BOSTON, April 8, 2015—A man and woman today pleaded guilty to extorting thousands of dollars from victims through threatening phone calls, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.
JOSE O. CARRASQUILLO (D.O.B. 5/1/81) and JENNIFER RODRIGUEZ (D.O.B. 8/1/83), both of Springfield, appeared today in Suffolk Superior Court, where they admitted to taking part in a conspiracy to extort money by claiming that they held the victim’s loved one captive and would harm the captive if ransom was not paid.
“The so-called ‘kidnap scam’ has been used across the country,” Conley said. “In almost every case, investigators have learned very quickly that the nominal victims were safe and sound. Cases like these can be frightening, but victims who slow down and check on their loved ones can avoid significant financial losses.”
Carrasquillo pleaded guilty to two counts each of attempted extortion, money laundering, and receiving stolen property over $250, and a single count of conspiracy. Rodriguez pleaded guilty to single counts of attempted extortion, money laundering, receiving stolen property over $250, and conspiracy. Assistant District Attorney Greer Spatz of the DA’s Special Prosecutions Unit recommended sentences of two and a half years in a house of correction, with one year to serve and the balance suspended for a probationary period of two years, plus restitution to the victims forthwith.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Carol Ball imposed that sentence on Carrasquillo. For Rodriguez, Ball ordered a two-and-a-half-year term, with 30 days to serve and the balance suspended for two years. She ordered both defendants to pay restitution.
Had the case proceeded to trial, Assistant District Attorney Greer Spatz of the DA’s Special Prosecutions Unit would have presented evidence and testimony to prove that Carrasquillo placed a Dec. 15, 2013, phone call to a Revere mother, stating that the woman’s daughter, who was away at college, had been involved in a car accident with the caller’s cousin, who was a violent fugitive. The fugitive had a gun to the daughter’s head, the caller said, and would kill her if the victim didn’t do as she was told.
The victim remained on the phone with Carrasquillo for three hours while making two Western Union wire transfers totaling $1,000 to Rodriguez.
Revere Police detectives identified two separate locations where Rodriguez picked up the wire transfers and obtained the identification information Rodriguez was required to present when receiving the funds at each location. Surveillance cameras captured Carrasqillo accompanying Rodriguez as she picked up the money.
The evidence also showed that Carrasquillo made a similar threatening call to an East Boston woman on Jan. 3, 2014, prompting the woman to make wire transfers of $3,800.
Carrasquillo and Rodriguez each made subsequent transfers to launder and conceal the funds. It is believed that they kept a portion of the money and provided the remaining funds to other co-conspirators, prosecutors said.
Revere Police detectives obtained arrest warrants for Carrasquillo and Rodriguez and on Jan. 16, 2014, stopped the vehicle Carrasquillo was driving. Inside, officers observed a Western Union receipt; the slip named the second victim as the individual who sent the funds to Carrasquillo.
Jassie Senwah was the DA’s assigned victim-witness advocate. Carrasquillo was represented by Francisco Napolitano and Rodriguez by Richard Barrett.
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All defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
