PENSACOLA, FL – A Florida business man who attempted to extort the father of Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz for $25 million was sentenced to just over five years in prison earlier in August in connection with the failed extortion plot.
On August 22nd, U.S. District Judge Casey Rodgers sentenced 62-year-old Stephen Alford to five years and three months behind bars, followed by three years of supervised release after Alford pleaded guilty in 2021 to a single count of wire fraud.
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The bizarre extortion schemed aimed at the Florida Republican’s father, Don Gaetz, was initially exposed back in the spring of 2021 as it wound up bearing some connection to the then-ongoing allegations that Rep. Gaetz was being investigated for affairs involving an underage girl.
While nothing has ever come from the rumors of a purported investigation into Rep. Gaetz, the same clearly isn’t the case with regard to the extortion plot.
As odd as it sounds, Rep. Gaetz’s father was being extorted for $25 million, with Alford and his alleged cohorts claiming the money would be used in part to help secure a presidential pardon for Rep. Gaetz regarding these rumors of sexual misconduct involving a minor.
On top of getting a presidential pardon, Alford also claimed the $25 million would be used to rescue a man known as Robert Levinson – an FBI agent presumed deceased whose been missing for over 15 years and was thought to be held by the Iranian government at the time of his presumed death.
Alford was indicted in August of 2021 under charges of “wire fraud and the attempted prevention of seizure of an electronic device,” according to a release from the Justice Department at the time. By November of 2021, Alford had pleaded guilty to the single wire fraud count, which carried a potential 20 years in federal prison.
Per the plea agreement signed by Alford last November, he admitted that “between March 16, and April 7, 2021, he engaged in a scheme to defraud the victim out of $25 million based upon Alford’s false promises and guarantees to secure a Presidential Pardon for a family member of the victim.”
The November 2021 Justice Department release further added, “The scheme involved a series of meetings and text message exchanges between Alford and the victim, as well as undercover recordings arranged by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. During the exchanges, Alford repeatedly promised the victim that Alford had access to the current President of the United States.”
Alford was originally slated to be sentenced back in February, although it’s unclear as to why sentencing was pushed all the way out to August.
The news of the Gaetz family extortionist being put behind bars comes on the heels of Rep. Gaetz having won the primary race in Florida, despite relentless attacks from the media and even his primary challenger Mark Lombardo.
This piece was written by Gregory Hoyt on August 24, 2022. It originally appeared in RedVoiceMedia.com and is used by permission.
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