Georgia man sentenced for role in Pa. extortion scheme

(WKBN) — A Georgia man was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for his role in an interstate extortion scheme, the Department of Justice announced.

Richard Long, 50, was sentenced to two years of imprisonment on his conviction of conspiring and traveling interstate to commit extortion. According to information presented to the court, in July of 2022, Long participated in a conspiracy to extort money from victims in Western Pennsylvania.

Conspirators who had access to cell phones while incarcerated in a Georgia prison called victims and falsely represented themselves as sheriff’s deputies who had arrest warrants for the victims, the DOJ reports. Victims were told that these warrants were the result of their purported failure to appear for a court hearing pursuant to a subpoena that had supposedly been served on them.

The callers convinced victims that, to avoid arrest, they needed to appear at bail bond agencies in Pittsburgh, where victims then paid cash “bonds” or “fines” to Long when he met them in the parking lot.

Three victims paid a total of approximately $39,750 to Long and his co-conspirators.

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