UNLV senior pleads guilty in cyberstalking case linked to nude photos on Facebook
A 31-year-old college student pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday in what authorities said was a cyber-stalking scheme against his former girlfriend.
During the 2013 scheme Jeffrey C. Granados unlawfully gained access to the woman's Facebook page and posted nude photos of her, authorities said.
Granados, a UNLV senior, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James Mahan to one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer. Four other counts, including a charge of using a telecommunication device to abuse, threaten and harass someone, will be dismissed at his Jan. 11 sentencing.
Granados, who is free on his own recognizance, has agreed to serve four months of confinement and give up the cell phone and computer he used in the scheme, according to his plea deal with federal prosecutors.
The woman, who works at the Wynn, has not been identified in court documents.
A federal magistrate judge signed a protective order keeping her name out of the court record and prohibiting Granados from gaining access to any new online passwords and user names to further intrude on the woman's privacy.
"In this case, the defendant has already violated the victim's dignity and privacy by stealing nude and intimate pictures of her and posting them on her Facebook page," prosecutors wrote in seeking the protective order. "If the defendant has access to more nude or intimate pictures of the victim, he may use them to continue to victimize the victim."
Prosecutors said Granados began cyber-stalking the woman after she broke up with him in March 2013. The illicit activities continued into August that year as Granados obtained access to her Facebook account and photo storage accounts.
He also read her text messages through her Verizon Wireless account and harassed her other male friends through anonymous text messages, according to prosecutors.
The woman learned that the nude photos were posted on Facebook after a friend sent her a text suggesting her page had gone "XXX." She told authorities she didn't send the photos to Granados.
Granados admitted to FBI agents that he knew the woman's Facebook password, but he claimed in court Tuesday that he didn't personally post the photos of the woman.
Prosecutors, however, said they could prove he did.
Granados and his defense lawyer, Lance Hendron, declined comment outside the courtroom.
Contact Jeff German at jgerman@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-8135. Find him on Twitter: @JGermanRJ
