Dallas Woman Pleads Guilty To Making Harassing Calls

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DALLAS (1080 KRLD) - A Dallas woman has pleaded guilty to federal charges of making multiple harassing phone calls to university and municipal police departments throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Tameira Janell Smith, 23, pleaded guilty to using a device to disguise her number and calling officials - telling them she was a victim or a crime, or even injured.

In some cases she would create a scene, in others she would leave before officers arrived.

Smith, who is now in custody, was arrested on October 13, 2015, and she was released on supervised pretrial release.

On June 24, 2016, the government filed a motion for detention and a hearing was held on June 30, 2016.  The court found she had violated her conditions of pretrial release by committing a crime while on release.

Former federal prosecutor Richard Roper said these charges where added to assault charges to make sure she was off the streets.

"Agents felt like she was a clear danger and felt like something should happen before it could escalate and someone could be killed," said Roper, which is why that's why federal authorities added the harassing calls charges. "This woman has mental health problems and she assaulted some medical professionals. As a result of that they filed charges. They decided to also bring federal charges relating to harassing calls."

Roper said the laws they used are designed to keep ex spouses or stalkers from harassing their targets using phone calls.

According to prosecutors, Smith faces a maximum statutory penalty of two years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine for each count.

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