A jury convicted an Akron man on five counts for related to an extortion plot, said Carole S. Rendon, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, and Stephen D. Anthony, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Cleveland office.
Franklin D. Conley, 28, was convicted on one count of violating the Hobbs Act, three counts of use of a communication facility to facilitate a drug offense and one count of interstate communication with intent to extort following a weeklong trial. He was acquitted of one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin.
Conley and Patrick Griffin repeatedly threatened the victim and his family, beginning in February 2015, with serious physical harm or death if they were not given money or introduced to a source of illegal drugs, according to court documents and trial testimony.
Conley is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 29.
Griffin, 29, also of Akron, has pleaded guilty to his role in the crime and is awaiting sentencing.
The investigation preceding the indictment was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The matter is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Teresa Riley and Robert Bulford
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI)
