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

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Federal prosecutors said in a 119-count indictment unsealed this week that an alleged Westland hooker used a three-way sex tryst to blackmail an Orchard Lake software mogul in a years-long extortion conspiracy.

The indictment charges Terry Tackett, 52; his wife, Kimberly Tackett, 53; and their daughter, Jessica Tackett, 25, allegedly a stripper and prostitute, in the $3 million scheme against Paul Vagnozzi, who retired in 2005 after selling Rochester Hills-based Cypress Corp. for $8.7 million.

The businessman allegedly met Jessica Tackett during her shift as a topless pole dancer in 2008, began a sexual relationship with her shortly thereafter, and paid for the threesome with Jessica Tackett and her cousin, who were 18 and 17 at the time, according to court documents.

The salacious allegations in the indictment include threats to Vagnozzi that the family friends in the mafia and the Jokers Motorcycle Club would beat him up and the threesome would be made public if he failed to pay the hush money, The Detroit News reports.

From 2008-2012 Vagnozzi paid more than $2.6 million in cash and checks to Terry Tackett, who used the payoff to finance a lavish lifestyle in Romulus, prosecutors said.

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The alleged scheme began to unravel four years ago with an IRS investigation that began with Vagnozzi, 61, a prominent Oakland County resident whose late father, Aldo Vagnozzi, was a mayor of Farmington Hills before his election to the Michigan House of Representatives.

During their investigation, agents noticed similarities in Vagnozzi’s and Terry Tackett’s large bank withdrawals.

Prosecutors said Vagnozzi came up with various cover stories to explain the “loans” to Terry Tackett, included explanations that he needed “tendon surgery,” “chemotherapy,” a “biopsy,” “lung surgery” and a new Cadillac transmission, but finally revealed the alleged extortion scheme when confronted with discrepancies with Terry Tackett’s story.

Terry Tackett reportedly told bank employees that he was using the cash to buy a bar in Arizona and pay for his wife’s breast cancer treatments.

Vagnozzi – who the government said wasn’t named in the indictment because he is the alleged victim – declined to discuss the case with The Detroit News, saying only:

“I’ve moved on. I really don’t want to say anything.”

Jessica Tackett and Kimberly Tackett are charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice, punishable by up to five years in federal prison and $250,000 in fines.

Terry Tackett is charged with 119 counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice, tax evasion, money laundering and banking crimes. If convicted, he could spend up to 20 years in federal prison.