On June 30, 2023, a former Deputy U.S. Marshal previously assigned to the U.S. District Courthouse in Los Angeles, California, was sentenced to 121 months of imprisonment and 3 years of supervised release after being convicted at trial of one count of conspiracy to commit cyberstalking, one count of cyberstalking, one count of perjury, and one count of obstructing a federal proceeding. Ian Diaz was convicted and sentenced in the Central District of California, and was immediately remanded into custody following the pronouncement of sentence. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Diaz and his then-wife, an unindicted co-conspirator (CC-1), posed as a person with whom Diaz was formerly in a relationship (Jane Doe). In that guise, they sent themselves harassing and threatening electronic communications that contained apparent threats to harm CC-1; solicited and lured men found through Craigslist “personal” advertisements to engage in so-called “rape fantasies” in an attempt to stage a purported sexual assault on CC-1 orchestrated by Jane Doe; and staged one or more hoax sexual assaults and attempted sexual assaults on CC-1. Diaz and CC-1 then reported this conduct to local law enforcement, falsely claiming that Jane Doe posed a genuine and serious threat to Diaz and CC-1. Their actions caused local law enforcement to arrest, charge, and detain Jane Doe in jail for nearly three months for conduct for which Diaz and CC-1 framed her. In addition, Diaz and CC-1 took steps to conceal their conduct, including using falsely registered email accounts, using virtual private networks to access the internet anonymously, and communicating with each other using encrypted messaging services. Diaz also deleted email accounts used to communicate in furtherance of the scheme. The investigation was conducted by the OIG’s Cyber Investigations Office, with substantial assistance provided by the OIG’s Los Angeles Field Office.
Date
Case Action
Sentencing