Tennessee Man Arrested for Extortion
Posted on Mar 20, 2009 10:41am PDT
Recently, the Morristown Citizen Tribune reported that the TBI (Tennessee Bureau of Investigation) arrested a former state employee, 65 year old James Atkins, for extortion. Atkins, a resident of Hamblen County, was arrested by police and later booked at Hamblen County Jail for one count of extortion. Extortion is the act of obtaining money through the use of verbal threats or threats of physical harm.
According to the TBI, Atkins had written letters to the state's Retirement System regarding money that he said was owed to him. He sent the letters throughout the course of the past two years. In his last letter, dated February 19, 2009, Atkins threatened the Department of Treasury Consolidated Retirement System and insisted that he was owed $750. Due to the threatening and menacing nature of his letter, authorities decided to press charges against him.
After his arrest and booking, Atkins was released from jail on a $5,000 bond. He is scheduled to appear in Hamblen County General Sessions Court today, March 20th for a hearing.
If you have been charged with a crime, such as
extortion, click here to find a
Tennessee criminal defense attorney!
