Defendant in Sextortion Case Dies Suddenly

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One of the defendants in a salacious $3 million sextortion case involving an Orchard Lake software mogul could potentially died suddenly this week.

The dead woman, Jessica Tackett, 25, of Romulus, was charged along with her parents — Terry Tackett, of Westland, and Kimberly Tackett — with extorting $3 million from software executive Paul Vagnozzi, who retired in 2005 after selling his company, Rochester Hills-based Cypress Corp., for $8.7 million.

The three reportedly extorted money from Vagnozzi after threatening to tell police about an alleged threesome with her and her teenaged cousin, prosecutors said. Terry Tackett allegedly was the mastermind of the scheme.

Jessica Tackett, who federal prosecutors say was a prostitute and stripper, died Monday. The cause of death is unknown, and could take up to eight weeks to determine, Wayne County Medical Examiner’s Office spokesman Ryan Bridges told The Detroit News. She reportedly had a long history of drug addiction.

Related:

• Prosecutors: Hooker Blackmailed Software Exec with Sex Threesome to Extort $3M

A GoFundMe site has raised $5,200 for her burial costs. Terry Tackett, 53, who is being held at a federal prison in Milan, was released so he could attend his daughter’s funeral Friday over some relatives’ objections and despite claims that he once threatened to rip out his fiancee’s genitalia and hang her from a tree.

Officers with the U.S. Marshals Service were ordered to attend the funeral with Terry Tackett.

U.S. District Judge John Corbett O’Meara freed Westland resident Terry Tackett, 53, from a federal prison in Milan but ordered the U.S. Marshals Service to shadow him during his temporary freedom.

According to a 119-count indictment unsealed in federal court in March, Terry Tackett allegedly ordered his friends in the Jokers Motorcycle Club to hurt Vagnozzi if he didn’t give in to his demands for cash. The extortion scheme reportedly dates back to 2008.

The federal trial on the charges begins Jan. 11.

Jessica Tackett was free on $10,000 unsecured bond at the time of her death, and reportedly had no knowledge about the alleged extortion scheme, her lawyer, Doraid Elder, told The Detroit News.

“Other than disappointment, she had no ill will towards her father,” Elder said. “She had no knowledge of what her father was doing. It’s sad and unfortunate but she won’t have her day in court.”

Her attorney said that Jessica Tackett, who was the mother of a toddler, “was on the wagon” and “had a clear mind” when he spoke with her. If she died of a narcotics overdose, “it would not be something intentional.”

“She would never have wanted to leave her son without a mother,” he said.

» Photo via GoFundMe