Oklahoma inmate sentenced for extorting Connecticut man

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) – An Oklahoma prisoner authorities say masterminded a scheme to extort about $674,000 from a retired Connecticut school teacher has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison.

Prosecutors said at sentencing in federal court in Hartford on Monday that Darrik Forsythe and other inmates, using cellphones smuggled into their prison, befriended the victim through an online dating site and extorted money from him by threatening to reveal that he was gay or threatening to harm relatives.

The Journal Inquirer (http://bit.ly/2mW2l2j ) reports the judge said the scheme “appears to have caused severe psychological harm,” to the victim, who was found dead in April 2015. He had reportedly been suicidal.

A spokesman for the Connecticut U.S. attorney’s office says the federal sentence will be served when Forsythe’s 20-year state sentence ends in 2020.