NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) -- A Georgia woman is facing federal charges in Middle Tennessee after authorities executed multiple search warrants, including one for her home, officials announced Wednesday.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Tennessee said a federal grand jury returned an indictment on May 15, charging Gabryele "Gabby" Watson, 26, of Athens, Georgia, with two counts of cyberstalking and one count of interstate transmission of threats to kidnap or injure.
📧 Have breaking news come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts →
Watson is accused of engaging in an adoption scam targeting an elderly couple living in Middle Tennessee, as well as making an interstate threat while communicating with the couple. The U.S. Attorney's Office provided a more detailed breakdown of the charges in a statement updated earlier this month:
As it relates to count one, beginning on or about May 26, 2023, and continuing through at least on or about August 30, 2023, in the Middle District of Tennessee and elsewhere, the defendant, GABRYELE WATSON, with the intent to kill, injure, harass, and intimidate another person, that is, Victim One, did use an electronic communication service, and an electronic communication system of interstate commerce, and a facility of interstate and foreign commerce, to engage in a course of conduct that caused, attempted to cause, and would be reasonably expected to cause, substantial emotional distress to Victim One.
As it relates to count two, beginning on or about May 26, 2023, and continuing through at least on or about August 30, 2023, in the Middle District of Tennessee and elsewhere, the defendant, GABRYELE WATSON, with the intent to kill, injure, harass, and intimidate another person, that is, Victim Two, did use an electronic communication service, and an electronic communication system of interstate commerce, and a facility of interstate and foreign commerce, to engage in a course of conduct that caused, attempted to cause, and would be reasonably expected to cause, substantial emotional distress to Victim Two.
As it relates to count three, on or about June 7, 2023, in the Middle District of Tennessee and elsewhere, the defendant, GABRYELE WATSON, did knowingly and willfully transmit in interstate and foreign commerce a communicating to Victims One and Two, that is, text messages threatening to kidnap and injure Victims One and Two, including by sending a hitman to murder them.
If convicted, Watson reportedly faces up to five years in federal prison for each count.
According to officials, the case was investigated by the Nashville Resident Agency of the FBI's Memphis Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Monica R. Morrison of the Middle District of Tennessee and Senior Trial Attorney Mona Sedky of the Department of Justice's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section are prosecuting the case.
The FBI believes Watson primarily targeted couples seeking adoptions from 2015 to the present.
If you or someone you know may be a victim of or have any information about this case, you are asked to contact your local FBI field office, visit the FBI's website, or visit the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s website.
No additional details have been released about this case.
from WKRN News 2 https://ift.tt/ujJ4TmD
No comments: