Feds: Seaford man cyberstalked ex at her university

A Seaford man was arrested and charged with cyberstalking his ex-girlfriend, sending illegal drugs to her at her upstate university, and threatening other students there, including her sorority sisters, officials said Wednesday.

Thomas Traficante, 23, dated a student from Nassau County over the summer; she broke up with him on Oct. 26, the federal criminal complaint said.

The couple met in May through an online dating site; while they were dating, Traficante took her to a shooting range, the complaint said, adding he has a rifle.

He also texted her he once sought revenge by posting “someone’s information on a prostitution site and that person received many phone calls and texts from random males looking for a ‘hooker,’ ” the complaint said.

After the victim dropped him, this happened to her too, according to the complaint, filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York.

The ex-girlfriend, who attends a university in western New York, is not named.

Traficante has been charged with violating cyberstalking laws that bar using the internet to “kill, injure, harass or intimidate another person,” and possessing cocaine with the intent to distribute, the documents said.

In addition to the defendant’s texts, the complaint cites information provided by communication firms tying him to the threats.

After the victim ended the relationship, the defendant sent cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana to her university mailbox, the complaint said, noting the university was tipped off that a student planned to sell them.

She allowed the police to search her room; no drugs or equipment were found, and she told officers her ex-boyfriend had hacked her accounts and was “controlling.”

Traficante then texted her, inquiring if anything had happened that would force her to return home and “if she could date him again,” the complaint said.

She provided investigators with texts Traficante had sent, including ones warning her that if she did something he “strongly” disagreed with, her contact information could end up on a prostitution site.

“Well you wouldn’t be able to tell if I was manipulating you. That’s the point of manipulation. It’s secretly getting someone to do something you want them to do,” Traficante said, according to the complaint.

The defendant is a graduate student in accounting.

The complaint said he appears to have hacked into her accounts, including Snapchat, while they dating.

After the victim broke up with him, members of her sorority received texts saying, for example, it’s “not safe out there tonight” and “I’m in the house,” according to court records.

Other students reported text and telephone conversations, quoting him as mulling “death by cop,” adding “my goal is to create the most amount of turmoil and pain within greek life,” the complaint said.

On Wednesday afternoon, an official said Magistrate Gary Brown, who sits in Central Islip, ruled that Traficante be held without bail because he is a danger to the community.

A loaded assault rifle, an AR-15, was recovered when the defendant was arrested at his mother’s home; U.S. marshals will take Traficante to the Western District, where he will be prosecuted, the official said.

His public defender declined to comment.