Individual confesses to 2007 Connecticut home intrusion, extortion attempt involving administered drug.
Romanian citizen Stefan Alexandru Barabas, aged 38, admitted to conspiring to hinder business via blackmail before Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer on June 18, as stated in a press release from the US attorney's office. The charge carries a possible penalty of 20 years in prison, with a tentative sentence of six to seven years, as per the plea agreement, according to the release.
Barabas escaped the US during the investigation and was apprehended in Hungary on August 16, 2022.
On the night of April 15, 2007, Barabas and two others, wearing masks and armed with knives and replicas of firearms, stormed a residence in South Kent, Connecticut, as per the press release, citing court documents. The home belonged to millionaire philanthropist Anne Hendricks Bass and abstract artist Julian Lethbridge, as reported by the Associated Press.
The intruders bound and blindfolded the residents and injected them with a substance they claimed was a lethal virus, demanding a ransom of $8.5 million. Should the victims fail to meet the demands, they would be killed, they threatened.
However, when it became apparent that the victims were unable to fulfill the intruders' demands, the intruders administered a sedative to the residents and fled in the homeowner's Jeep Cherokee. The men left the stolen vehicle at a Home Depot in New Rochelle, New York, the following morning.
In 2010, a Connecticut State Police investigator identified a partial Pennsylvania license plate spotted near the house, which was linked to a car owned by Michael N. Kennedy. Further investigation revealed Kennedy, also known as Nicolae Helerea, had previously shared an address with Bass' former house manager, Emmanuel Nicolescu, whom she had dismissed, as reported by the Associated Press.
Investigations revealed that Nicolescu and Kennedy, along with Barabas and a fourth man, Alexandru Nicolescu, had collaborated to commit the crime, according to the US attorney's office.
Barabas, Emanuel Nicolescu, and Alexandru Nicolescu were the intruders, as per the US attorney's office. All four fled the US during the investigation.
Emanuel Nicolescu and Kennedy were indicted in February 2011, and Barabas and Alexandru Nicolescu were indicted in November of 2012, as stated in the press release. Emanuel Nicolescu was found guilty in 2012, while Kennedy voluntarily returned to the US and pleaded guilty later that year. Alexandru Nicolescu was arrested in the UK and pleaded guilty in 2016. All three were sentenced to varying prison terms.
Bass passed away in 2020 at the age of 78, as reported by the AP. She was credited with elevating the status of ballet in the US.
"I am grateful for the dedication and diligence of various law enforcement agencies in bringing these individuals to justice," Lethbridge said in a statement to the AP.
"However, I am convinced based on the complexity of the crime, as well as other facts, that there are others who were involved in the planning and financing of this crime who are yet to be identified," he continued. "I hope that one day all who were involved will be unveiled, and they too will face justice."
During Emanuel Nicolescu's trial, Bass tearfully recounted to the court how she believed she was going to die that night. She had her 3-year-old grandson with her at the time and had just put him to bed.
"I heard battle cries, a terrifying sound. I saw three men, dressed in black, charging up the stairs, almost like they were in a military formation," she testified, as reported by the AP.
Bass also shared that she was left scarred by the incident.
"Before the home invasion, I felt quite peaceful being there by myself. I can't stay there alone anymore," she said.
Barabas' sentencing is set for September 11. He has been in custody since his arrest.
