PITTSBURGH — The Western District of Pennsylvania U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday, July 9 that an Ellenwood man was sentenced in federal court to two years in prison after his conviction of conspiring and traveling interstate to commit extortion.
According to information presented in court, Richard Long, 50 participated in a conspiracy to extort money from victims in western Pennsylvania in July 2022.
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.
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 about $39,750 to Long and his co-conspirators.
Prior to imposing sentence, United States District Judge William S. Stickman IV spoke to the “reprehensible” conduct of the conspirators, saying that they specifically targeted good, hard-working citizens to get their money.
United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Allegheny County Sheriff's Office for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Long.
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