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Former K&L Gates Partner Sentenced to Two Years in Prison for Cyberstalking

February 15, 2023

Reuters reported on February 10 that a Manhattan federal judge sentenced a former partner at K&L Gates to two years in prison for sending harassing and threatening messages to former law partners and other colleagues at the firm.

Willie Dennis was convicted of three counts of cyberstalking in October 2022 and sentenced on February 9, 2023. Prosecutors said he sent a large volume of menacing messages to three K&L Gates partners as part of a cyberstalking campaign that began in 2018 and accelerated after he was fired the following year.

Dennis’ threats caused one person at the firm to leave New York and move to another state, while another upgraded his home security system and slept with a loaded gun next to his bed, prosecutors said.

“The sentence imposed today ensures that Dennis’s victims will no longer needlessly endure his attacks,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

Dennis, 60, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in the Southern District of New York. Prosecutors had pushed for a 4 1/2-year prison sentence, while the defense said Dennis, who has been in custody since his conviction, should get credit for time served and be placed on supervised release.

A lawyer for Dennis, David Cohen, did not immediately respond to Reuter’s request for comment. Cohen said in a court filing that Dennis was remorseful for his behavior, which he said followed a difficult period in his personal life and mounting frustration over his treatment at the firm.

Dennis, who is Black, sued K&L Gates for racial discrimination and retaliation in November 2020 in Manhattan federal court. He claimed he was wrongly fired for raising concerns about alleged race and gender bias at the firm.

K&L Gates denied Dennis’ allegations in both public statements and in court. His discrimination lawsuit was paused pending the outcome of arbitration proceedings between him and the firm.

The arbitration proceedings were also put on hold because of the criminal case.

The case is USA v. Dennis, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 1:20-cr-00623.

Sharon D. Nelson, Esq., President, Sensei Enterprises, Inc.
3975 University Drive, Suite 225, Fairfax, VA 22030
Email:   Phone: 703-359-0700
Digital Forensics/Cybersecurity/Information Technology
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