Man Accused Of Extorting Matt Gaetz And His Family Charged With Wire Fraud
Stephen Alford, the man accused by Matt Gaetz of trying to extort $25 million from his family, was arrested Tuesday after being hit with federal charges.
The Post reported Wednesday night that 62-year-old Stephen Alford was indicted Tuesday night on one count of wire fraud and one count of attempting to prevent the seizure of an electronic device. He reportedly faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted.
According to the outlet, Alford crafted a document in March titled “Project Homecoming” for an anonymous co-conspirator to talk with a person identified only as “D.G.” The document asserted that President Joe Biden would consider either issuing a pardon to a person identified only as “Family Member A” or instructing the Justice Department to end any potential investigations related to this “Family Member A”.
Even though Alford was the only person identified in Tuesday’s indictment, the details line up with previous information provided by Matt Gaetz himself this past spring about the alleged extortion plot. Given the information provided by Gaetz, it is possible the “D.G.” referenced in the indictment is referring to Don Gaetz – Matt Gaetz’s father. It is also reasonable to believe that the “Family Member A” referenced to in the indictment is referring to none other than Matt Gaetz himself.
According to the indictment, the alleged document created by Alford claimed that Matt Gaetz was “currently under investigation by the FBI for various public corruption and public integrity issues”. The document also allegedly claimed that investigators knew of pictures showing Gaetz in a “sexual orgy with underage prostitutes.” The alleged document also described Gaetz as “a target of a widening investigation into serious underage sex trafficking, political corruption, public integrity, and other criminal allegations.”
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“The team is highly confident that the President will indeed hail Congressman Gaetz as a national hero and Congressman Gaetz’s national & international profile shall be greatly enhanced by his key assistance in the release of Robert Levinson,” the alleged document reads.
This indictment against Alford comes in the wake of Gaetz’s own associate, Joel Greenberg, being the center of his own federal investigation. Alford’s arrest also comes only weeks after Gaetz married his longtime girlfriend in California.
“Stephen Alford, who was indicted today for extorting my family, was not acting alone,” Gaetz reportedly said in a statement Tuesday regarding Alford’s arrest. “He had support and coordination with people who have deep ties to the United States federal government, so there’s more to come on this, but I think the American people can take some comfort in knowing that I have been straight with them. I have been honest, I have been transparent, and these things that they’ve said about me are false, and the allegations I’ve made against my extortionists are now resulting in indictments.”
