An Arizona couple were indicted by a federal grand jury on multiple felony charges after attempting to extort money from Georgia Tech by falsely accusing basketball coach Josh Pastner of sexual assault.
Ronald Bell and Jennifer Pendley were indicted Aug. 24 on charges of conspiracy to transmit a threat interstate, conspiracy to extort property from another and attempted extortion. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia released details Tuesday after Bell was arraigned in Atlanta.
“The defendants are alleged to have falsely accused Georgia Tech’s coach of sexual assault,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a news release. “They then demanded a large payment in exchange for a retraction of the claim. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and our other federal law enforcement partners are especially proficient in exposing false allegations designed to extort money.
“Individuals who attempt to perpetrate such criminal schemes at the expense of law-abiding citizens will be caught and prosecuted.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Bell demanded money from Georgia Tech representatives in exchange for not going through with the assault claim. Bell allegedly conspired with a Georgia Tech security guard, having the guard claim that he witnessed Pastner assault Pendley.
The guard ultimately confessed to law enforcement that he made false statements on their behalf because he was promised a portion of the demanded money, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which Bell promised could be approach $20 million.
Bell is a former friend of Pastner’s who in 2017 alleged that Pastner provided two Georgia Tech players improper benefits. Pastner responded by self-reporting the violations to the school’s compliance department, which in turn reported it to the NCAA — leading to the suspensions of the two players, six games for Josh Okogie and three games for Tadric Jackson. The program also received four years of probation.
In January 2018, Pastner filed suit in Arizona saying that Bell and his girlfriend, Pendley, were attempting to blackmail him with the threat of a false sexual assault accusation. Bell and Pendley countersued a month later claiming multiple instances of harassment. But Pastner was cleared of wrongdoing by a Title IX investigation.
That didn’t stop Bell and Pendley from trying again, per reports.
Pendley called police in May 2019 to claim that Pastner assaulted her in 2016 while he coached at Memphis. Pastner’s attorneys provided evidence, namely recordings of phone calls while Bell was in jail for a previous conviction, that indicated the couple fabricated the accusation in an attempt to profit.
–Field Level Media