Legal News

Man Who Tried to Extort Letterman Pleads Guilty

By Ashby Jones

LBers, take this as a cautionary tale. Next time you try to shake down a television personality in exchange for a promise not to take potentially damaging information about said celebrity to the press, remember Joe Halderman. For the love of all that’s good and holy, remember Joe Halderman.

Halderman, a television producer, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to trying to extort money out of David Letterman. According to this AP story, Halderman will do six months in jail and perform community service.

Halderman pleaded guilty to attempted grand larceny after being accused of demanding $2 million to keep quiet about Letterman’s workplace love life.

“In September of 2009, I attempted to extort $2 million from David Letterman by threatening to disclose personal and private information about him, whether true or false,” Halderman said in court, reading a prepared statement in court.

“I feel great remorse for what I have done,” Halderman said.

Halderman remains free on bail until his sentencing, set for May 4. In addition to the jail sentence, he agreed to 1,000 hours of community service; he would have faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted at a trial.

Through his lawyers, Letterman thanked Manhattan prosecutors for pursuing the case. “When they became involved in this case, I had complete faith that a just and appropriate result was inevitable,” he said in a statement they read outside court.

Some comments made by Halderman’s lawyer, Gerald Shargel, make us a little sad to see this case go away so soon, however. “We had a novel defense here involving complicated legal issues. I was very excited about the defense,” said Shargel to the AP. “But there would be a long road ahead of us, and considering the risks and the rewards and the need for Joe to put this behind him and get on with his life, those needs were paramount.”

Photo: AP

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on March 09, 2010 (boomark / email).