Woman Arrested In Alleged Extortion Plot

Sat., Sept. 2, 2000

From Staff Reports

Spokane police arrested a 31-year-old woman who is accused of trying to extort money from a man and his wife by threatening to make public alleged sex-for-money encounters with the husband.

On Thursday, Anne Marie Kay Cardwell was booked into jail on charges of second-degree extortion, a felony, according to police.

The couple contacted police and told detectives the woman had called several times, claiming she would make public that the husband had sex with her several times for money, according to police spokesman Dick Cottam. The couple denied that the encounters happened.

Cardwell allegedly demanded $1,000 in cash to leave Spokane or she would expose “the affair,” Cottam said. Undercover officers obtained a court order allowing them to videotape and record conversations between Cardwell and the alleged victim.

A meeting was arranged for Thursday, when Cardwell would meet with the wife, who said she would bring along a friend, Cottam said.

The friend was a female police officer who recorded the meeting, in which the threat and extortion offer were repeated, Cottam said. Cardwell was then arrested and booked into jail, he said.

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