Federal Grand Jury Indicts Las Vegas Woman and California Inmate in Intricate Multi-State Cyberstalking and Extortion Pipeline

FRESNO, CA — A federal grand jury has returned a two-count criminal indictment charging a Las Vegas woman and an incarcerated California state prison inmate for orchestrating an aggressive, multi-state cyberstalking and “sextortion” ring.

The federal prosecution exposes how a maximum-security prison cell was utilized to launch real-time financial shakedowns against a target across state lines.

The Multi-State Plot

The federal indictment, unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California, charges Nicole Nowak, 31, of Las Vegas, Nevada, and D’Andre Davis, 39, formerly of Stockton, with conspiracy to extort money by means of threatening communications and stalking. The indictment also hits Davis with a standalone second federal count of stalking the same victim.

According to unsealed federal court records, the criminal timeline began in July 2021 when Davis initiated contact with a victim residing in Washington state via Instagram and Facebook direct messaging. While the digital interaction began as a consensual online relationship, the victim attempted to sever all contact when Davis began repeatedly and aggressively demanding cash. Davis, who was actively serving an unrelated felony sentence inside Kern Valley State Prison in Delano, California, circumvented security by using a combination of contraband cellphones alongside state inmate telephone and messaging software to maintain constant contact.

The $35,000 Extortion Demand and FBI Capture

Federal prosecutors allege that in May 2024, Nowak actively joined the criminal enterprise to serve as Davis’s hands on the street. Working in tandem, Nowak and Davis threatened to distribute explicit, compromising photographs previously shared by the victim directly to the victim’s business associates, primary clients, family members, and personal friends unless cash payments continued.

Fearing total professional and personal ruin, the Washington state victim funneled more than $35,000 in cash transfers to Nowak and Davis before finally contacting federal law enforcement. A joint task force consisting of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) Office of Internal Affairs launched a deep forensic audit to trace the digital funds and dismantle the operation.

A federal magistrate judge ordered Nowak detained without bail as an active danger to the community. Both defendants are scheduled to stand trial before a federal judge in Fresno at a later date. If convicted, Davis and Nowak face a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the conspiracy charge, while Davis faces an additional five years on the standalone stalking count.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice (Eastern District of California) Federal Grand Jury Indictment Records, FBI Cyber Crime Task Force Field Log Sheets.