P. v. Celis
In 2006 Lucia Lopez received two anonymous, typed letters accusing her of engaging in human trafficking. They threatened that if she did not send a blank money order for $5,000 to a designated post office box her conduct would be reported to the police. It was later determined the box belonged to defendant and a videotape showed him picking up mail from it after the first letters were sent to Lopez.
After Lopez received the letters she sought the assistance of the police. Officer Jon Cartwright helped her draft a letter in response, asking for more time and that the sender call a specified number, which belonged to Cartwright. The response was to again demand $5,000. Defendant sent a total of six such letters to Lopez. Police set up surveillance of defendant's business and one day saw him removing envelopes from the trunk of his car and placing a bag with something heavy in it. When defendant drove away, police conducted a traffic stop and found an envelope addressed to defendant in Lopez's handwriting in defendant's pocket. They also found a typewriter in the trunk. It was determined the letters had been produced by this typewriter.
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