Innocent man jailed after ex-lover stole his identity to make online death threats against herself

A Texas woman is facing jail after police say she created fake online accounts on Facebook and Instagram to make it look like her ex-boyfriend was threatening her life.

Lisa Marie Garcia, 22, was charged with retaliation and online impersonation after she also created phone apps to make it appear that Brandon Berrott was hounding her.

Berrott, 23, had eight charges filed against him over a ten-day period in October when the threats continued after he had been ordered not to make contact with his former girlfriend, with whom he has a child.

He was jailed at least three times since Garcia first complained that he was threatening her in September, which resulted in him losing his job.

Garcia, from Baytown on the state's Gulf coast, faces up to ten years in jail if found guilty.

Prosecutor Britni Cooper told the Houston Chronicle: "He didn't do any of this. He was charged with eight criminal cases and is innocent of all of them. I'm horrified, actually, and can't imagine what this guy went through. It's a nightmare."

Berrott's attorney Carl Moore told Channel News 8: "Lisa Garcia created a fake Facebook, Instagram account as well as a fake phone number on apps you can create phone numbers from and was sending threats to herself as well as my client's other child's mother, purportedly from him."

Berrott was first arrested on 16 September after Garcia created the false accounts and also gave false statements to the police concerning threats to her life from her former boyfriend.

Call to mayor

But each time he was released from jail on bail Garcia would resume the fake threats online and report them to the police.

The case came to a head when Garcia called the mayor of Baytown on Thanksgiving weekend in November, demanding an investigation of State District Judge Brad Hart, who was presiding over Berrott's case.

She claimed her boyfriend's mother, who works for the local Harris County, had bribed Hart to continue allow Berrott to make bail.

However, further police investigation uncovered Garcia's fake accounts and cleared Berrott's mother and Judge Hart of any wrongdoing.

Berrott lost his job at the Goose Creek central warehouse, which purchases supplies for the schools in the district. However, the Goose Creek school board now says he is free to reapply for his job.

But Berrott's lawyer adds that because of the intense period of criminal activity initiated by Garcia, her client face a substantial legal bill, including the charges for a leg monitor he was forced to wear during the case.