Rosemount Man Pleads Guilty to Role in Extortion Plot

A 46-year-old Rosemount man has pleaded guilty to coercion in a case that ended with the suicide of a Bloomington man last year.

Rickey Eugene Pouncil entered his plea on Wednesday before a Hennepin County judge and will be sentenced in June.

Pouncil was charged last year with helping to devise a blackmail scheme that targeted Daniel Kreye, a Bloomington businessman.

 Kreya, 57, shot himself May 10, leaving behind a note explaining he was being extorted for $500,000.

In the criminal complaint, police alleged Pouncil worked with Blair Spear Gura, 27 and Christina Lynn Artac, 32, in a plan that threatened Kreye with the release of sexual explicit photos to his wife.

In a bargain with prosecutors, Pouncil pled guilty to one of two felony counts of coercion he faced.  He also denied any direct involvement with the extortion and admitted only to acting as a bodyguard and driver for the women.

Under Minnesota sentencing guidelines, felony coercion carries a maximum sentence of 10 years. But since Pouncil has no previous record in state court, the likely recommended sentence under the guidelines would be a year and one day of probation.

Pouncil is scheduled to be sentenced in a Hennepin County court on June 3.

Gura and Artac pled guilty to single counts of attempted extortion in October. They are still awaiting sentencing.