BOSTON – A former Berklee College of Music student was locked up for stalking and threatening a democracy advocate who posted fliers on campus.
Xiaolei Wu, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Denise J. Casper to nine months in prison and three years of supervised release for his crimes.
Wu was convicted by a federal jury on one count of cyberstalking and one count of interstate transmissions of threatening communication in January 2024.
“Mr. Wu’s criminal conduct is very serious,” said Acting United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy. “He harnessed the fear of potential retribution from the PRC government to harass and threaten an innocent individual who had posted an innocuous, pro-democracy flier on the Berklee campus.
Wu’s violent threats achieved his goal of instilling fear in his effort to silence this brave victim and others who might want to speak out against the PRC government,” Levy added.
“Today, Xiaolei Wu learned there are serious consequences for harassing, threatening, stalking, and infringing on a fellow student’s constitutional rights solely because she was critical of the ruling Communist Party of China,” said Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division.
Wu’s crimes began when he discovered an individual posted a flier on or near the Berklee campus which said, “Stand with Chinese People,” as well as, “We Want Freedom,” and “We Want Democracy.”
Beginning on or about Oct. 22, 2022 through Oct. 24, 2022, Wu made a series of communications via WeChat, email and Instagram directed towards the victim who posted the flier.
Among other things, Wu said, “Post more, I will chop your bastard hands off.” He told the victim that he had informed the public security agency in China about the victim’s actions and that the public security agency in China would “greet” the victim’s family.
Wu also solicited others to find out where the victim was living and publicly posted the victim’s email address in the hopes that others would abuse the victim online.
Wu was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy H. Kistner and Alathea E. Porter of the National Security Unit with the assistance of Counterintelligence and Export Control Section Trial Attorney Menno Goedman.
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Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Cybercrime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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