Tricking or forcing someone into paying money through the commission of another crime is charged as Criminal Extortion in Fort Collins and Larimer County. A woman is facing these charges after lying to her father about being kidnapped and demanding $400 in ransom. According to the report, the woman had been reported missing by her father after he received text messages from her phone and from another number stating that she had been abducted and would only be released after receiving $400. Police got involved in the money drop off and through cell phone pinging, the woman was found in an apartment – not kidnapped. Because she falsely reported a crime of Kidnapping in order to get money from her father, she is facing the Criminal Extortion crime.
Larimer County Extortion Lawyer: Definition of Criminal Extortion in Boulder
The Larimer and Boulder County, Colorado law definition of Criminal Extortion – C.R.S. 18-3-207 – is:
(a) The person, without legal authority and with the intent to induce another person against that other person’s will to perform an act or to refrain from performing a lawful act, makes a substantial threat to confine or restrain, cause economic hardship or bodily injury to, or damage the property or reputation of, the threatened person or another person; and
(b) The person threatens to cause the results described in paragraph (a) of this subsection (1) by:
(I) Performing or causing an unlawful act to be performed; or
(II) Invoking action by a third party, including, but not limited to, the state or any of its political subdivisions, whose interests are not substantially related to the interests pursued by the person making the threat.
Basically, to be charged with Extortion, you would have to meet all the conditions above. The woman caused economic hardship (by demanding money from her father), through falsely reporting a crime – which is an unlawful act.
Sentence for Criminal Extortion in Loveland and Estes Park
As a class 4 felony in Fort Collins, Loveland, and Estes Park, Criminal Extortion is punishable by 2 to 6 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections and up to $500,000 in fines.
If you or someone you love has been charged with Criminal Extortion, be smart, exercise your right to remain silent, and contact the best criminal defense attorneys from the O’Malley Law Office at 970-658-0007 to schedule a free consultation. Together, we can protect your future.
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