Eagan man sentenced for attempting to blackmail south metro teachers

Star Tribune

Last update: January 2, 2009 - 10:31 PM

An Eagan man convicted in a scheme to blackmail 22 teachers and coaches at south metro schools was sentenced Friday to six months in prison and five years of probation.

Eric Syverson, 39, also was ordered to pay a $300 fine, write letters of apology to each of the victims and complete a psychological and cognitive skills evaluation, according to the sentence handed down by Dakota County District Judge Kathryn Messerich.

Syverson pleaded guilty in September to leaving threatening letters at the homes of 22 teachers and coaches from Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan and Rosemount in an effort to recover $23,000, which he claimed he needed to pay off somebody else who was blackmailing him. Police found no evidence to substantiate his claim of being blackmailed, said Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom.

A case against a co-defendant, Joseph Schultz, 20, of Bloomington is pending.

Backstrom said Syverson used the Internet to obtain the names, addresses and phone numbers of the teachers and coaches. On April 16, he delivered letters to the teachers and coaches, directing them to place $1,000 in $100 bills in a plastic Ziploc bag. The victims were to place the money at one of four parks in Dakota County two days later.

The letters threatened that an unnamed perpetrator would plant a DVD containing adult and child pornography and information about the teacher or coach, or that students would come forward with allegations of sexual misconduct if the money was not delivered, Backstrom said.

Police followed Syverson as he drove to the parks. He admitted to police that he had written and delivered the letters, a criminal complaint said.

TIM HARLOW

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