Monday, February 22, 2010

ASHANTI'S STALKER ARRESTED

A Manhattan judge sentenced a man who bombarded the mom of singer Ashanti with pictures of his private parts to two years in jail.



Calling it a "completely unsatisfactory situation," Supreme Court Justice Thomas Farber on Thursday ordered delusional Devar Hurd to jail for harassing and stalking the singer's mom, Tina Douglas, with raunchy text messages and what prosecutors labeled "self-created pornography."

Hurd -- whom the judge would have preferred putting on probation and in treatment -- had insisted the pictures of him pleasuring himself were "for the ladies."

"Yes, I've sent some adult text messages, for adults only," Hurd said. "My intent was not to harm."

The self-styled hip-hop CEO, model and car salesman has been jailed at Rikers Island since being arrested in July for swamping Douglas with years' worth of cell phone filth meant for Ashanti.

"Even if he believed that Ashanti was in love with him, his conduct was not that of a man wooing a woman," said assistant district attorney Carolina Holderness. "It's not like he was sending her flowers."

Hurd, 31, had said he and Ashanti shared a connection after their eyes locked for a split second at a Chicago concert. That fleeting moment launched his wacky campaign to contact Ashanti, in which he sang into the answering machine of hip-hop mogul Irv Gotti and rhapsodized about having sex with the singer.

"I only wish the best for her and her career," he said.

Farber said he would have preferred to place Hurd on probation and in a program to combat what he described was "a very serious mental illness."

The judge was left with few options, though, because Hurd's family recently moved to Illinois, and a hoped-for probation sentence could not be worked out with that state.

Farber ordered that Hurd's Indiana license to carry a semi-automatic weapon be revoked, shaking his head as he expressed disbelief that he had been granted a permit.

"Mr. Hurd, I realize that you don't want to hear this, but it's obvious to me that you need help," Farber said.

Hurd's lawyer, Richard Verchick, said he will appeal.

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