Couple tried to extort Georgia Tech coach with fake sexual assault claims, feds say
A couple tried extorting the head coach of Georgia Tech’s men’s basketball by making fake sexual assault claims against him, prosecutors say. Then, they are accused of demanding large sums of money in exchange for taking back the claims.
Ronald Bell, 56, and his girlfriend, Jennifer Pendley, 50, both of Arizona, also got a Georgia Tech security guard involved in the scheme, convincing him to claim he witnessed coach Josh Pastner assault Pendley, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia.
When Pendley filed a lawsuit against Pastner in 2018 — accusing him of sexual battery and sexual assault — Bell told the security guard the “monster suit” would likely be worth $20 million and promised him a cut of the money, court documents state.
Now Bell has appeared in court for an arraignment on charges in connection with the conspiracy to extort the coach and the Georgia Institute of Technology, the attorney’s office announced in an Oct. 18 news release. This comes after a grand jury indicted the couple on Aug. 24.
McClatchy News contacted Bell’s attorney for comment on Oct. 18 and was awaiting a response. Information about an attorney for Pendley was not immediately available.
“Once again, greed does not pay,” Keri Farley, FBI special agent in charge of the agency’s Atlanta division, said in a statement. “(Bell and Pendley) sought to damage the reputations of the institution and coach for their own financial gain.”
Bell was an old friend of Pastner’s, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was previously convicted in July 2021 in an Arizona state court in connection with the false allegations, the outlet reported.
The case
The case, under an FBI investigation, goes back to October 2017 when Bell began making threats against Pastner and Georgia Tech about the coach regarding the fake sexual assault claims, according to an indictment.
Prior to this, Bell and Pendley became acquainted with Pastner in at least 2013, when Pastner coached for the University of Memphis’ men’s basketball team, the indictment states.
Bell and Pendley came up with a plan to accuse Pastner of repeatedly sexually assaulting Pendley and recruited a Georgia Tech security guard to help solidify the claims, according to the indictment.
Bell began bombarding Georgia Tech representatives with texts and phone calls to extort money, prosecutors say.
Before Pendley filed a lawsuit against Pastner, Bell sent a university representative a series of texts, including one that stated when the coach gets arrested, it will “ruin (Georgia Tech’s) reputation of who they have as their Basketball Coach,” the indictment states.
Another text from Bell sent to the representative stated, in part, “I hope they are ready to hear the other serious violations their honest Coach committed. It’s going to get ugly very fast,” according to the indictment.
In late 2017, Bell told the security guard Pendley was filing a lawsuit for aggravated sexual assault against Pastner and emphasized how the security guard’s testimony would be important, the indictment says.
After the security guard falsely claimed he witnessed Pastner assault Pendley, Bell texted him, calling him Pendley’s “hero,” in February 2018, according to the indictment.
However, Bell and Pendley’s scheme unraveled when the security guard eventually told law enforcement he lied about witnessing Pastner sexually assault Pendley, the release states. The security guard also said Bell asked him to take part in the false allegations.
In August, Bell and Pendley, who are from Oro Valley, Arizona, were charged with “conspiracy to transmit a threat interstate, conspiracy to extort property from another, and attempted extortion,” according to the release.
When Oro Valley Magistrate Court Judge Bobbi Berry convicted Bell in the state in 2021, she wrote in her verdict that “Bell engaged in a pattern of reactive and retaliatory behavior against Josh Pastner over several months for perceived slights to their friendship/relationship,” ESPN reported.
“The prosecution proved that Ronald was motivated to bring about Josh Pastner’s downfall,” Berry added, according to ESPN.
Oro Valley is about 10 miles north of Tucson.
This story was originally published October 18, 2022 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Couple tried to extort Georgia Tech coach with fake sexual assault claims, feds say."
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