By Steve Neavling
A deputy U.S. Marshal has been indicted on charges of cyberstalking and perjury after allegedly plotting a bizarre scheme with his then-wife to frame his ex-girlfriend for crimes she did not commit.
Ian R. Diaz, 43, of Brea, Calif., was indicted last week by a federal grand jury on numerous charges, the Justice Department announced Friday.
Diaz and his then-wife Angela Maria Diaz are accused of creating fake Craigslist accounts using his ex-girlfriend’s name. Using the accounts, they allegedly told men to engage in a “rape fantasy” with his then-wife.
The plan was to make it look like his ex-girlfriend was trying to lure men to his house to rape his wife, the indictment alleges.
After staging “one or more hoax sexual assaults,” the couple reported to police that Diaz’ ex-girlfriend was to blame.
“Diaz and his then-wife then reported this conduct to local law enforcement, falsely claiming that [Diaz’ ex-girlfriend] posed a genuine and serious threat to Diaz and his then-wife,” the news release said.
It worked – at first. His ex-girlfriend was arrested and held in jail for nearly three months.
But at some point, federal investigators realized it was all a ruse, and Diaz’s ex-girlfriend was exonerated.
It’s unclear why it took so long to charge Diaz.
