Press Release
Charlotte Man Is Sentenced To Prison For Cyberstalking
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of North Carolina
The defendant sent the victim hundreds of harassing and threatening emails and voicemails
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Amir Salvatore Khayyat, 29, of Charlotte, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for cyberstalking and sending his victim harassing and threatening emails and voicemails, announced Dena J. King, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.
Michael C. Scherck, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in North Carolina, joins U.S. Attorney King in making today’s announcement.
According to filed court documents and the sentencing hearing, in 2017, Khayyat met the victim, identified in court documents as “Jane Doe.” Jane Doe is a licensed clinical psychologist and a credentialed mental health service provider, who met Khayyat in her professional capacity. Court records show that, from April 2019 to October 2020, Khayyat engaged in an extensive cyberstalking and threats campaign targeting Jane Doe, sending the victim hundreds of harassing emails, including unsolicited sexual imagery, from multiple email addresses, and left numerous harassing voicemails on Jane Doe’s office phone line. Many of the harassing emails and voicemails contained express or implicit threats to harm Jane Doe and law enforcement officers. Khayyat continued to harass and threaten Jane Doe even after she obtained a state court order forbidding Khayyat from communicating with her.
On May 23, 2022, Khayyat pleaded guilty to cyberstalking and making interstate threats. He is currently in federal custody and will be transferred to the custody of the federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a federal facility.
In making today’s announcement, U.S. Attorney King thanked the FBI for their investigation of the case and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department for their invaluable assistance.
Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Warren, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte, prosecuted the case.
Updated October 25, 2022
Topic
Cybercrime
Component