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3 Accused Of Extorting Tampa Businessman Turn Selves In

By Lynn Carson of News Channel 8 and Ray Reyes of The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 16, 2008

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TAMPA - The relatives of prominent Tampa businessman Don Wallace, whom he has accused of plotting to extort $1.2 million from him, turned themselves in tonight to Hillsborough County authorities.

Marion "Connie" Strickland, her husband Clyde, and their daughter Samantha are being booked into Orient Road Jail tonight. All three were arrested June 4 in South Carolina and charged with extortion and conspiracy.

Last week, they posted bail of $40,000 each.

At first, the Stricklands were refusing to be extradited to Tampa, Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi said. Prosecutors were working to obtain a governor's warrant to have them re-arrested and held without bail, Bondi said.

Now that they have turned themselves in to Florida authorities, the warrant is not needed.

"They really made a wise decision to turn themselves in" and drive down to Tampa instead of riding "in the back of a sheriff's transport van," Bondi said.

The bail amounts for the conspiracy and extortion charges are expected to be set at $100,000 for each count in Hillsborough, Bondi said. The state attorney's office will have formal charges filed against the Stricklands in a few weeks.

"We're still waiting on the final police reports," Bondi said.

Wallace, the co-founder of the Lazydays RV SuperCenter near Seffner, said in a news conference Wednesday that the Stricklands made false claims that he repeatedly molested his niece, helped her get an abortion when she was a teenager and later fathered her child.

According to investigators with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, recorded phone conversations between Wallace and Samantha Strickland, 26, show Strickland demanding $1 million.

If the money was paid, Strickland told Wallace she would not go to the media with her allegations of molestation. She also said she would split the money with her mother and father, according to FDLE investigative documents.

News Channel 8 reporter Lynn Carson can be reached at (813) 225-2719 or lcarson@wfla.com. Tribune reporter Ray Reyes can be reached at (813) 259-7920 or rreyes@tampatrib.com.

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