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3 Relatives Accused In RV King Extortion Case Turn Themselves In

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By LYNN CARSON News Channel 8

and RAY REYES The Tampa Tribune

Published: June 17, 2008

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Samantha Leigh Anne Harris

Marion Connie Strickland

Clyde Strickland

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

Marion "Connie" Strickland, 61; her husband, Clyde, 67; and their daughter, Samantha Harris, 26, all of Columbia, S.C., were each charged with extortion and conspiracy to commit extortion when they were booked into the Orient Road Jail on Monday. Bail was set at $100,000 each.

All three were arrested June 4 in South Carolina and charged with extortion and conspiracy. Harris also faces a South Carolina charge of filing a false report that detailed her allegations. They were released from Richland County Jail last week after each posted bail of $40,000.

At first, the Stricklands refused to be extradited to Tampa, Assistant State Attorney Pam Bondi said. Prosecutors were working to obtain a governor's warrant to have them rearrested 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," saving themselves from a ride "in the back of a sheriff's transport van," Bondi said.

The State Attorney's Office will file formal charges against the Stricklands in a few weeks, Bondi said, once it reviews the final police reports.

The Stricklands and Harris were all smiles when they walked into Orient Road Jail about 7:20 p.m. Monday.

Harris declined to comment, but Marion Strickland asked a News Channel 8 reporter and videographer, "Hi, how y'all doing?"

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 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 Harris show her demanding $1 million.

If the money were paid, Harris 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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