United States Attorney Richard W. Moore of the Southern
District of Alabama announces that Garnett James Lloyd, Jr. age 48, of Morganton, North Carolina, was
sentenced today after earlier pleading guilty to a count charging violation of
18 USC Section 2261A(2)(b), Cyberstalking.
As part of his plea agreement, Lloyd admitted that he posed
on Facebook as a young female, Taylor Smiths.
As Taylor Smiths, he contacted a girl from Mary G. Montgomery School
whose mother had listed a formal dress for sale on Facebook Market place. The mother believed the contact to be
suspicious and reported it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The same day, another mother contacted the FBI concerned
that her daughter had received a friend request from Taylor Smiths and that she
was inquiring about a dress for sale.
The mother gave the FBI permission to assume her daughter’s Facebook
account.
The defendant contacted the undercover FBI agent and asked
for pictures of the dresses for sale.
This eventually progressed to Lloyd asking for specific poses in the
dresses claiming that he was considering wearing them for a pageant. He then asked for certain voyeur type photos
and offered to pay $700 for them. The
undercover agent refused to send additional photos and Lloyd said he would
contact her friends and family and “destroy her good girl status.” He later claimed that he had edited other
pictures to simulate her topless and that he would send those pictures to her
family. He also demanded that she
respond only with “Yes, Master” or “No, Master.”FBI agents tracked the messages
to Lloyd in Morganton, North Carolina.
At sentencing, Judge William H. Steele, noted that the
defendant had a significant criminal history which was not captured in his
sentencing guideline calculations. This
included three convictions for sexual battery and one conviction for breaking
and entering into a sorority house in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Court also considered the arguments of the United States
Attorney’s Office that the true nature of the charged crime reflected dangerous
predatory behavior and that the defendant should be sentenced to the statutory
maximum sentence and be required to register as a Sex Offender.
Most significantly, the Court heard the statements of the
young victim in this case and her mother.
The very accomplished young woman told the court that she was now afraid
to practice her running events unless she was accompanied by coaches or
friends. The mother stated that her
daughter frequently had anxiety about attending public events and that the
entire family was now extremely cautious of strangers. They both stated that they intended to be
advocates for victims of these crimes and to spread the word for education of
the dangers of the internet.
Judge Steele thanked
the family for speaking and noted that they illustrated the ripple effect of
these crimes as they impacted not only the intended victim but also her family,
friends and coaches. After considering
all the factors, Judge Steele found that a fair and just sentence required a
sentence at the statutory maximum. He
sentenced the defendant to 60 months imprisonment followed by three years of
supervised release. He is also required
to register as a sex offender.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by the United States
Attorney’s Office and AUSA Maria E. Murphy.
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