Florida man extorted over $80K from wife to fuel drug habit by claiming cartel involvement: police

A Melbourne, Florida man was arrested after allegedly extorting over $80,000 from his wife to fuel his cocaine habit by falsely claiming he was involved with a drug cartel.

Eric Paul Johnson, 29, was charged with grand theft of $100,000 or more, organized fraud to obtain property valued over $50,000 or more, extortion, and unlawful use of a two-way communications device – all felonies.

Court records say Johnson’s wife returned home from work in December 2023 and saw several messages from an unknown phone number. In the messages, the person demanded various sums of money.