QUINCY (MA)
The Patriot LedgerWUIC
Posted May. 17, 2015
QUINCY – A judge has set bail at $400,000 for a Quincy man accused of blackmailing a well-known Sharon rabbi for hundreds of thousands of dollars by threatening to expose what he claimed was a sexual relationship between the rabbi and a teenage boy.
Nicholas Zemeitus, of Willard Street, had been held without bail since his arraignment Tuesday in Norfolk Superior Court on charges stemming from the alleged extortion scheme. A judge set bail at a hearing Thursday.
In court documents unsealed Tuesday, prosecutors said that Zemeitus was living in Milton in 2011 when he first threatened to expose Rabbi Barry Starr if the rabbi didn’t pay him to keep quiet. Starr resigned last year from his position at Temple Israel of Sharon and faces charges of embezzlement and larceny from the synagogue and will be arraigned at a later date.
Police have said their investigation turned up no evidence of a sexual encounter between Starr and a child.
Prosecutors also named Alexa Anderson, 24, who was living with Zemeitus in Milton, as a co-defendant in the extortion scheme. Anderson was arraigned Thursday on larceny charges and released on her promise to return to court June 23.
Zemeitus faces seven charges of larceny over $250, two charges of receiving stolen property valued over $250, one charge of larceny under $250 and one charge of extortion. Ronald W. Rice, a defense attorney appointed to represent Zemeitus, said Tuesday that he would argue against the $400,000 bail that prosecutors were seeking.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.