SLO man sentenced to 20 years for stalking and criminal threats

September 20, 2018

A San Luis Obispo man was sentenced on Tuesday to 20 years in prison for stalking a woman in person and on social media. [Cal Coast Times]

During the summer and spring of 2016, Michael Sidney Smith, 50, followed a woman in violation of a criminal protective order and threatened her life through social media. At that time, Smith was on probation for a previous domestic violence conviction involving the same victim.

Smith pleaded guilty to felony stalking with a prior conviction for criminal threats and to an additional charge of making criminal threats. This was Smith’s second serious felony conviction under California three strikes law.

“The District Attorney’s Office takes domestic violence prosecutions very seriously,” said Danielle Wheeler, the deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case. “We are hopeful that the significant prison sentence imposed in this case will provide the survivor time and space to heal.”

The case was investigated by the San Luis Obispo Police Department, with assistance from the San Luis Obispo County District Attorney’s Bureau of Investigation.