Pasadena man pleads guilty to cyberstalking

A Pasadena man pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to cyberstalking his former coworker and girlfriend and hacking an insurance brokerage computer.

Ahmad Kazzelbach, 27, of the 1000 block of Vena Lane, is slated to be sentenced May 1. He faces a maximum of 15 years in federal prison, though it's unlikely a federal judge hands down the max, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office for Maryland.

His attorney could not immediately be reached for comment Thursday afternoon.

When a former coworker and girlfriend ended their relationship, Kazzelbach embarked on a yearlong campaign of cyber abuse, according to his plea agreement. He hacked many of her social and financial accounts, forged cancellation letters from her clients and filed phony charges that resulted in her being arrested and jailed various times.

FBI agents investigated and learned that Kazzelbach worked with the woman at an insurance brokerage in Glen Burnie, court records show. They began a relationship and moved in together.

The woman, identified only by her initials in court records, ended their romance in May of 2016. But a month later she noticed fraudulent activity on her Apple account. Kazzelbach subtly changed her email by changing a period to an underscore and began controlling her account - and some functions of her smart phone.

Kazzelbach, the plea agreement continues, proceeded to hack into her student loan account; changed her username on Instagram to include the word "whore." He also used his access from working at the insurance company to forge letters from clients to the woman saying the clients wished to cancel their health insurance policy.

Then, court records show, he hacked her health insurance account and bank account, changing demographic information on the former and locking her out of the latter.

At some point along the way, he sent a mocking message to her using an application that secreted his phone number and identity. "Prepare yourself for what's coming... the last 3 months were just the beginning," he wrote.

Authorities eventually caught on, his plea states. And when confronted, he admitted to much of the harassment.