2002-07-12 -- Alexander, Andre -- Guilty Plea -- News Release

Garfield Man Admits Extortion/Kidnaping Hoax Intended to Pay Gambling Debt

CAMDEN - A Garfield man today admitted conspiring to stage an extortion hoax in which he telephoned his California relatives and falsely told them that he had been kidnaped and beaten by persons to whom he owed a gambling debt, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Andre Alexander, 29, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stephen M. Orlofsky to an Information charging him with conspiracy to transmit in interstate commerce communications containing threats to injure another.

Sentencing for Alexander is scheduled for Oct. 25. Alexander faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Judge Orlofsky ordered Alexander detained pending sentencing. Alexander previously had been free on $50,000 bond, but Orlofsky ordered him jailed today after the government informed the Court of Alexander's extensive criminal history. At the time of the kidnaping hoax, Alexander was on state parole for this second robbery.

Alexander admitted that in October 2001, he and Timothy Hernandez, 38, of Brigantine conspired to stage the extortion hoax. On Oct. 17 Alexander called his California relatives with the story about being kidnaped and a ransom demand for the $2,100 owed for a gambling debt.

Hernandez pleaded guilty in March and faces the same potential penalties as Alexander. His sentencing also is scheduled for Oct. 25.

In a series of telephone calls subsequent to Alexander's phone contact with family members, Hernandez, posing as an "employee" of one of the kidnappers, told Alexander's relatives that Alexander would not be hurt if the relatives immediately wire transferred the money.

FBI agents in Los Angeles and Atlantic City quickly coordinated an investigation. The Los Angeles agents recorded several of the extortionate telephone calls. The New Jersey agents reviewed videotapes from Atlantic City casino surveillance cameras, focused on the public telephones from which Alexander and Hernandez had placed the calls. Those videotapes revealed that Alexander did not appear to be acting under coercion when he placed the calls.

Alexander's relatives nevertheless decided to comply with the extortionate demand, and wire transferred $2,100 to the Western Union office located at the Resorts Hotel/Casino in Atlantic City. There, the money was retrieved by Alexander, who gave $200 to Hernandez for his participation in the hoax.

Under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Judge Orlofsky will determine Alexander's actual sentence based on a formula that takes into account the severity and characteristics of the offense and criminal history, if any. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Under Sentencing Guidelines, defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Louie F. Allen, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Newark, with developing the case against Hernandez.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Norman Gross and Howard Wiener of the U.S. Attorney's Criminal Division in Camden.

Defense Attorney: Christopher O'Malley, Esq. Camden

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