Woman Sets up Fakes Facebook Account to Set Up Ex-Boyfriend; Receives Jail Time

LAKE FOREST, CA — It doesn't pay to use fake Facebook accounts to threaten yourself, as one Lake Forest woman found out.

A woman was convicted and sentenced Wednesday to one year in jail for falsely accusing her ex-boyfriend of stalking and making criminal threats, resulting in his arrest four times.

Stephani Renae Lawson, a 25-year-old most recently of Las Vegas, Nevada, pleaded guilty to one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud, or deceit, and one felony count of perjury according to Susan Kang Schroeder, Chief of Staff for the Orange County District Attorney's office.

Lawson was sentenced to one year in county jail, three years of probation, and was ordered to pay restitution, Kang Schroeder said.

While Lawson was living in Lake Forest, she created a fake facebook account stating that she was her ex-boyfriend and used that account to send herself numerous threats, Kang Schroeder said.

"Lawson filed multiple police reports with the Orange County Sheriff’s Department (OCSD) in which she stated John Doe violated a restraining order, stalked, and threatened to kill her," she said.

In each case, Lawson told the sheriff's department that the threats came from the victim’s Facebook account.

"(Her ex-boyfriend) was arrested four times between September and December 2015 and charged with multiple felonies," Kang Schroeder said.

On May 5 Lawson testified under penalty of perjury at (her ex-boyfriend)’s preliminary hearing, stating he threatened her just two days before, through Facebook.

The OCDA's Bureau of Investigation discovered that the internet provider address and her own devices were used to send herself threats on May 3 and 4 of this year, revealing that the true victim was the ex-boyfriend, and he was not guilty of the crimes according to Kang Schroeder.

On Sept. 28, Lawson was charged with one felony count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud, or deceit, and one felony count of perjury, and a warrant was issued for her arrest.

The US Marshals Service arrested the defendant in Las Vegas, and she was extradited to Orange County by the OCDA.

All charges against the ex-boyfriend were dismissed on Oct. 6 at the request of the OCDA.