Former Camp Pendleton Marine gets 5 years for cyberstalking

A former Marine from Torrance who extorted nude and sexually explicit photos and videos from women online — a practice often referred to as cyberstalking — was sentenced Thursday to five years behind bars.

Johao Chavarri, 25, was also ordered to pay a $15,000 fine, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He pleaded guilty in May to three federal counts of stalking.

From 2019 through 2021, Chavarri used the online alias “Michael Frito” and created various online accounts to stalk and threaten women, demanding that they send him nude or sexually explicit photos and videos of themselves, according to his plea agreement filed in Los Angeles federal court.

Prosecutors said the cyberstalking and threats continued in some cases for more than a year.

Chavarri told victims that if they refused to comply with his demands, he would post sexually explicit photos and videos of them online or on well-known pornography websites. He also threatened to send the explicit materials to their boyfriends, friends, families or employers, whom he would often identify by name.

Federal prosecutors said Chavarri sent one message to multiple victims via Instagram, saying he would spend his “whole life ruining” their lives.

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