The Associated Press reports a new twist within the legal battle between Louisville men’s basketball head coach Rick Pitino, 57, and former auto show model Karen Sypher, 50, of Louisville, Ky. According to the presiding court, Karen Sypher is guilty of three counts of extortion, two counts of obfuscating an FBI investigation and a solitary count of retaliating against a witness. The catalyst for the charges was Sypher’s series of attempts to extort millions in hush money from Pitino after a 2003 sexual encounter. Sypher claimed Pitino raped her during the encounter, but Pitino did not faces such charges. Sypher faces a maximum sentence of 26 years in prison, but federal guidelines will likely decrease the penalty.
Frightening calls and letters haunted Pitino
Court records indicate that Rick Pitino received numerous telephone messages and two letters. Demands for cash and gifts were made in exchange for Karen Sypher’s silence. Assistant United States of America attorney Marisa Ford told jurors in the case that “This was nothing more than a pure shakedown of Richard Pitino”. Karen Sypher’s defense attorney James Earhart claimed that his client had been “villainized” during the trial, and that Pitino had received privileged treatment during the proceedings.
Pitino described the sexual encounter as ‘unfortunate’
During his six hours of testimony, Pitino reportedly held the attention of the jury as he responded to questions regarding his admitted sexual encounter with Sypher in an empty Italian restaurant after hours. The sex was consensual and ‘unfortunate,’ he said. He said it was extremely difficult to own up to the affair before his family.
Karen Sypher didn’t come to the stand
Though Karen Sypher didn’t give testimony, a video interview was aired for the jury. In the interview, Karen Sypher made the Pitino rape allegation. She also spoke of the $ 3,000 Pitino gave her via his assistant Tim Sypher. Some time following the first meeting, Tim Sypher and Karen Wise married. Within the ensuing years, the couple bumped into Pitino numerous times at area functions. Karen Sypher claims Pitino gave her the money for an abortion, a claim he has denied.
A male call stalker, circa 2009
AP reports indicate that Pitino revealed in jury testimony that he also received menacing phone calls from an unknown man in February 2009. A male who has not been identified confronted Pitino much as Karen Sypher had done in previous years since their 2003 encounter. “He mentioned the word rape. I got very sick to my stomach,” Pitino said. Yet in spite of this, he did not report the calls of the original incident with Karen Sypher to the police, because he wanted to contain the damaging details first.
Additional reading
Associated Press
nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/38574025/ns/sports-college_basketball/
