A man arrested in Hawaii wants a detention hearing in Utah, where he's accused of sending hundreds of unwanted service providers and others to a home, including plumbers and prostitutes.
Loren Okamura was in federal court in Honolulu Wednesday. Federal defender Sharron Rancourt says he wants to have that hearing in Utah, where federal prosecutors say he tormented a family with what they described as extreme cyberstalking. Okamura will be detained in Honolulu until he's taken to Utah. Rancourt says Okamura has been mourning his wife, who died earlier this year.
Okamura was indicted last month on charges of cyberstalking, interstate threats and transporting people for prostitution.
Authorities won't disclose the relationship between the victims and Okamura, but say it was not random. Rancourt declined to comment after the hearing.
U.S. prosecutors say the man from Hawaii tormented a Utah family for over a year by sending more than 500 people to their house for unwanted services, including plumbers and prostitutes.
Authorities say Okamura targeted a father and her adult daughter, sending the woman threatening messages and posting her picture and address online. One posting said the homeowner wanted drugs and prostitutes at the house in a quiet, middle-class neighborhood in a Salt Lake City suburb.
Okamura's federal public defender, Sharron Rancourt, didn't immediately return a phone message and emails seeking comment.
