Oregon man charged with cyberstalking, making interstate threats

Topics:  Goodyear, Eaton

U.S. Attorney’s Office
Northern District of Ohio
24 August 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

An Oregon man was charged with cyberstalking and other offenses for making numerous threats to his former co-workers and law enforcement officials.

Michael A. Hagar, 46, was charged with one count of cyberstalking and two counts of interstate threatening communication.

Hagar was employed at a Goodyear store in Salem, Oregon, from 2011 through 2013. He was employed by Eaton in Portland, Oregon, from 2014 through 2015. He was involuntarily terminated from both positions, according to the indictment.

Hager sent numerous threatening e-mails to at least seven former co-workers at Eaton and Goodyear in 2015 and 2016, as well as threatening emails to law enforcement officials in Oregon. The e-mails he sent traveled through Eaton and Goodyear data centers in Northeast Ohio, according to the indictment.

In 2016, Hagar was personally served with a temporary stalking protective order ordering him to stop any contact with an Eaton employee identified as R.G. He was also arrested for trespassing on Goodyear property in Oregon, according to the indictment.

On May 30, 2016, he sent an email to R.G. and Oregon law enforcement officials with the subject line: “I AM GOING TO RUIN EVERYONE OF YOU(R) LIVES,” according to the indictment.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Daniel J. Riedl and Om Kakani following an investigation by the FBI.

If convicted, the defendant’s sentence will be determined by the court after a review of the federal sentencing guidelines and factors unique to the case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record (if any), the defendant’s role in the offense, and the characteristics of the violation.

An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.