Colorado man gets federal prison time after stalking Texas woman
A Colorado man has been sent to federal prison following his conviction of stalking and threatening a Matagorda County woman with releasing sexually explicit images unless she moved with him across the country.
HOUSTON (KIAH) – A Colorado man has been sent to federal prison following his conviction of stalking and threatening a Matagorda County woman with releasing sexually explicit images unless she moved with him across the country.
Moses Cano, 47, pleaded guilty Sept. 20, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey V. Brown ordered Cano to serve 46 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release.
At the hearing, the court heard how the victim was still emotionally distraught about Cano, has changed how she interacts with others and has moved. Judge Brown heard that the victim chose not to be present at the hearing so not to give Cano the satisfaction of seeing her again.
In handing down the sentence, the court noted Cano, while on supervised release, would not be able to contact the victim directly or indirectly or contact any of her friends or family that he knows based on their relationship.
Cano and the victim dated for a brief amount of time. At the end of that relationship, Cano made threats to her if she did not agree to come to Colorado with him, prosecutors said. The victim refused.
In retaliation, he then sent sexually explicit images of the victim to her place of employment and several of her friends.
At the time of his plea, he admitted he took over her Facebook account and used it to send the images and other messages to her contacts, prosecutors said. In distress, the victim contacted authorities.
Cano will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The FBI conducted the investigation with the assistance of the Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sherri L. Zack prosecuted the case.