A man who posed as a UT football player to try to extort money and valuables from a Sweetwater, Tenn., woman was sentenced to 30 months in prison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Brandon Douglas Shanahan, 22, of Sweetwater, posed as player Cameron Sutton and tried to extort money and valuables from a woman through a Snapchat communication that threatened to injure her reputation.
He was arrested in May 2016 and pleaded guilty to a single count in November. His sentencing took place Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Knoxville, the U.S. attorney’s office said in a news release.
After entering his guilty plea, it was discovered that Shanahan engaged in new conduct that could have been charged in a subsequent indictment, the release stated. However, the U.S. attorney’s office agreed to allow Shanahan to plead guilty to an additional count before his sentencing Tuesday.
A detailed account of Shanahan’s conduct leading to his arrest is included in the criminal complaint and supporting affidavit on file with U.S. District Court in Knoxville.
According to the affidavit, Shanahan conversed via Snapchat with the female victim using the name “Camsutton2323.” The victim believed she was communicating with Sutton, since the display name for Camsutton2323 was “Cameron Sutton” and the number 23 is Sutton’s University of Tennessee jersey number.
The investigation by law enforcement revealed that Sutton himself was a victim of criminal impersonation. Sutton had not conversed with the victim via Snapchat or any other method of communication and had no knowledge of Shanahan’s impersonation of him.