Law reaches to West Coast
By Marty Roney
Montgomery Advertiser

WETUMPKA -- A sting operation set up by the district attorney's office here
resulted in the arrest in California of a man accused of extorting money from a Wetumpka company over the Internet.

Darryl Allen Shaeffer, 52, of Big Bear City, Calif., was arrested in Big Bear City and was charged with one count of extortion, said 19th Judicial District Attorney Randall Houston. Shaeffer is accused of extorting $3,000 from Wetumpka businessman Gordan Marsh, who sells jewelry through the Internet auction site eBay.

"Shaeffer would offer high, bogus bids for jewelry, and knock the real bidders out of contention," Houston said. "He then told Gordan he would stop doing it if he got $10,000. Shaeffer constantly harassed Gordan through phone calls and e-mails, and continued to put in fake bids.

" The district attorney's office set up a sting operation in which Marsh told Shaeffer he would wire $3,000 to California to get Shaeffer to leave him alone. Shaeffer picked up the wire transfer Monday and was immediately nabbed by Keith Gamble, an investigator with Houston's office, and California authorities.

Shaeffer allegedly feigned a heart attack when lawmen identified themselves, but later was released from a local emergency room.

"I went in to see him in the ER," Gamble said. "I showed him my arm and told
him 'See this arm? We reached all the way from Alabama and got you.'" Gamble traveled to California on Monday to set up the arrest. He will return home today.

Marsh couldn't contain his joy Tuesday.

"I can't say enough about Randall, Keith and the Elmore County Sheriff's Department," he said. "They gave this case a lot of attention. It was getting to where I felt like there was no place we could turn."

The sheriff's department began working the case in September 2002. The district attorney's office got involved in January.

Marsh said his company, which has been operating for about four years, deals
with about 8,000 customers a month. The company sells inexpensive jewelry,
loose stones and more expensive pieces, he said.

"Shaeffer was really hurting us around Christmas. We lost a lot of sales then," said Marsh, who estimated Shaeffer cost him $400,000 in lost bids. Allyson Willouby, an attorney for eBay, referred questions about the case to the company's public relations office. The PR department didn't return phone calls.

Shaeffer said he will fight extradition to Alabama, Houston said. "I have never extradited someone from California, so I don't know what the time frame will be," Houston said. "I do want to get Shaeffer inside the Elmore County Jail as soon as possible."

Marty Roney can be reached at 365-6739 or by fax at 365-1400.
 

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