David Letterman’s accused blackmailer allegedly trying to get plea deal
The man accused of blackmailing David Letterman has offered to make a deal and accept a year in jail, according to US reports.
The New York Post claims respected TV producer Robert ‘Joe’ Halderman has floated a plea deal to avoid the maximum sentence he faces of 15 years.
However, Halderman’s lawyer, Gerald Shargel, insisted: “There have been no plea negotiations. None whatsoever.”
Shargel insisted he will instead be filing new papers in a bid to get the case thrown out of court.
Prosecutors allege that Halderman, 52, sent Letterman a one-page screenplay “treatment” exposing his knowledge of the late night talk show host’s affairs with staff members – including Halderman’s own girlfriend.
Letterman contacted police and his lawyer secretly taped a series of meetings in which Halderman allegedly threatened to expose Letterman’s sex secrets unless he was paid $2 million.
In one of the taped meetings, prosecutors claim Halderman told Letterman lawyer James Jackoway: “The issue is your client does not want this information public. I have said, for a price, I will sign a confidentiality agreement and I will not make this information public. That’s the deal.”
Halderman is free on $200,000 bail. Shargel has filed papers demanding dismissal of the charges, arguing that the proposed transaction was nothing more than a media deal.
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