Portland Man Sentenced to 33 Months in Federal Prison for Cyberstalking and Anonymous Telephone Harassment

PORTLAND, Ore.—Bob Ibenne Ugwa, 50, a Portland resident, was sentenced today to 33 months in federal prison and three years’ supervised release for making repeated threatening and harassing telephone calls to seven individuals over an eight-year period.

According to court documents, between 2011 and 2018, Ugwa made thousands of anonymous, interstate telephone calls from Oregon to seven victims located in Pennsylvania. In these calls, Ugwa threatened or harassed each victim by breathing heavily, moaning, and saying sexually explicit things. Ugwa called his victims at all hours of the day and night and used spoofing or voice-over-IP to conceal his identity and make it impossible to block his calls.

Ugwa’s victims, who ranged in age from 19 to 62 years old, had no way of knowing where Ugwa lived or if he posed an immediate danger to their physical safety. The victims included a student, a teacher, and mothers who feared for their children’s safety as well as their own. Each of the victims made multiple unsuccessful attempts to stop Ugwa from calling, citing substantial emotional distress.

Ugwa’s conduct stopped briefly after he was arrested and detained in March 2018 for similar conduct that resulted in his conviction in Washington County Circuit Court. His threatening calls resumed shortly thereafter.

Investigators obtained telephone records that covered approximately two years of Ugwa’s conduct between 2016 and 2018. During this time, Ugwa made nearly 5,000 calls to his victims. These records were used to confirm Ugwa’s criminal conduct.

Ugwa previously pleaded guilty to one count of cyberstalking and six counts of anonymous telecommunications harassment.

This case was investigated by the FBI and prosecuted by Hannah Horsley, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.