An Oro Valley couple face federal charges on suspicion of trying to extort former Arizona Wildcats basketball player Josh Pastner, officials said Tuesday.
Ronald Bell and Jennifer Pendley were indicted Aug. 24 on charges of conspiracy to transmit a threat interstate, conspiracy to extort property and attempted extortion , according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney Office in Georgia.
Bell pleaded not guilty on Friday. The U.S. Attorney’s Office has filed a motion that Bell be detained during trial, saying he poses a flight risk and they believe he could “threaten, injure or intimidate a prospective juror or witness,” court documents show. The result of a hearing on the matter Tuesday was not immediately available.
Lawyers for Bell and Pendley could not immediately be reached Tuesday for comment.
Between October 2017 and February 2018, Bell and his then-fiancée, Pendley, conspired against and attempted to extort Georgia Tech, where Pastner is the head men’s basketball coach, as well as Pastner himself, the indictment says. It was initially sealed, with the U.S. Attorney’s office saying Bell and Pendley were unaware of the charges and posed a flight risk.
The couple was arrested in Tucson last month.
In January 2018, Pastner filed a lawsuit against Bell and Pendley in Pima County Superior Court, saying the couple defamed him after months of failed attempts at blackmail and extortion. Bell and Pendley countersued Pastner, claiming in their lawsuit that the coach forced Pendley to perform a sex act in a Houston hotel room in February 2016 and groped her on several other occasions. She did not contact local police at the time, but reported the alleged assault to Oro Valley police in May 2019.
Pastner was never charged with a crime. An independent investigation paid for by Georgia Tech in 2018 cleared him of the sexual misconduct allegations, according to Star news archives. The couple’s claims were further cast into doubt when a key witness in their lawsuit against Pastner recanted.
Bell also demanded money from Georgia Tech representatives in exchange for not reporting the alleged assault, federal officials say in the release.
“(Bell and Pendley) demanded a large payment in exchange for a retraction of the claim,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in the release. “The Federal Bureau of Investigation and our other federal law enforcement partners are especially proficient in exposing false allegations designed to extort money.”
In July, an Oro Valley judge found Bell guilty of six misdemeanor charges in connection with the allegations against Pastner. He was found guilty of two counts each of solicitation of influencing a witness and attempted tampering with a witness. He was also convicted of false information and facilitation of fraud, schemes and practice. Bell is currently appealing those convictions.
In March 2019, Bell was charged with seven misdemeanor counts related to the legal fight: one charge of solicitation of a fraud scheme practice, two charges of attempted tampering with a witness, two charges of solicitation of influencing a witness, and two counts of using an electronic device to intimidate or threaten Pendley.
Pendley was charged with five misdemeanors in connection with her alleged involvement in the scheme, but they were dismissed .
Pastner settled his lawsuit against the couple in August 2019.
“Once again, greed does not pay,” Keri Farley, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta, said in the news release. “These defendants sought to damage the reputations of the institution and coach for their own financial gain. The FBI will not stop in bringing people who try and commit this type of fraud to justice.”
