Man pleads guilty to 2007 Connecticut home invasion, attempted extortion using injected substance
CNN
A Romanian man has pleaded guilty to an extortion charge relating to a 2007 Connecticut home invasion in which he and two other men injected a wealthy couple with what they claimed was a deadly virus and demanded millions of dollars from them, the US Attorney for the District of Connecticut announced.
A Romanian man has pleaded guilty to an extortion charge relating to a 2007 Connecticut home invasion in which he and two other men injected a wealthy couple with what they claimed was a deadly virus and demanded millions of dollars from them, the US Attorney for the District of Connecticut announced. Stefan Alexandru Barabas, a 38-year-old citizen of Romania, pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by extortion before US District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer on June 18, according to a news release from the US attorney’s office. The charge carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison, the release said. Under the terms of a plea agreement – which must be accepted by the court – prosecutors and the defense have agreed a sentence between six and seven years would be appropriate. Barabas had fled the United States amid the investigation and was arrested in Hungary on August 16, 2022. On the night of April 15, 2007, Barabas and two other men entered a home in South Kent, Connecticut, wearing masks and carrying knives and fake firearms, according to the news release, which cites court documents. The men blindfolded and bound the home’s residents: millionaire philanthropist Anne Hendricks Bass and abstract artist Julian Lethbridge, the Associated Press reported.
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