The Associated Press most recently broke the news that Louisville University men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino, 57, and previous model Karen Sypher, 50, may have arrived at their final lawful destination. As outlined by 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. Sypher’s attempts to extort millions from Pitino in order to maintain her silence over a 2003 affair served as the point of origin for these charges. Sypher claimed Pitino raped her during the encounter, but Pitino did not faces such charges. Sypher might be going away to prison for up to 26 years, although her actual sentence is expected to be shorter.
Frightening calls and letters haunted Pitino
According to reports, Rick Pitino received multiple phone calls and two letters. These messages asked for cash and gifts for instance college tuition for Sypher’s son, in exchange for her silence over the affair. Assistant United States attorney Marisa Ford told jurors within the case that “This was nothing more than a pure shakedown of Richard Pitino”. Sypher’s defense maintained that she was being unfairly demonized and that Pitino was receiving preferential treatment due to his fame.
Pitino thinks it was very ‘unfortunate’
In a emotionally charged six hours of testimony, Pitino described his late-night encounter with Sypher in a closed and deserted Italian restaurant. Pitino described his 15-second tryst with Sypher as “unfortunate” and consensual. He wrestled with emotion as he described to the jury how difficult it had been for him to eventually tell his family about the affair which had no witnesses.
Sypher did not testify
Though Sypher didn’t testify, a never-released television interview was played for jurors. The Pitino rape allegation came from that footage. She also spoke of the $ 3,000 Pitino gave her via his assistant Tim Sypher. . The couple occasionally saw Pitino at Louisville-area events. Karen Sypher insists the $ 3,000 was for an abortion, but Pitino has vehemently denied this was the case.
A male call stalker, circa 2009
The AP indicates that Pitino’s testimony incorporated talk of other menacing telephone calls he’s received beginning 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. Rick Pitino recounted that “He mentioned the word rape. I got very sick to my stomach”. Yet in spite of this, he did not report the calls of the original event with Karen Sypher to the police, because he wanted to contain the damaging info first.
Further reading
Associated Press
nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/38574025/ns/sports-college_basketball/
