Extortion

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Extortion is one of the fastest growing ways that gun owners, dealers, collectors and survivalists are criminally victimized.   This is becoming increasingly common when criminals recognize the futility in using force against armed victims.   The survivor is usually going to value a positive standing in the community and the predators are aware of this.  It is also one of the more common ways some people in authority will abuse that authority.  This is nothing new in creative constitutional interpretation like many would claim comes from the patriot community, but established law and fact that a survivor should know about.   

Many gun owners, survivalists, dealers and collectors are being buffeted with repeated extortion attempts and should be aware of relevant law to bring prosecution against the perpetrators.  Also note that extortion is usually a felony regardless of the value of the items involved.   Basically, there are two major elements of the crime, one is theft or attempted theft, the other is the act of extortion.   

1.  The extortionist commits or attempts to commit theft in some form.   That being usually defined as the wrongful obtaining of property or depriving another of their property.   

2.  The extortionist will communicate a threat of harm and a demand of something of value to the victim.   The threat need not be a threat of physical harm and will often be a threat that causes emotional or legal distress to the victim. 

ORS 164.005 and 164.075 have definitions that are fairly close to those used by other states.  http://www.leg.state.or.us/ors/166.html

Theft:

164.005 Definitions. As used in chapter 743, Oregon Laws 1971, unless the context requires otherwise:

(1) "Appropriate property of another to oneself or a third person" or "appropriate" means to:

(a) Exercise control over property of another, or to aid a third person to exercise control over property of another, permanently or for so extended a period or under such circumstances as to acquire the major portion of the economic value or benefit of such property; or

(b) Dispose of the property of another for the benefit of oneself or a third person.

(2) "Deprive another of property" or "deprive" means to:

(a) Withhold property of another or cause property of another to be withheld from that person permanently or for so extended a period or under such circumstances that the major portion of its economic value or benefit is lost to that person; or

(b) Dispose of the property in such manner or under such circumstances as to render it unlikely that an owner will recover such property.

(3) "Obtain" includes, but is not limited to, the bringing about of a transfer or purported transfer of property or of a legal interest therein, whether to the obtainer or another.

(4) "Owner of property taken, obtained or withheld" or "owner" means any person who has a right to possession thereof superior to that of the taker, obtainer or withholder.

(5) "Property" means any article, substance or thing of value, including, but not limited to, money, tangible and intangible personal property, real property, choses-in-action, evidence of debt or of contract. [1971 c.743 §121]

64.075 Theft by extortion. (1) A person commits theft by extortion when the person compels or induces another to deliver property to the person or to a third person by instilling in the other a fear that, if the property is not so delivered, the actor or a third person will in the future:

(a) Cause physical injury to some person; or

(b) Cause damage to property; or

(c) Engage in other conduct constituting a crime; or

(d) Accuse some person of a crime or cause criminal charges to be instituted against the person; or

(e) Expose a secret or publicize an asserted fact, whether true or false, tending to subject some person to hatred, contempt or ridicule; or

(f) Cause or continue a strike, boycott or other collective action injurious to some person’s business; except that such conduct shall not be considered extortion when the property is demanded or received for the benefit of the group in whose interest the actor purports to act; or

(g) Testify or provide information or withhold testimony or information with respect to another’s legal claim or defense; or

(h) Use or abuse the position as a public servant by performing some act within or related to official duties, or by failing or refusing to perform an official duty, in such manner as to affect some person adversely; or

(i) Inflict any other harm that would not benefit the actor.

(2) Theft by extortion is a Class B felony. [1971 c.743 §127; 1987 c.158 §27]

Non professional police informants are probably the most common perpetrators of this crime.   Unlike an undercover officer whose words and actions may be more carefully governed by law and policy, the informant is often a person who plays a leveraging game in order to protect their own criminal activities.   They may also use a multi directional approach in obtaining something from their interaction with a chosen victim.   Again, the defense will be that the extortionist is acting in "good faith" but this does not get around the demand for value that will be evident in many cases.   Example (Oregon law is pretty consistent with most states on this)  In a prosecution for theft by extortion committed by instilling in the victim a fear that the victim or another person would be charged with a crime, it is a defense that the defendant reasonably believed the threatened charge to be true and that the sole purpose of the defendant was to compel or induce the victim to take reasonable action to make good the wrong which was the subject of the threatened charge.

Also note that a threat to report someone for a misdemeanor crime as leverage in committing a theft by extortion becomes, in itself a felony in many cases, although many states will have laws that will adjust the level of crime to the value of what is stolen or attempted to be stolen.   The felony committed by the extortionist easily outweighing the misdemeanor that they are threatening to report.   

One thing that will come into play in these instances is that a conviction will almost always require a fairly high standard of evidence with regard to the communication between the alleged perpetrator and the victim.   The perpetrator can, however, commonly be tricked into admitting to the separate elements of the extortion in a venue in which there will be a verifiable recording of the communication.    Civil proceedings are a good venue for this as the perpetrator will often have their guard down in thinking that the statements "only pertain to a civil matter" instead of something that can place them in felony jeopardy.    An extortionist who is acting as an investigator or informant can also be tricked into admissions to the elements of extortion when they are said on a wiretap or otherwise recorded conversation.   Any electronic record of the communication then becomes evidence of felony extortion.