A former staff employee of the U.S. Virgin Islands’ representative to Congress was sentenced to a year and day in prison on Thursday for circulating private, nude photos and videos of the member and her husband, prosecutors said.
Juan McCullum, 36, of Washington, pleaded guilty in January to two federal cyberstalking charges and two related District of Columbia offenses, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said in a statement.
A federal judge sentenced McCullum, a former reality TV star, to a year and 361 days in prison. All but one year and a day was suspended on condition he completes two years of probation and 100 hours of community service, the statement said.
Prosecutors have not identified the legislator, but Virgin Islands Delegate Stacey Plaskett thanked investigators in a statement after McCullum and fellow staffer Dorene Browne-Louis, 45, were arrested and indicted in July.
McCullum, who worked in Plaskett’s office from April 2015 to June 2016, offered in March 2016 to take the lawmaker’s iPhone to an Apple store for repairs. Plaskett provided her password to unlock the phone, and McCullum downloaded and distributed the nude images and videos on social media, prosecutors said.
Browne-Louis, a resident of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, gave McCullum email addresses and other contact information to distribute the images. She also gave one of the nude images to a person who was working on the campaign of a Plaskett challenger in a primary election, the statement said.
Browne-Louis pleaded guilty in January to a federal cyber-related charge and a District of Columbia offense of conspiracy to disclose sexual images. She faces sentencing on April 23.
Reporting by Ian Simpson in Washington; editing by Grant McCool
