Maryland Man Charged with Cyberstalking Ohio Victims

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Maryland man was arrested this morning on federal charges of cyberstalking victims in the Southern District of Ohio.

Vincent Brocoli, 32, of Essex, Md., was charged with three counts of cyberstalking in an indictment returned here August 29 and unsealed today.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Todd A. Wickerham, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the charges.

According to the indictment, from August 2016 until April 2019, Brocoli (also known as Matthew Dehart, BunchMedia and BunchMarketing), cyberstalked a female victim and her parents by creating social media accounts in their names, sending them threats, and using the Internet to cause substantial emotional distress to their family.

Brocoli allegedly created social media accounts like @xokirstylies1, @xokirstyslut1 and @killyourselfkirsty, among others.

It is alleged Brocoli used the Internet to post photos of the victim with a cross on her forehead and send messages like “I hope you get cancer and die UGLY SLLUT [sic],” and “Go away and die. Just put a gun in your mouth and get it over with.”

The indictment also details that, over the course of nearly three years, Brocoli allegedly used the Internet and multiple social media platforms to post threatening and sexually vulgar comments, calling the victim a “worthless lying slut” and a “whore.” Brocoli also allegedly used the Internet to post comments asserting that the victim and her husband had AIDS, like claiming that the victim “took [her husband]’s gay cum down her throat and now she has aids. Diseased whorebag.”

Brocoli allegedly posed as the victim’s father and mother online by creating multiple Instagram and Twitter handles using their names. He also used the Internet to post comments to the victim’s mother, calling her a “pedophile,” commenting that she needed “to be arrested for child abuse,” and telling her to “Shut up and die.” Brocoli further used the Internet to post to the victim’s father that he would “be the first to go to hell and answer to the real God when the time comes.”

Cyberstalking is a federal crime punishable by up to five years in prison.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation of this case by the FBI, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Jessica H. Kim and Special Assistant United States Attorney Christopher N. St. Pierre, who are prosecuting the case.

An indictment merely contains allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.