Imagine a real-life psychological thriller where the villain carries a federal badge. When a high-ranking U.S. Marshal’s relationship with his fiancé imploded over an Anaheim condo, he didn’t just walk away—he used his elite training to launch a digital war. Alongside his new wife, he framed his ex-girlfriend for orchestrating graphic “rape fantasy” Craigslist lures and sending death threats to their own front door. To dial up the drama and manipulate the police, the couple even used a fake sonogram purchased from Etsy and a doctored pregnancy test to claim the stress was causing a “miscarriage”. The result? An innocent woman spent 88 days in high-security jail facing a life sentence, all while the real mastermind wore a badge and pumped his fist in excitement at her arrest. Today, we are roasting the sloppy OPSEC and the “blue wall of silence” that allowed a federal agent to weaponize the police against the woman he once promised to marry.
Sources:
- https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/59911729/united-states-v-diaz/
- https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/14547216/michelle-suzanne-hadley-v-city-of-anaheim/
- https://nypost.com/2023/03/27/deputy-us-marshal-convicted-in-fake-rape-fantasy-plot/
- https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/cop-lures-men-internet-rape-29548746
- https://lawandcrime.com/crime/us-marshal-convicted-for-luring-men-from-craigslist-to-rape-his-wife-in-plot-to-blame-his-ex-girlfriend/
Transcript:
00:00:10:02 – 00:00:41:52
Dr. Keith Jones
What’s up, you crazy bastards? Welcome to another episode of eCrimeBytes. This is where I research the court documentation and roast the criminals so you don’t have to. Today we’re talking about an active duty deputy U.S. Marshal, a guy whose day job is investigating cyber threats. A federal jury found that he decided to frame his innocent ex-fiancée by setting up a fake Craigslist rape fantasy sting at his own condo.
00:00:41:57 – 00:01:02:38
Dr. Keith Jones
His OpSec was so incredibly bad that an innocent person spent 88 days in jail, while trial evidence proved his new wife faked a pregnancy with a sonogram that she bought from Etsy. Grab a drink. You’re going to need it.
00:01:02:43 – 00:01:06:16
Dr. Keith Jones
Let’s set the stage. Meet Ian Diaz.
00:01:06:16 – 00:01:12:54
Dr. Keith Jones
In 2015. Ian is a US Marshal in Los Angeles. He and his fiancee, Michelle Hadley
00:01:12:54 – 00:01:15:32
Dr. Keith Jones
decided to buy a place together in Anaheim.
00:01:15:32 – 00:01:24:05
Dr. Keith Jones
Look at this swanky high end $470,000 luxury pad. Michelle actually drops the 14k
00:01:24:10 – 00:01:25:50
Dr. Keith Jones
down payment for it.
00:01:25:56 – 00:01:42:44
Dr. Keith Jones
But according to prosecutors, Ian’s a controlling monster. They break up. Michelle moves out, and she demands he take over the mortgage or sell the place so she can get her money back. Ian wants to keep the condo, but he can’t afford it.
00:01:42:48 – 00:02:01:01
Dr. Keith Jones
So what’s a sworn federal law enforcement officer to do? He immediately marries a new woman named Angela, moves her into the condo and, according to court documents, hatches a master plan to frame his ex-girlfriend for federal cyber crimes so he doesn’t have to pay her
00:02:01:01 – 00:02:04:39
Dr. Keith Jones
out.
00:02:04:44 – 00:02:15:05
Dr. Keith Jones
In 2016, the DOJ proved that a US Marshal named Ian Diaz and his new wife, Angela hatched a plan to frame his ex-girlfriend for cyberstalking.
00:02:15:10 – 00:02:42:04
Dr. Keith Jones
Trial evidence showed that they created fake email accounts and started sending themselves the most unhinged, violent threats imaginable. I’m talking threats of murder, rape, and they also attach photos of dead fetuses. But here is where the genius OpSec begins. To make sure the police know it’s his ex, Michelle, they sign almost every single email with her full
00:02:42:12 – 00:02:45:31
Dr. Keith Jones
name, Michelle S Hadley.
00:02:45:36 – 00:03:19:39
Dr. Keith Jones
So who frames someone for violent felonies and signs it like a corporate memo? “I’m going to destroy your life. Best regards, Michelle S Hadley sent from my iPhone”. But Ian doesn’t stop there. Prosecutors established that he goes on Craigslist to the casual encounter section. Posing as Michelle, he replies to rape fantasy ads, gives random men his own address, and tells them to come over and attack his new wife.
00:03:19:44 – 00:03:47:41
Dr. Keith Jones
On June 13th, 2016, trial records show that US Martial Ian Diaz uses Craigslist to lure a stranger to his own condo for the fake rape fantasy. According to body cam footage and police reports presented at trial, Ian waits outside with his badge around his neck and his gun drawn. The local cops show up and Ian leans into his day job hard.
00:03:47:46 – 00:03:48:30
Dr. Keith Jones
He looks at
00:03:48:30 – 00:03:58:20
Dr. Keith Jones
the cops and he plays victim perfectly, asking, “At what point does this go get arrested for sending this shit and hiring guys off a Craigslist to rape Angela? I’m just curious”.
00:03:58:20 – 00:04:01:27
Dr. Keith Jones
The trial’s transcripts also show he brags to the
00:04:01:32 – 00:04:07:25
Dr. Keith Jones
officers. “I work on judicial threats, and we have seen some really sick shit. Nothing like this.”
00:04:07:26 – 00:04:32:08
Dr. Keith Jones
And then he pushes them to arrest his ex. When the officer confirms that they’re going to charge her with a felony, the footage captures Ian pumping his fist in the air and yelling, “Fuck yeah! That’s all I give a shit about.” The local cops actually arrest his innocent ex, and she spends 88 days in a high security jail.
00:04:32:13 – 00:04:48:41
Dr. Keith Jones
Let’s get to the roast. Because US Marshal Ian Diaz’s OpSec is about to spectacularly implode. The jury determined that he had just framed his ex-girlfriend for sending death threats and posting Craigslist rape fantasies.
00:04:48:46 – 00:04:49:30
Dr. Keith Jones
Fail number
00:04:49:33 – 00:05:15:21
Dr. Keith Jones
one, the IP address. Ian thought he was a ghost because he used a VPN, but he got lazy. The DOJ’s Microsoft warrant returns showed that 21 of those violent emails came from a static IP address. Where do you think that static IP address resolved to? his ex? No. It resolved Ian’s own living room Wi-Fi.
00:05:15:21 – 00:05:24:33
Dr. Keith Jones
Fail number two, the Craigslist subpoena. The detective finally decides to send a warrant to Craigslist. The recovery email address on the account
00:05:24:37 – 00:05:44:56
Dr. Keith Jones
that posted the rape ads is [email protected]. This is Ian’s personal Gmail account. And then later, when confronted by federal investigators, Ian said he was just doing his own independent research by messaging the hacker.
00:05:45:10 – 00:05:55:09
Dr. Keith Jones
Sure. And then why does your email address show up as the person who posted the ad?
00:05:55:14 – 00:06:15:06
Dr. Keith Jones
As the jury found, Angela Diaz and her US Marshall husband just framed this innocent ex-girlfriend, throwing her in a maximum security jail for 88 days. To make sure the judge through the book at her, Angela told police that the stress of cyberstalking caused her to miscarry twins.
00:06:15:11 – 00:06:23:08
Dr. Keith Jones
To prove it, she showed them a sonogram. But investigators discovered she wasn’t pregnant.
00:06:23:11 – 00:06:55:46
Dr. Keith Jones
Court records show she went on Etsy.com and bought a fake ultrasound. I didn’t even know that was possible. What did she type into the search bar? “Artisanal Handcrafted Perjury” or “Rustic Obstruction of Justice”? So they just took these fake Etsy medical records, and they submitted it into a criminal investigation to get an innocent woman locked up.
00:06:55:51 – 00:07:14:20
Dr. Keith Jones
The scheme completely unravels. The US Marshall and his wife, they’re caught framing his ex-girlfriend for cyberstalking. The district attorney realizes the local PD completely botched the investigation. The innocent girlfriend is exonerated and released after 88 days of absolute hell in jail.
00:07:14:20 – 00:07:20:01
Dr. Keith Jones
During a later civil deposition, a lawyer asks the Marshal, Ian Diaz,
00:07:20:13 – 00:07:38:32
Dr. Keith Jones
under oath “Did you ever forward any emails to the police department from Angela’s account”? And Ian’s response was “No. Correction. I would forward emails that she had already forwarded to me”. And spoiler alert, the federal investigators discovered that Ian sent them himself.
00:07:38:46 – 00:07:41:23
Dr. Keith Jones
That’s a perjury charge, folks.
00:07:41:23 – 00:07:42:08
Dr. Keith Jones
Let’s check
00:07:42:08 – 00:08:07:06
Dr. Keith Jones
the final scoreboard. Angela Diaz takes a plea deal. She gets five years in state prison. Ian Diaz, the US Marshal, who thought he was smarter than everybody else, goes to trial. He is convicted of conspiracy, cyberstalking, perjury and obstruction of justice. And he got 121 months in federal prison. So ten years and one month.
00:08:07:06 – 00:08:33:37
Dr. Keith Jones
Well, listeners, the case of Ian Diaz proves one thing. Just because you have a federal badge and a computer crimes training manual doesn’t mean you know how an IP address works. He tried to play 4D chess, but ended up checkmating himself with his own router over a condo. If you want more deep dives into terrible OpSec and digital stupidity, make sure you hit subscribe.
00:08:33:49 – 00:08:38:23
Dr. Keith Jones
All right, you crazy bastards. Thanks for tuning in. I’ll see you in the next episode.
Leave a Reply