Woman won’t face jail for extortion scheme

Chris Dumond / Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: January 11, 2008

A Gladstone woman will not go to jail after being convicted in October of extortion in a bizarre case in which she dressed up a 60-year-old male coworker in her underwear, tied him up and took his picture.

Lynchburg Circuit Judge Leyburn Mosby sentenced Harriett Sharta Bailey, 27, to 12 months probation Friday. Mosby reduced an earlier conviction of credit card theft to petit larceny.

"This is a most unusual case and in this court's opinion, the victim is as much at fault for bringing on this matter as you were," Mosby told Bailey.

The woman's lawyer, Joseph Sanzone, said there would have been no discussion of money if the victim had not broached the subject to begin with.

However, Mosby said, what was a consensual matter changed when the woman started taking photos.

According to testimony in the October trial, her coworker invited her over and participated in the tying up. However, once he realized she was taking pictures of him, he became upset.

The man testified that Bailey then took out a knife and told him to give her $7,000 or she would cut him to pieces and show the photos to his friends, family and coworkers. He testified that she also hit him in the head with a liquor bottle.

Bailey maintained, however, that the man had promised her money in exchange for the fetish-laden encounter. Her testimony about when the promise was made and when money or credit cards were to have been ex-changed, however, was inconsistent.

During her arrest shortly after the May incident, police found several of the man's credit cards in her car, which led to a conviction for credit card theft in October. Mosby reduced the charge during Friday's sentencing.

At the request of Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Jennifer Bennett, Mosby also ordered that Bailey pay $70 restitution for the amount of cash found missing from the victim's wallet after the incident.