31-year-old Las Vegas resident Latonia Smith has been convicted on three counts of cyberstalking, involving threats to a pair of federal judges and a probation officer, as reported by News3LV. The conviction comes in the wake of Smith's previous sentencing to 36 months in prison for sending death threats through the mail in 2021, in response to her mother's termination from a Las Vegas Strip casino-hotel.
After posting bail in early June 2022, Smith engaged in behaviors that led to her re-arrest, including searching for personal information about U.S. District Judge Richard Franklin Boulware, who oversaw her 2021 trial, along with his wife, Las Vegas City Councilwoman Nancy Brune, and making online inquiries that included, but were not limited to "judges should die," “How to become a bomb maker,” and “how to be a mass shooter" according to details from 8NewsNow.
During her trial, Smith was found to have explicitly targeted not only Judge Boulware but also U.S. District Judge Jennifer A. Dorsey, who presided over her supervised release, and her probation officer, Shawn Mummey. One email to Mummey read, "Some good advice: Life is short, society should be careful who they piss off," following this up with a link to a video compilation from the 2017 Las Vegas mass shooting, conveying a chilling reminder of past violence, as recorded by the News3LV coverage.
These series of events led to emotional distress and safety concerns among the victims; Judge Dorsey in her testimony mentioned she went so far as to sell her home and relocate, while prosecutors and law enforcement officials have underscored the gravity of such actions being a direct attack on the rule of law, all of these victims felt threatened and emotionally distressed they then took measures to safeguard their families and themselves, which was emphasized by Adam Gordon, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California, in a statement echoed by News3LV.
Currently, Smith awaits sentencing while being held in federal custody, with the possible outcome involving up to five years' imprisonment for each cyberstalking count, marking a serious potential consequence for her online actions that instilled fear in several public servants.
