Woman to fight charges in bizarre extortion scam
Advertisement
Read this article for free:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Monthly Digital Subscription
$0 for the first 4 weeks*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*No charge for 4 weeks then price increases to the regular rate of $19.00 plus GST every four weeks. Offer available to new and qualified returning subscribers only. Cancel any time.
Monthly Digital Subscription
$4.75/week*
- Enjoy unlimited reading on winnipegfreepress.com
- Read the E-Edition, our digital replica newspaper
- Access News Break, our award-winning app
- Play interactive puzzles
*Billed as $19 plus GST every four weeks. Cancel any time.
To continue reading, please subscribe:
Add Free Press access to your Brandon Sun subscription for only an additional
$1 for the first 4 weeks*
*Your next subscription payment will increase by $1.00 and you will be charged $16.99 plus GST for four weeks. After four weeks, your payment will increase to $23.99 plus GST every four weeks.
Read unlimited articles for free today:
or
Already have an account? Log in here »
Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 11/12/2013 (4355 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
POLICE and justice officials on both sides of the border continue to comb through a massive amount of evidence connected to a bizarre, Manitoba-based online extortion scam.
And the local woman at the centre of the high-profile case is planning to fight the charges she is currently facing.
Shelly Lynn Chartier, 29, will plead not guilty to allegations she masterminded the elaborate plot that targeted numerous victims, including a popular American athlete, said her lawyer.
Her case appeared in court last week in The Pas and has been adjourned until Jan. 15. No trial dates have been set.
Chartier was arrested earlier this year on several charges, including possession of child pornography, distribution of child pornography, extortion, personation and uttering threats. Manitoba and Colorado police first began investigating her in early 2012.
Chartier is free on stringent bail conditions and is living in Easterville, a small community about 500 kilometres north of Winnipeg.
There are believed to be more than a dozen victims across at least seven U.S. states, the most famous being Chris “Birdman” Andersen, who recently captured an NBA championship with the Miami Heat. Andersen, 35, was living in Colorado, playing for the Denver Nuggets, when the scheme to target him allegedly began in 2010.
Investigators say a woman unknown to Andersen set up a Facebook profile in which she pretended to be him while seeking potential love interests with young women online. Once these connections were made, the woman would contact the real Andersen through his legitimate social-media accounts, now taking on the identity of the young women she had befriended while posing as Andersen.
The idea, investigators say, was to create scenarios in which she could force Andersen into career-threatening situations and he’d be forced to pay “hush money.”
Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Mike McIntyre is a sports reporter whose primary role is covering the Winnipeg Jets. After graduating from the Creative Communications program at Red River College in 1995, he spent two years gaining experience at the Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 1997, where he served on the crime and justice beat until 2016. Read more about Mike.
Every piece of reporting Mike produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.
Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber.
Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Advertisement Advertise With Us
Advertisement Advertise With Us
History
Updated on Wednesday, December 11, 2013 11:23 AM CST: Changes photo