Dorene Browne-Louis, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was sentenced in District Court in D.C. to two years of supervised probation and ordered to pay a fine after she and then-co-worker Juan McCullum pleaded guilty to federal cyber-related charges in January. Photo: VIC

VI CONSORTIUM

WASHINTON D.C, USA - The second ex-employee of Delegate to Congress Stacey Plaskett was sentenced on Monday, April 23, 2018, for her role in the leaking of nude pictures and a video of the Congresswoman and her husband.

Dorene Browne-Louis, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, was sentenced in District Court in D.C. to two years of supervised probation and ordered to pay a fine after she and then-co-worker Juan McCullum pleaded guilty to federal cyber-related charges in January, according to The Washington Post, citing WTOP-FM.

According to court documents, Ms Browne-Louis was working in Ms Plaskett’s office in 2016 when co-worker McCullum told her he’d taken the images off of Ms Plaskett’s smartphone.

The court documents further stated that Ms Browne-Louis helped in sending the images to political leaders in an effort to harm Ms Plaskett’s re-election campaign.

When Mr McCullum was sentenced to prison in March, Ms Plaskett thanked law enforcement for their investigative work that has led to these outcomes. “My family and I are appreciative and grateful for the efforts of the United States Capitol Police and the United States Attorney’s Office along with all the law enforcement agents who worked to investigate this matter and bring to accountability the individuals responsible for the violation of privacy perpetuated against my family and me,” she said.

She also thanked USVI residents who she said has supported her throughout the ordeal. “Virgin Islanders have shown a tremendous amount of support to me and my family- for that I am grateful,” she said. “Standing up for what is right – from the local news outlets who received the images and documents from my Primary election opponents and would not publish them, to my predecessor, Congresswoman Donna Christiansen who extended herself to us, and the many many men and woman of the Virgin Islands who have been there for myself, my family and staff. I also want to also express my gratitude to my colleagues in the United States Congress who reached out to Jonathan and me.”

Mr McCullum and Ms Browne-Louis were indicted in July 2017. According to the indictment, both aides had worked for the delegate to Congress for over a year before leaving in mid-2016. The indictment said that in March 2016, Ms Plaskett asked Mr McCullum to take her iPhone to an Apple store for repairs. While he had her phone, however, he created Hotmail and Facebook accounts under a fictitious name to distribute and post nude images of Ms Plaskett and her husband. The indictment alleged that Mr McCullum used the social media accounts to encourage others to spread the images and videos in the U.S. Virgin Islands, whose people Ms Plaskett represents.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Columbia, Mr McCullum alerted Ms Browne-Louis to his actions, who later deleted Mr McCullum’s text messages from her phone and gave “false, incomplete, and misleading statements” to law enforcement about her knowledge of Mr McCullum’s actions.

Following the leak, which occurred in July of 2016, Ms Plaskett said, “The theft and distribution of these personal images via the internet marks a new low in Virgin Islands politics. I am shocked and deeply saddened that someone would stoop to such a level as to invade my marriage and the love of my family in an attempt to besmirch me politically.