Rickey Pouncil sentenced in extortion plot
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - A Rosemount man has been sentenced to 13 months in prison for an extortion scheme that ended with the victim's suicide.
Rickey Pouncil pleaded guilty to coercion in a plot to extort $500,000 from Bloomington businessman Dan Kreye. His body was found in the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in May 2010. Kreye left a note about the extortion before taking his life with a shotgun.
Prosecutors say they could only show that Pouncil wound up with $165,000 for his threats to reveal Kreye's extramarital indiscretions. Two women involved in the scheme have pleaded guilty to coercion and were each sentenced to three years' probation.
Kreye's widow, Susan, told the Pioneer Press (http://bit.ly/qY2RAv) Tuesday that Pouncil's punishment was lenient compared with the strain of her husband's death and revelations about his private life.
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(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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