An Orlando man who previously attended the University of Utah has been sentenced to more than two years in federal prison for stalking and threatening to kill a former classmate.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida announced that Abdalla Hatim Elhakiem, 30, has been sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment for stalking and interstate transmission of a threat to injure.
Elhakiem had previously pleaded guilty to the charges in February 2026.
According to court records, Elhakiem previously attended the Biochemistry Ph.D. program at the University of Utah. He was suspended from the university after slashing the tire of a car owned by the female victim, who was a fellow student in the program.
Following the suspension, Elhakiem returned to Orlando.
In November 2024, Elhakiem began sending threatening and harassing emails to the victim, which was in violation of a Utah protective order. In those emails, he threatened to “sexually assault and kill” the victim.
Elhakiem used foreign email services based in Switzerland and Germany, as well as a Virtual Private Network (VPN) and other methods, in an attempt to hide his identity.
However, on August 6, 2025, Elhakiem sent an email to the victim in which he threatened to kill her. The email in question was sent from a Gmail account, which Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents were able to link directly to Elhakiem.
The case was investigated by the FBI, with assistance from the Salt Lake City Police Department and the University of Utah Police Department.