N.S. man arrested on federal charges of cyberstalking

Allegedly made threats to kill former girlfriend, her family as well as Texas federal prosecutors

NORTH SMITHFIELD — A local man, who recently moved to Rhode Island from Texas, was ordered detained in federal custody on Wednesday in connection with federal charges of cyberstalking and making threats to kill a former girlfriend, her family members, and federal prosecutors in Texas, according U.S. Attorney Stephen C. Dambruch.

Howard S. Bishop, 38, was arrested by FBI agents on Tuesday and appeared before U.S. District Court Magistrate Lincoln D. Almond in Providence on Wednesday as a result of a two-count criminal complaint alleging he transmitted interstate commerce communications containing threats to injure another person. The complaint also alleges Bishop

harassed or intimidated another person by using an interactive computer service or electronic communication service and place a person in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury and caused substantial emotional distress, according to Dambruch’s office.

Bishop’s arrest and detention were announced on Thursday by Dambruch and Harold H. Shaw, special agent in charge of the FBI Boston Division.

According to information from court records released by the federal authorities, a former girlfriend of Bishop obtained a protective order against him in Travis County, Texas, and in January, 2012 he was reported to have been found guilty of violating the order, receiving a sentence of two years of probation.

Bishop was reported to have returned to Rhode Island, where his family resides, in September of 2017.

A misdemeanor warrant was subsequently issued in Travis County seeking his arrest for allegedly violating the protective order.

Bishop, according to the court documents, allegedly sent hundreds of harassing and threatening messages via the internet to his former girlfriend and her family as well as the three Travis County prosecutors involved in Bishop’s protective order case.

All of the individuals expressed “extreme fear for their safety,” according to Jim Martin, Dambruch’s spokesman.

Before Bishop was arrested by the FBI, his former girlfriend was reported to have gone into hiding with the assistance of the FBI. The victim’s family also hired armed security guards to protect their home, according to the federal authorities. The prosecutors expressed concerns to the FBI that they, too, believed their lives were at risk, according to the federal authorities.

The court records also include allegations listed in an affidavit from Special Agent Steven Medeiros concerning Bishop’s messaged threats to the parties in Texas.

In one of the hundreds of messages allegedly transmitted by Bishop over the Internet, a Nov. 29, 2017, email from his reported gmail address, Bishop is alleged to have told his ex-girlfriend “No matter how much I hate you people there will be no bloodshed. Unless you try to jail me. Then people will die,” Medeiros reported.

Bishop is also alleged to have mentioned his expertise in marksmanship from Marine training, stating in a Dec. 30, 2017, email to the ex-girlfriend, “Remember, 200 yards isn’t enough,. I was always really good with a right loop sling at 500. Never missed. Made Sergeant because I shot that well,” the affidavit states.

Bishop is also alleged to have sent communications to a Texas prosecutor through Facebook and YouTube pages that included expletives and threats, including “Pissed off the wrong Marine sir. Stop now,” and “Snitches get stiches punk.”

The numerous threats Bishop allegedly made to murder his ex-girlfriend included an email from Jan. 15, 2018, in which he allegedly stated “And when I watch you breathe your last breath I will feel vindicated,” Medeiros reported.

Medeiros stated that FBI agents investigating the case in Rhode Island observed a vehicle with Texas license plates at an apartment complex in North Smithfield and also at his father’s place of business in North Scituate. The FBI agents were also reported to have observed a person matching Bishop’s description entering the identified vehicle. The investigators subsequently obtained a Grand Jury subpoena that was served to Google for information concerning the email account from which many of the threatening communications were allegedly sent. The internet protocol addresses from which the emails were sent were subsequently identified, according to Medeiros.

Martin noted that a criminal complaint is a merely and allegation and is not evidence of guilt, and that a defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which the government’s burden is to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The charges against Bishop are each punishable by up to 5 years in a federal prison and a fine of $250.000 and 3 years of supervised release.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lee H. Vilker, Martin said.