Maryland man offers guilty plea for cyberstalking Ohio victims

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A Maryland man offered a guilty plea today in U.S. District Court to cyberstalking victims in the Southern District of Ohio.

Vincent Brocoli, 32, of Essex, Md., was indicted by a federal grand jury in August.

According to court documents, 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 created social media accounts like @xokirstylies1, @xokirstyslut1 and @killyourselfkirsty, among others.

The defendant 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.”

Court documents also details that, over the course of nearly three years, Brocoli 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 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 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. Congress sets the maximum statutory sentence. Sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.

David M. DeVillers, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Joseph M. Deters, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, announced the plea offered today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kimberly A. Jolson. Assistant United States Attorney Jessica H. Kim and Special Assistant United States Attorney Christopher N. St. Pierre are representing the United States in this case.