Bangor, Maine: United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Patrick
M. Curley, 50, of Passaic, New Jersey, pled guilty today in U.S. District Court to
extortion. Curley was indicted on March 21, 2013.
According to court documents, in March 2010, Curley applied on-line for a job with
Vescom, a Hampden, Maine-based security firm. On April 21, 2010, Curley met Vescom’s
Senior Vice President for a job interview in New York. In e-mails and a voice message left after
the interview, he expressed ongoing interest in the job. On April 27, however, he e-mailed
Vescom’s Senior Vice President and falsely accused her of sexual harassment and discrimination
and threatened to sue. In the months that followed, both he and an attorney representing him
contacted Vescom employees and staff counsel threatening to sue and take his claims to the
media if they could not reach a financial settlement. Curley’s claims of sexual harassment and
discrimination were false and were intended to extort money from Vescom.
Curley faces up to two years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or both. He will be sentenced
after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
