INDIANAPOLIS -- A federal grand jury returned an indictment this week against a North Carolina woman accused of perpetrating a months-long campaign of harassment against a resident of Fishers, Indiana.
Shamonique Ferguson, 21, of Hamlet, North Carolina, was charged with extortionate communication, mail threats and interstate stalking in April. Federal prosecutors accused of her of harassing, threatening and filing false police reports during a period from December 2016 through March 2017.
The target of her harassment, according to prosecutors, was a Fishers resident who Ferguson had befriended online when the victim was 13.
PREVIOUS | North Carolina woman stalked, threatened Fishers girl for months, feds say
On Tuesday, a federal grand jury returned an indictment on one count of stalking against Ferguson.
In the indictment the grand jury found that Ferguson used the U.S. mail, telephone and email “with the intent to kill, injure, harass or intimidate Victim 1 and Victim 2 (Victim 1’s father)” and to engage in a course of conduct that put her victims in reasonable fear of death or serious bodily injury.
An affidavit filed in the case described more than 20 false police reports Ferguson allegedly made against the girl, including false allegations that she was a victim of human trafficking, that she intended to blow up a bomb at three Indiana University campuses, and that she was in contact with Elizabeth Thomas – a Tennessee girl who was the subject of a national investigation following her kidnapping by her teacher.
In all of those cases, police determined the reports were false, and that they originated from Ferguson.
Ferguson is also accused of mailing various items to her victim's family, including an item that contained bodily waste and threats to kill the victim.
Following her indictment, Ferguson’s attorneys entered a not guilty plea on her behalf on Wednesday. If found guilty, Ferguson faces a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison, a fine of $250,000 and one year of supervised release.
An initial hearing was scheduled for Oct. 24 at 3 p.m. in the federal courthouse in downtown Indianapolis.
MORE FROM THE CRIME BEAT | The ‘Grundy Crew’ has a long history in Indianapolis. It may have caught up with them. | PC: Man murdered over missing drugs belonging to the ‘Mexican Mafia’ | Why are .40-calibers surging in Indy as crime guns? | Message written in blood leads IMPD to murder suspect | MAP: 2017 Indianapolis Homicides
TOP TRENDING VIDEOS
