Texas Man Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Stalking Taylor Swift

A Texas man will spend more time behind bars over his unhealthy obsession with Taylor Swift.

The Associated Press reports Austin resident Eric Swarbrick received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for stalking the pop star and sending threatening letters to her former label. The sentencing was announced nearly a year after Swarbrick pleaded guilty to a count of “interstate stalking and sending interstate communications with the intent to threaten.”

Prosecutors say the man had sent more than 40 letters and emails to Big Machine Label Group in 2018, asking the CEO to introduce him to the singer-songwriter. Not only did the letters become increasingly violent and threatening, Swarbrick reportedly drove to Nashville on three different occasions to personally deliver them to Big Machine’s Music Row office.

According to Law & Crime, Swarbrick’s letters included a threat to kill himself in front of Big Machine founder Scott Borchetta as well as a threat to kill and rape Swift. 

“Too often, we have seen the consequences of ignoring signs of escalating violent behavior by some individuals,” U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee said in a press release about the case. “The attention given to this matter by our law enforcement partners and the resulting federal charges we have brought should serve to prevent a future tragic event.”