A 61-year old Bend man is accused of threatening a landscaper for not making payment in a deal that involved labor for a pickup truck.
Deschutes Co. DA John Hummel reported “Thomas Schlossmacher is presumed innocent of this charge, and in fact is innocent; unless and until the State proves he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.” Schlossmacher’s first court appearance is March 18th. According to Hummel:
Last summer Redmond resident Cuauhtémoc Cardona performed landscaping work for Schlossmacher. As partial payment for thework, Schlossmacher gave Cardona his pickup truck. A dispute arose over the final payment details, leading to Schlossmacher sending Cardona a text message that said:
“You need to respond to me, you owe me 1500.00 for the truck, then you can get the title, if no response, I will file a complaint with the small claims in Deschutes County to get my monies and turn you and your family into INS for deportations, your choice.”
When interviewed by police, Schlossmacher said that he “kinda felt” that Cardona was in the United States unlawfully and his intent in sending the text message was to scare him. Cuauhtémoc Cardona is lawfully a resident of the United States.
Schlossmacher was charged with the crime of Extortion. In 2016, the Oregon extortion statute was amended to make it unlawful to threaten to report someone’s suspected immigration status to law enforcement in order to compel them to do something, according to Hummel:
“By all accounts, Cuauhtémoc Cardona is one of the hardest working, and most proficient landscaping professionals in Deschutes County. He’s a person who wakes up every morning with the goal of working hard to provide for his family and to well serve his customers. The fact that a member of our community threatened Cuauhtémoc with deportation over a good-faith billing dispute is shocking and disheartening. We’ve come a long way in Deschutes County toward being a fully
welcoming community, and we have much work to do. Holding people accountable who violate the law based on their animus toward others is a small and necessary step in the process.”
