A Federal Judge Has Handed Down A Two-Year Prison Sentence In Cyberstalking Blackmail Case

LOWER MORELAND, PA — The 20-year-old stepson of Pennsylvania's banking secretary will serve two years in federal prison after a judge sentenced him on Tuesday in connection with a case where he had engaged in cyberstalking and blackmail against a Lower Moreland teen.

Mikael Laferla, of Philadelphia, will spend two years behind bars followed by one year of supervised release for his pleading guilty to threatening to release intimate photos of a 17-year-old Montgomery County resident as blackmail into having sex with him.

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania confirmed the sentence following a hearing in federal court on Tuesday afternoon.

More can be learned about the case in Patch's previous report here.

Laferla, who also goes by the last name Zarett, is reportedly the stepson of Pennsylvania's banking and securities secretary Richard Vague.

U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams released a statement following sentencing, calling the case "incredibly disturbing," and adding that "strong law enforcement collaboration between our Office and the FBI has ensured that this defendant will be behind bars and unable to continue inflicting this type of trauma.

"Let this sentence serve as a warning to others who might consider this type of behavior online: it is a federal crime, we will identify and prosecute you, and you will go to prison," Williams added.

Jacqueline Maguire, FBI special agent in charge in Philadelphia, said that a downside of the cyber age is that "deplorable individuals can more easily hide behind a curtain of lies, manipulation, and anonymity to reach our children.

"Predators lurk in places you might not suspect — behind fake identities on your child's phone, or as avatars in gaming spaces masquerading as a peer," Maguire said in a statement. "The FBI uses every tool possible to catch these monsters and to get them off the street and out of cyberspace, and we encourage parents to help us shut the door on predators before they strike by reporting anything suspicious to 1-800-CALL-FBI and visiting FBI.gov for more information about the threat of child predators."