An Ada County Jury found Devon Anderson guilty in November of felony stalking for sending a woman hundreds of harassing text messages, emails, and phone calls last year when she rejected his romantic overtures.
Fourth District Judge Derrick O’Neill sentenced Anderson on Thursday to a 40-year-prison sentence for the crime. Anderson has to spend at least 15 years in prison before he can ask for parole. He must also pay a $5,000 fine.
Detectives suspect Anderson has done similar things in the past with multiple people – including two women who testified in the jury trial that he sent them harassing messages when they broke off relationships with him.
O’Neill heard testimony from four women other than the victim during Thursday’s sentencing hearing about Anderson’s behavior. Two other women sent O’Neill letters.
Our detectives began their investigation into the case in April 2022 when the victim contacted police.
She told investigators she had been getting multiple harassing messages – including sexually explicit images — after she met Anderson in late 2021 and began to suspect it was him by March 2022.
She then said the messages got much worse after telling Anderson she did not want to be romantically involved with him in April 2022.
That’s when she received over 100 harassing messages from multiple different numbers and fake identities in less than a week – which evidence linked to Anderson.
Anderson also called and texted the victim numerous times after she asked him to stop. He was also seen driving by the woman’s home.
There was also testimony Anderson hacked the woman’s online cloud account and sent her images from her own phone, which he threatened to share publicly.
Detectives worked with the woman on a safety plan and a protection order and worked the case.
Prosecutors issued an arrest warrant a few days later.