Richmond Man Sentenced To 5 Years For Online Stalking

HOUSTON – A 45-year-old Richmond man who tortured, stalked and terrorized his girlfriend by sending horrific images and threatening email messages was sentenced to federal prison on Monday.

The jury returned its guilty verdict Oct. 27, 2017, against Heriberto Latigo following five days of trial and less than two hours of deliberations, and on March 26, he was sentenced to five years in federal prison.

Latigo was further ordered to serve three years on supervised release following completion of his prison term during which time the court ordered him to get mental health treatment.

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This was the first case tried in the Southern District of Texas in which a defendant used the internet to cause substantial emotional distress.

In the last 10 years, less than 100 defendants have been convicted using this federal stalking statute.

During Latigo's sentencing, Judge Kenneth Hoyt noted that the maximum sentence imposed may not be sufficient for the crime and stated the possibility that Latigo might just be “mean and evil.”

Additional information was also presented, including a letter the victim had written which detailed the torment she endured and how Latigo’s actions have changed her life forever, stating that no matter how hard she has tried, she has not been able to overcome what he did to her.

“There was not a day that I didn’t feel scared,” she said.

Latigo began a romantic relationship with the victim in 2013.

As it progressed, Latigo’s conduct became controlling and demanding to include forcing her to send him naked images of her.

The relationship eventually devolved into physical fights to include an alleged rape.

The victim testified that she was, and is still afraid of Latigo.

In June 2014, the victim discovered she was pregnant.

She testified that Latigo was so controlling and crazy during this time that she decided to end the pregnancy.

When Latigo found out, he created a Facebook page titled “Magdelana Aborted” where he pretended to be the aborted fetus, sent the link to her and said “Your abortion video will now be posted you whore.”

The victim became upset to the point that she attempted suicide by overdosing on tranquilizers.

From March 2014 to April 2015, Latigo used threats and blackmail tactics to force the victim to do things against her will.

His tactics included using the naked images she had previously sent during their relationship to compel her to do a variety of things, including complying with his sexual demands.

If she refused, he would post the images online until she gave into his demands.

On many occasions, she had to contact Google to have naked pictures of her removed.

Latigo also sent the images to her sister, her sister’s boss and male co-workers in an effort to control and harass her.

Latigo’s actions caused the victim to move, change jobs, close her Facebook account and get offline.

However, he ultimately found her again, and showed up at her new job and continued to harass her.

The jury also heard from another witness who placed Latigo at the victim’s daughter’s school, indicating he was physically stalking her.

A computer forensic expert also testified that Latigo accessed multiple Facebook accounts and the victim’s email from his own computer and attempted to cover his trail in the process.

Latigo, who represented himself during the trial, tried to convince the jury that this entire case was about the victim wanting to hurt him.

He claimed she created the accounts used to harass herself.

However, she actually broke down in tears on the stand when she learned her naked images had been sent in response to a Craigslist ad she supposedly created.

No evidence was presented to the jury that demonstrated the victim ever had control of either of these accounts.

In fact, Latigo’s own expert witness testified that the email address at issue was created on one of Latigo’s computers seized by the FBI during a search of his home.

The jury ultimately did not believe Latigo’s claims and found he'd intentionally harassed the victim and caused her substantial emotional distress.

He was convicted as charged.

He will remain in custody pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Image: Shutterstock