The man who pleaded guilty to stalking country music songstress Shania Twain was sentenced on Tuesday to three years probation.
A judge told Giovanni Palumbo that he is not allowed within half a mile of Canadian country star Shania Twain, her family or any of her professional staff. He’s forbidden from contacting Twain, 46, and also must undergo counseling.
The former doctor was arrested at the Air Canada Centre, where he had come to see Twain win an award at the Juno Awards.
He had been under a court order to stay away from Twain when the singer’s security team saw him in the crowd and alerted police.
At the time, he was carrying a card with a message that he had intended to give to Twain and he was charged with criminal harassment.
Defense lawyer Gary Barnes said his client has a mental health issue.
Twain, who had made headlines this year with her book, previously testified via video and described the numerous lovelorn letters Palumbo had mailed to her homes in Ontario and Switzerland. She discussed the feelings of fear and vulnerability conjured by his unwanted visits.
Prior to that incident, Twain had placed a restraining order against Palumbo for sending her hundreds of letters and showing up at her Muskoka cottage and at Twain’s grandmother’s funeral.
At a trial in Ottawa earlier this year, the charges were thrown out when Twain did not appear in court to testify.
When she testified last month by video link against Palumbo, describing in detail his letters and her fear of him, Palumbo, 51, changed his plea to guilty.
In the past few years, since Palumbo began his obsession, he has lost his family and his license to practice medicine.
Image courtesy WENN
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