Ashanti’s stalker has been sentenced to jail.
The 35-year-old singer has been bothered by the same man since 2003 and has had to go to court on several occasions to try and put an end to his obsessive actions.
Now 37-year-old Devar Hurd’s harassment has been put to an end by judge Justice Kirke Bartley Jr. who handed him the maximum sentence at a Manhattan court for his crime.
Speaking in court about the torment she had suffered, the ‘Foolish’ singer said: "You continuously tweeted over and over again disgusting, derogatory things to me, I just wish you would stop."
In court Prosecutor Carolina Holderness had argued for the maximum sentence, saying: "He’s not just sending them (the tweets) as a fan but someone who has been convicted and ordered not to communicate with her. He has been told repeatedly by courts to leave these people alone. Even today in speaking to you … he minimises this conduct after having heard in court the effect that it had on his victims. He refuses to accept responsibility for this."
Although he was given four years’ prison time, Hurd has already served 32 months and could be out of incarceration as soon as he goes before a parole board.
He was found guilty in March by a Manhattan jury of felony stalking for bombarding Ashanti with vulgar Twitter messages in violation of an order of protection.
During the hearing, Hurd argued he didn’t deserve such a harsh punishment as his crime was nothing more than online trolling.
He told the judge: "I didn’t so much as threaten anyone, didn’t so much as throw a pebble,. I didn’t even send no nude pics. I just talked some sexually explicit stuff from time to time."
This was Hurd’s third trial for the same crime and that was taken into account when the sentencing was issued.
Ashanti’s stalker jailed
