TBI: man extorted money from sister of inmate
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation says an undercover operation interrupted an extortion scheme.
The agency said agents arrested 38-year-old William Kelly Stewart III of Lafayette (lah-FAY’-et), charging him with one count of extortion. Stewart was booked into the Cheatham County Jail.
TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm said the prosecutor for Cheatham County asked the TBI to investigate allegations that Stewart was repeatedly calling and texting a Cheatham County woman. The messages claimed she owed him $500 for smuggling in drugs for her brother, who is an inmate in the Robertson County Jail. The messages said Stewart knew where the victim and her elderly mother lived and he was coming to collect.
When Stewart picked up a bag where the victim was told to put the cash, agents arrested him.
