Paul Vagnozzi Extortion Plot: Dad Blackmails CEO Over 3-Way With Stripper Daughter, Charges Say

In an alleged extortion plot that targeted software mogul Paul Vagnozzi, a Detroit-area dad and mom, Terry and Kimberly Tackett, are charged by federal prosecutors with blackmailing the millionaire software entrepreneur over a three-way bedroom romp involving the businessman, the Tackett’s daughter, Jessica, who is a stripper and prostitute, and an underage girl who was also a cousin of the Tacketts.

Those allegations come from a 119-count federal indictment of Terry Tackett, his wife, and his daughter, charging them with extorting millions from retired mogul Vagnozzi over a period of years, starting in 2008 when Vagnozzi allegedly paid Jessica Tackett (pictured above right) for a sexual threesome with her and her cousin.

To make the whole affair even more bizarre, an assistant U.S. attorney told a judge Wednesday that Terry Tackett is a self-styled wannabe gangster who threatened to call on his friends in the mob to beat up Vagnozzi if he didn’t pay up. But Tackett himself is not a member of organized crime, prosecutor Eric Straus said in court.

The 52-year-old dad (pictured above left), described as heavily tattooed, also claimed to have friends in the Jokers biker gang who would rough up the victim as well. But the prosecutor said that Tackett had no such connections and that he is simply a bizarre and dangerous person.

“This is a strange case and the behavior, most definitely, is strange,” Straus said in court. “The concern is that this odd behavior, if released, would no longer be dormant. There is fear someone could really be hurt.”

But it doesn’t stop there. According to the indictment, as reported by the Detroit News, Jessica and Kimberly Tackett also hit Vagnozzi with a rape allegation, even filing a complaint with police — even though the rape accusation was totally false.

Tackett is also accused of threatening to go to the police and tell them that Vagnozzi paid for sex with an underage girl. The lengthy extortion scheme netted the Tacketts about $2.6 million out of Vagnozzi’s pocket, the indictment says.

Vagnozzi (above center) sold his company, Cypress Corp., in 2005 for almost $9 million. He met Jessica Tackett when she was stripping at a joint called BT’s Executive Club in the upscale suburb of Dearborn, Michigan, then paid her for the three-way sexual escapade, the Detroit News reported.

Jessica and Kimberly Tackett were each freed on separate $10,000 bonds in the alleged Paul Vagnozzi extortion plot, but a judge ordered Terry Tackett held without bond. The dad now faces 20 years in prison for the alleged blackmail scheme involving his stripper daughter.

[Images: Facebook via Detroit News]