The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Friday upheld a four-year prison sentence for a Long Island man convicted of cyberstalking his ex-girlfriend at the State University of New York College in Geneseo, finding that the sentence was a "reasonable" departure above the federal guidelines.

A three-judge panel of the Manhattan-based appeals court said Thomas Traficante's prison term, followed by three years of supervised release, was well-rooted in the offense, which a federal judge at sentencing called "about as serious as they get."

Traficante pleaded guilty in 2018 to charges of cyberstalking and distribution of a controlled substance in a two-month campaign to terrorize his former girlfriend after the two broke up.