HARDEE COUNTY, Fla. — Two women have been charged with extortion of a grandmother in jail for leaving a child in a hot car.
According to a Hardee County Sheriff's Office (HCSO) affidavit, Sandra Cardoza and Rozanna Sanchez came up with a scheme to extort money from Tracy Nix while she was in jail.
Nix was found guilty in January on one count of aggravated manslaughter after her grandchild died in a hot car while in her care.
Sanchez was a fellow inmate at the Hardee County jail. Nix wrote a love letter that detailed an alleged romantic relationship between them.
According to HCSO, Sanchez threatened to publish the letter in a newspaper if Nix did not give her $1,000.
Nix then had her husband meet Cordoza's sister in the jail parking lot to provide the $1,000.
After the initial extortion, HCSO said that the suspects demanded another $10,000 from Nix to not expose her sexuality to the public. When she refused, one of the suspects pinned her against a wall, but Nix was able to escape and contact detention staff.
The affidavit said Nix told the staff that the suspects had also claimed to be able to conduct a voodoo ritual to make Nix's legal troubles disappear for $15,000.
The suspects face felony charges of criminal conspiracy to commit extortion.
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A retired law enforcement officer thought he took all the right steps when someone stole his identity and opened a new phone line, but he was still left with the bill.
