Man gets 10 years for home invasion, fake virus threat

HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - A man authorities say took part in a home invasion at the Connecticut estate of a New York socialite where the victims were injected with what they were told was a lethal virus has been sentenced to more than 10 years in prison.

Federal prosecutors say 41-year-old Alexandru Lucian Nicolescu, a native of Romania, was sentenced Wednesday in connection with the 2007 home invasion at the Kent estate of Anne Bass.

Prosecutors say Bass and her longtime partner were bound and blindfolded, then injected with a liquid the three suspects claimed was a deadly virus. They demanded $8.5 million for a reversal drug, but eventually fled.

Both Bass and her partner survived, and authorities did not say what the liquid was.

Three people, including the home invaders' driver, have been convicted. The fourth remains at large.