Boston-area man sentenced to 7 years for racist threats against couple

A Boston-area man will serve seven and a half years in prison after sending racist, hateful messages to an interracial couple.

Stephen DeBerardinis, 48, was sentenced for threatening and intimidating the couple, who he had never met, via Facebook messenger after they announced their engagement, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Massachusetts announced Monday.

“The toxic brew of racist hate, threats of violence and use of social media to amplify vile and violent attitudes is a corrosive danger to every law-abiding member of our community,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua Levy in a statement. "The nearly eight-year sentence imposed on this defendant should send a message that when you engage in hate crimes, there is a serious price to be paid."

On Jan. 6, 2021, DeBerardinis began sending the couple — a white woman and a Black man — racist slurs on Facebook Messenger. He had seen photos of their December 2020 engagement announcement because he was friends on the social site with at least one of the victims' Facebook friends, prosecutors said.

When the couple told him they were reporting him to the police, he replied, "SNITCHES GET STITCHES" with a picture of brass knuckles. Prosecutors say he then sent other racist and misogynistic messages, threatening them and saying his "crew" had sexually assaulted or killed others.

Local police shared the case with federal law enforcement.

In his residence, investigators found more than "70 knives, 22 brass knuckles, swords, bullets, black powder for guns, stun guns, rifles" and other weapons, prosecutors say. Their statement said DeBerardinis lives in Dedham and Boston, but did not specify which home was searched.

He pleaded guilty to charges that included threatening to injure a person in another state, as well as charges for witness and victim intimidation.

DeBerardinis has an "extensive" criminal history, prosecutors say, and regularly posted white supremacist content to his social media accounts.

Prosecutors say DeBerardinis has been arrested more than 100 times over the past two decades, with a slew of convictions, including for threats, intimidation, false reports of a crime, impersonation of a police officer and larceny. The investigation also found he threatened a journalist who wrote about a rally where DeBerardinis was seen trying to punch protesters.

DeBerardinis’ Facebook page contained multiple posts of "race motivated, hate filled speech and white supremacist symbolism," according to prosecutors.

U.S. District Court Judge Allison Burroughs ordered his prison sentence and three years of supervised release.