Tulsa Man Sentenced for Cyberstalking

 A Tulsa man was sentenced this morning in federal court after he violated a protective order by sending harassing and threatening emails and messages to a female victim, announced U.S. Attorney Trent Shores.

Parris Deshaunte Evitt, 30, of Tulsa, previously pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge John E. Dowdell on November 4, 2020. In his plea agreement, Evitt admitted to sending harassing and intimidating messages from a variety of accounts. Evitt’s course of conduct included repeated threats to the victim’s physical safety and privacy.  

Today, Judge Dowdell sentenced Evitt to 46 months of imprisonment for cyberstalking a prior intimate partner in violation of a protective order. Judge Dowdell also sentenced Evitt to 3 years supervised release following imprisonment, and ordered Evitt to pay restitution for hotel costs the victim incurred after she was forced to flee her home in order to try to hide from Evitt.

Between October 2018 and continuing until October 2020, Evitt used email, Facebook, and text messages to control and threaten the victim. However, his abuse of the victim had started years before. Between 2012 and 2019, Evitt was convicted on 5 different occasions for physically abusing the victim including strangulation, assault, and interfering with reporting. Evitt was also on state supervision at the time of the current offenses.

“When a court order frustrated Parris Evitt’s ability to domestically abuse his partner, he resorted to cyberstalking in an effort to continue the torment and terror,” said U.S. Attorney Trent Shores. “Cowardly acts of cyberstalking and digital threats are no match for a courageous victim whose testimony helped law enforcement and prosecutors break the cycle of violence. Domestic abusers like Evitt should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. The scars of physical abuse and emotional pain can last a lifetime.”

The victim in this case appeared via Zoom this morning to make a personal statement and share the impact Evitt’s cyberstalking has had on her life. She explained that Evitt had destroyed her sense of security and became emotional when she discussed Evitt’s statement that he would rather see her dead than happy. She also stated, “the longer he is away from my children and I, the more time we have to try and heal and move on with our lives, if that is even possible.” After Judge Dowdell sentenced Evitt, he asked Evitt if he had really listened to the victim and noted the egregiousness of Evitt’s conduct.

The FBI conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chantelle D. Dial prosecuted the case. Ms. Dial is a prosecutor from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of Washington. She volunteered to assist prosecution efforts here in the Northern District of Oklahoma due to the increased volume of cases since the Supreme Court’s ruling which stated the Creek Nation Reservation had never been officially disestablished by Congress. The United States and the Muscogee (Creek) Nation have jurisdiction of all cases that occur on the reservation involving Native American victims or defendants.