Man gets 10 years for home invasion, fake virus threat

HARTFORD, Conn. – A Romanian man accused of taking part in a scheme to extort millions from a rich couple by injecting them with what they were told was a lethal virus has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.

Alexandru Lucian Nicolescu, 41, was sentenced Wednesday in connection with the 2007 home invasion at New York socialite Anne Bass’ estate in Connecticut.

Bass and her longtime partner were bound and blindfolded, then injected with a liquid the three armed suspects said was a deadly virus, prosecutors said. They demanded $8.5 million for the antidote, but eventually fled.

The victims survived. Authorities said the liquid was gentian violet, a substance usually used to treat fungal infections of the skin.

Three people, including the home invaders’ driver, have been convicted. The fourth is still at large.