3-Some Extortion Suspect Used Violent Threats, Mob Ties: Prosecutors

Authorities paint a disturbingly violent portrait of Terry Tackett, the Westland man accused of trying to extort a software bigwig, a portrait involving physical threats and ties to organized crime, according to the Detroit News.

RELATED: Hooker Blackmailed Software Mogul with Sex Threesome to Extort $3M

Tackett, 52, along with his wife and 25-year-old daughter, was charged with attempting to extort almost $3 million out of Paul Vagnozzi, the retired former owner of Rochester Hils-based Cypress Corp. According to authorities, Tackett threatened to reveal details of a sexual three-way between Vagnozzi, Tackett’s daughter and her then-teenaged cousin unless the 61-year-old millionaire paid out $2.6 million.

Tackett is accused of punctuating these alleged extortion efforts with lynching threats and warnings that he would kill witnesses, according to the report. He also is alleged to have used other intimidation tactics with violent implications, such as claiming he was connected to the Mob and the Jokers Motorcycle club, the report stated.

Prosecutors say those connections, however, never existed, the report added.

>>Learn more about the details of this salacious case at the Detroit News