Local man pleads guilty to online stalking

NORTH SMITHFIELD — A local man admitted in federal court that he stalked his ex-girlfriend online and threatened to kill her and her parents, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.

Howard S. Bishop, 38, pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging him with transmitting in interstate commerce communications containing threats to injure another person, and to harass or intimidate another person, using an interactive computer service or electronic communication service, that placed a person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury and caused substantial emotional distress, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Bishop was arrested in January, about four months after moving from Texas to Rhode Island.

According to court records, Bishop’s former girlfriend obtained a protective order against him in Travis County, Texas, in January 2012, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Bishop was found guilty of violating the order and received two years’ probation. In December 2017, a misdemeanor warrant was issued in Travis County for Bishop’s arrest for again violating the protective order.

According to court documents, beginning in November 2016 and continuing until his arrest, Bishop sent hundreds of “harassing and threatening messages” via the Internet to a former girlfriend and her family in Texas, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. The victims expressed “extreme fear for their safety” and prior to Bishop’s arrest, the ex-girl- friend was in hiding with the assistance of the FBI. Her family also hired armed security guards to protect their home, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Bishop, who has been detained since his arrest on Jan. 24, is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 21.

Transmitting in interstate commerce communications containing threats to injure another person, and to harass or intimidate another person using an interactive computer service or electronic communication service, that placed a person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury and caused substantial emotional distress, are each punishable by up to five years in federal prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years’ supervised release.