Image via pixabay.com user 26057

A former Fresno resident pleaded guilty Tuesday to federal cyberstalking charges after threatening a former supervisor and coworkers at a local business.

William Lee Robinson, 43, of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, pleaded guilty Tuesday to five counts of sending threatening interstate communications and three counts of cyberstalking, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to an August 2021 indictment, Robinson worked at Fresno-based health management company O.A.I. as a systems engineer from June 14-Nov. 28, 2017, when he was fired.

After his termination, Robinson sent threatening messages to his former supervisor and coworkers in an attempt to extort them for money. The threats included references to the location of the employees’ homes and graphic statements of physical harm against his former supervisor’s daughter, according to a news release.

He made the threats because he wanted the company to pay him between $10,000 and $20,000 to cover the cost of relocating to a different city.

U.S. District Judge Jennifer L. Thurston is scheduled to sentence Robinson on Feb. 12, 2024. He faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the five counts of sending threatening communications.  He faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of the cyberstalking counts.