Justice Is Served: FL Man Gets Hard Smack In Sentencing For Attempted $25M Extortion Of Matt Gaetz’s Father

A man from Florida has discovered the hard way that attempting to extort the father of a congressman is a bad idea. Of course, this is something that most of us already know, but the folks out in the world who have hearts and heads ruled by greed and are too lazy to work hard and come by their wealth honestly, tend to ignore the little Jiminy Cricket on their shoulder.

The man in question, according to Just the News, has been sentenced to a 5-year long vacation in a quaint and cozy little cottage in federal prison for trying to extort $25 million from Don Gaetz, the father of Florida Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz.

Don Gaetz is a former Florida state Senate president himself, so he also has some political ties. Again, not wise to try and do underhanded stuff like this to folks who work in politics, though it likely happens all the time.

The sentence, which was announced on Monday, comes after the defendant, Stephen Alford, pleaded guilty to the charges last year.

Here’s more from the Just the News piece:

In spring 2021, Alford told Don Gaetz that he could “guarantee” son Matt Gaetz would avoid prison in connection with allegations the Florida congressman committing sex crimes, court filings show.

Alford told Gaetz’s father that President Biden would pardon the congressman or tell the Justice Department to end the investigation if the Gaetz family helped fund efforts to rescue Robert Levinson, an American hostage who disappeared in Iran in 2007 and is presumed to be dead, the court documents state.

Gaetz, who has not been charged in the probe, has denied any criminal involvement and called the allegations a “planted leak.“

Alford, the man who is on his way to his new home for a nice, long stay, has actually spent time in similar accommodations on two different occasions. Fortunately, for him, he’s going to receive credit for the time he’s already served on the charges in the Gaetz case, and will then have three years of probation to serve after his 63 months in prison, according to a report from the Northwest Florida Daily News.

The sentencing in the case was announced just one day before Florida’s primary where Gaetz, who is the representative for the state’s 1st Congressional District, will face down two challengers.

Contrary to what you may see in popular culture, kids, crime really does not pay. Unless you want to go to jail. Some criminals do. It provides the kind of structure they need in their daily lives to prevent them from relapsing into their old habits.

I mean, hey, they get three meals a day, a roof over their heads, medical care, and a bed to sleep on, all without paying for any of it. Hard to blame them for the laziness, right?

What you have to wonder at this point is whether or not Alford will actually learn his lesson and clean up his act after this third stint in prison. Why not try an honest way of life for a change?