BANGOR, Maine — A New Jersey man who pleaded guilty last year to extortion in connection with his attempts to land a job at Vescom Corp., a Hampden-based firm that provides security for businesses, was sentenced Friday to two years in prison.
Patrick M. Curley, 51, of Passaic, New Jersey, also was ordered to undergo one year of supervised release upon completion of his sentence during a sentencing hearing in U.S. District Court, U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II said in a news release.
Curley pleaded guilty pleaded guilty to the extortion charge on April 7, 2013.
By pleading guilty, Curley admitted to having made phone calls, sent emails and letters to one of the firm’s senior executives in which he threatened legal action, claiming he had been offered a job in exchange for a three-way sexual encounter.
Curley’s intention was “to obtain money or something of value from Vescom to which he had no valid claim or right,” according to the prosecution version of events to which he pleaded guilty.
According to court documents, Curley applied online for a job with Vescom, a Hampden-based security firm in March 2010.
Curley met Vescom’s senior vice president for a job interview in New York on April 21 of that year. In emails and a voice message left after the interview, Curley expressed ongoing interest in the job, court documents indicated.
A week later, however, Curley emailed the Vescom official he met earlier and falsely accused her of sexual harassment and discrimination and threatened to sue, Delahanty said.
Curley threatened to file a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and to sue Vescom for sexual harassment.
In the months that followed, both Curley and an attorney representing him contacted Vescom employees and staff counsel seeking a $130,000 settlement and threatening to sue and take his claims to the media if they could not reach an agreement.
The FBI investigated the case, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Bangor Daily News writer Judy Harrison contributed to this report.