She admitted shaking men down for more than $300K
A 26-year-old Olympia woman was sentenced to one month of work release and two months of electronic home monitoring after pleading guilty to extorting online dates for more than $300,000.
Seul Ki Yum expressed her remorse Friday afternoon during her sentencing hearing in King County Superior Court in downtown Seattle.
“I am very ashamed and very embarrassed of my behaviour,” she told Judge Lori K. Smith. “I would give anything back to have a normal life.”
Yum spent more than three years finding men on online dating sites and extorting them for rent money, purported abortion money or cash for a laptop or purse, according to charging documents. Seven men were listed in the incident report.
Several of the victims were married, had families and paid Yum in exchange for her silence.
On one occasion, however, she posted naked pictures of a victim to the man’s next girlfriend and would-be wife.
Upon her October arrest, however, which took place while one of her victims wore a wire to capture an arranged exchange of $5,000, Yum was forthcoming about her actions.
She gave police helpful information in their investigation and always intended to plead guilty to her crimes, Deputy Prosecutor Darren Thompson said Friday.
seattlepi.com