also found that DeBerardinis threatened a reporter in September 2021 who wrote an unflattering article about a project he was involved in, in which he was seen attempting to punch protesters at a rally, according to the press release. His Facebook account contained several posts of “racially motivated and hate-filled speech” and symbols of white supremacy, Levy’s office said.

During a search of DeBerardinis' home, police found more than 70 knives, 22 brass knuckles, swords, bullets, black gun powder, stun guns, rifles and a number other weapons. Investigators also found photos of weapons on his Facebook page.

In the statement, Levy said DeBerardinis' “horrific and vicious threats…also constituted a general attack on the values ​​of equality and respect upheld by our nation.”

“The toxic mix of racist hatred, threats of violence and the use of social media to amplify vile and violent attitudes poses a corrosive danger to all law-abiding members of our community,” he said. “The nearly eight-year sentence imposed on this defendant should send the message that when you engage in hate crimes, there is a high price to pay. »