Robert “Joe” Halderman Headed to Prison For David Letterman Extortion
David Letterman’s extortionist did the crime, now he’ll do the time.
Robert “Joe” Halderman, the former CBS News producer who copped to one count of attempted first-degree larceny, was sentenced today to six months in jail.
Money-grubbing mistress of David Boreanaz, take note.
Robert Halderman could’ve faced up to 15 years in lockup had the case gone to trial. Instead, his plea deal ensures he’ll serve no more than the half-year term.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Charles Solomon also gave him four and a half years’ probation and ordered him to perform 1,000 hours of community service.
Letterman blackmailer Halderman was snared in a sting operation.
The 48 Hours Mystery producer was busted in October for trying to shake down David Letterman for $2 million in return for keeping quiet about the comic’s affair with his former intern and Halderman’s then-live-in lover, Stephanie Birkitt.
Owing thousands of dollars in child and spousal support to his ex-wife, Halderman approached him under the guise of selling a screenplay … to Dave’s own life.
Rather than buying it to keep his liaisons a secret, Letterman blew the whistle, bluntly admitted on the air that he cheated on wife Regina Lasko, and moved on.
Halderman’s moving on too … to the big house. Nice work, man!
Robert Halderman to Plead Guilty in David Letterman Extortion Plot, Serve Six Months
Emmy-winning CBS News producer Robert ‘Joe’ Halderman pleaded guilty to shaking down David Letterman as payback for the host’s affair with his girlfriend.
Today, Halderman admitted giving Dave a “screenplay treatment” that was “a thinly veiled threat to ruin Mr. Letterman if he did not pay me a lot of money.”
In exchange for the guilty plea, the extortion plotter will receive a six-month prison sentence, 4 1/2 years probation and 1,000 hours of community service.
Outside court, he expressed his remorse for the sordid episode.
“I apologize to Mr. Letterman, to his family, to (girlfriend) Stephanie Birkitt and her family, and my family and friends,” said Halderman in a brief statement.
The plea came five months after Halderman threatened to expose Letterman’s affairs with several female staffers, including the blackmailer’s ex, Birkitt.
David Letterman and his blackmailer, Robert “Joe” Halderman.
Letterman released a statement thanking city police and prosecutors for their help in resolving the bizarre case that exposed his fondness for staffers.
“I had complete faith that a just and appropriate result was inevitable,” Letterman said. “On behalf of my family, I am extremely grateful for their efforts.”
Halderman would have faced up to 15 years behind bars if he had been convicted of a bizarre blackmail scheme involving the long-time Late Show host.
David Letterman’s affair with Halderman’s girlfriend, Stephanie Birkitt, ended shortly before his blackmail bid, but also predated her living with Halderman.
Halderman was arrested after Letterman - in a stunning admission on air - admitted cheating on wife Regina Lasko and detailed the blackmail attempt.
Halderman actually collected a $2 million check from Letterman as part of a sting operation started after the host went to police about the shakedown.
He was busted after depositing the check in his Connecticut bank.
Deep Inside the David Letterman Scandal
Vanity Fair has a terrific feature on the David Letterman scandal this month, taking us inside his affair and the alleged extortion plot against him like never before.
Even before 48 Hours producer Joe Halderman caught Letterman kissing his girlfriend, Late Show staffer Stephanie Birkitt, he and Dave were on a collision course.
The converging emotional sides of the slow-moving, but explosive triangle - Birkitt’s ambition, Halderman’s bitterness, and Letterman’s self-loathing - rocked CBS.
Excerpts follow, with a link to the full story at the bottom:
“A man waits in the darkness, watching his life slip away.
His name is Robert Joel Halderman. At 51, he is a producer for CBS’ 48 Hours Mystery, a battle-scarred newsman who has spent much of his life in war zones.
He’s had two divorces, which have saddled him with crushing alimony payments, and his second wife recently sent him “reeling,” as he e-mailed colleagues.
David Letterman’s shocking admission stunned viewers.
She had just moved to Colorado with their 11-year-old son, Jimmy.
August 2009. Robert Halderman is outside his modest house in Norwalk, Conn., as a $100,000 electric Tesla sports car comes to a stop at the end of the road.
In the passenger seat is his smart, attractive live-in girlfriend, Stephanie Birkitt, being driven home from work by her boss, none other than David Letterman.
Letterman lives 20 miles away on a 108-acre estate in Westchester.
Halderman has watched Dave and Stephanie seduce each other on national TV. For more than 10 years, as Stephanie rose from Late Show with David Letterman intern to one of the host’s assistants, to his frequent on-air sidekick.
It started innocently enough, with Letterman calling his office and asking Stephanie, then 26, about such things as “strippers” and “the dirty little Hooters girls.”
“Do you like hot dogs, Stephanie?” he asked.
Continue reading in Vanity Fair …
David Letterman Extortion Case Proceeding to Trial
David Letterman can really appreciate the joys of Jay Leno bashing because just a few months ago, he was the late night host in the media crosshairs.
After allegedly being blackmailed over an affair with staffer Stephanie Birkitt, Dave was forced to admit he had cheated on his wife Regina - on the air.
While the drama over the Late Show host’s sexual liaisons in the workplace has largely blown over, the court case surrounding the extortion has not.
Tuesday, a New York judge rejected a motion to dismiss the extortion case against producer Robert Halderman for trying to shake down Letterman.
Justice Charles Solomon denied a request by Gerald Shargel, Halderman’s lawyer, to throw out a charge of attempted first-degree grand larceny.
Robert “Joe” Halderman will be tried for extorting David Letterman.
Solomon nixed the so-called Tiger defense - that what Halderman did was no different than Tiger Woods’ mistresses seeking payments to keep quiet about it.
The defense counsel claimed the extortion count should never have been filed because Halderman’s attempts to sell Letterman a “screenplay about his illicit affairs” for $2 million was nothing short of a “pure commercial transaction.”
Prosecutors countered that Halderman merely tried to use the appearance of a legal business transaction as cover to pull off the extortion. The judge agreed.
If convicted, the 52-year-old Halderman, who attended the proceeding and sat stone-faced throughout, could face a maximum 15-year prison sentence.
Robert Halderman’s New Strategy in Letterman Blackmail Case: The Rachel Uchitel Defense!
Robert Halderman, the alleged “mastermind” of a $2 million extortion plot against David Letterman, is just throwing everything at the legal wall at this point.
The CBS News producer is using the Tiger Woods scandal as a precedent to fight the charges against him, which could land him in jail for years if convicted.
Halderman’s lawyer, Gerald Shargel, notes in legal papers that when news of Tiger’s infidelity surfaced, mistress Rachel Uchitel reportedly signed a multi-million dollar settlement in return for her silence, with the help of Gloria Allred.
Shargel notes, admiringly, “Their behavior was capitalist, not criminal.”
The lawyer says Robert Halderman, who is reportedly seeking a plea deal in the case, merely “offered to sell a very marketable story” of Letterman sleeping with Stephanie Birkitt, and that it was a simple business transaction.
Except for the part where he deliberately tried to shake Letterman down.
It was only a matter of time until these cheating scandals collided.
Shargel says that celebrity misdeeds have “significant fair market value” and they are “routinely suppressed through private business arrangements.”
His argument, however thin and stretched, is that Rachel wasn’t prosecuted for taking Tiger’s money, so why would Halderman for wanting Dave’s?
Gloria Allred, for her part, is far from pleased that Halderman’s lawyer compared himself to Rachel Uchitel, saying he has no basis to make such claims:
“I have no personal knowledge of his case. He has no personal knowledge and therefore, no basis for remarks about my representation of Ms. Uchitel.”
“Mr. Shargel should spend his time representing his client based on facts, rather than comparing it to matters of which he has no personal knowledge.”
In other words, Rachel’s settlement was confidential. If there even was a settlement, which is widely believed to be true, but it is, by definition, secret.
Source: Robert Halderman Seeking Plea Deal in David Letterman Extortion Case
The guy accused of trying to blackmail David Letterman has offered to plead guilty in exchange for a one-year prison term, according to the New York Post.
Robert Halderman’s lawyer, Gerald Shargel, denied knowing anything about an offer, saying: “There have been no plea negotiations. None whatsoever.”
He would say that regardless, of course, and it’s all a moot point until January, when Cyrus Vance Jr. takes over as Manhattan’s new District Attorney.
A one-year term would be a far cry from the 15 he’s facing.
Halderman stands accused of trying to shake down Letterman for $2 million by threatening to expose the TV star’s series of sexual affairs with staffers.
Letterman admitted as much - and was blatantly honest in his on-air apology to fans, staffers and wife Regina Lasko - even breaking the story himself.
WHAT A RACKET: Halderman is accused of trying to shake down Letterman.
Prosecutors allege that Halderman dropped off a one-page “screenplay treatment” with Letterman’s driver September 9. The proposed “story line” revolved around an intern-loving comedian whose sexy antics were about to be outed.
That plot appeared to make direct reference to Letterman’s admitted affair with intern Stephanie Birkitt - also Halderman’s ex-girlfriend - and others.
But instead of caving, Letterman went to war, contacting police and wiring his lawyer for a series of meet-ups with Halderman, who was later arrested.
He is free on $200,000 bail. Shargel has filed papers demanding dismissal of the charges, arguing that this was nothing but a “business transaction.”
Prosecutors aren’t buying that, though, saying that Halderman hatched the extortion plot with the screenplay nonsense as his intended cover stlory and admitted on tape that he resorted to the scheme because he needed the money.
Prosecutors Say Robert Halderman Feared Getting Whacked By David Letterman After Shakedown
Before Tiger Woods took his crown, David Letterman was the king of extramarital sex scandals this year. The Late Show host’s involved an extortion plot.
Prosecutors in the case released transcripts of conversations clandestinely recorded of Robert “Joe” Halderman, who allegedly blackmailed Letterman.
“The defendant’s threat was simple: Unless Mr. Letterman paid $2 million, defendant Halderman would make public information about a purported sexual relationship between Mr. Letterman and his assistant,” said the feds in court papers.
Why $2 million?
“Because that amount would enable him to visit his son [in California] without needing to demand more money from Mr. Letterman in the future.”
That’s one expensive plane ticket.
According to excerpts, Halderman’s intent was “crystal clear” in that was going to claim the negotiations were a business transaction for a screenplay.
Robert “Joe” Halderman stands accused of trying to extort David Letterman.
He would use that as legal cover to shake down Letterman, who slept with ex-assistant Stephanie Birkitt, who was living with Halderman at the time.
Prosecutors rejected Halderman’s screenplay story, citing remarks he made about storing “copies of the dirt he had” on David Letterman just in case.
“The only way to be sure that I never talk to anybody is for somebody to kill me. Well, you know, I don’t want that to happen,” Halderman said.
What the hell does he think this is, The Departed?
He apparently thought so: “I’m not sure how crazy this guy is, or um, how dangerous he might be,” Halderman said, per court papers. “Should I be fired, mysteriously … if my house burns down … any number of things.”
“I have no idea who or what he is or is capable of.”
A hearing in the case is set for January 19.
Robert Halderman Search Warrants, David Letterman Extortion Plot Details Revealed
A Connecticut judge agreed to unseal police search warrants related to police raids on the home of Robert Halderman, David Letterman’s alleged blackmailer.
Suffice it to say, there were some interesting findings.
NYPD Detectives targeted “computers and loose media, floppy disk, hard disc, cassette tapes, magnetic tapes, removable media, tape and/or data cartridges.”
Robert Halderman had some good stuff too.
The Emmy-winning CBS News producer sent the comedian’s attorney a package that included a demand letter, the outline for a screenplay exposing Letterman’s in-office affair, as well as “personal correspondence, telephone records and photos.”
For good measure, Halderman threw in copies of a diary kept by Stephanie Birkitt, his ex-girlfriend and the Late Show employee at the center of the scandal.
THG NOTE: Way to leave your private diary behind when you moved out, Stephanie! Don’t girls guard these things with their lives? Especially if there’s info in there about cheating on the guy they LIVE WITH? No wonder Halderman lost his $h!t.
Robert Halderman is accused of trying to extort David Letterman.
“In the letter, Halderman states he needs to make a large chunk of money by selling… client #1 a screenplay treatment,” reads the search warrant.
It continues: “The documents then describes that client #1’s world is about to collapse as information about his private life is disclosed leading to a ruined reputation and severe damage to his career and family life.”
The documents state that Letterman’s lawyer, James Jackoway, told investigators in the case that Halderman “demanded $2 million to ensure the information in the screenplay treatment and supporting materials would not be made public.”
The 48 Hours Mystery man has pleaded innocent to one count of attempted first degree grand larceny, which carries a maximum penalty of 15 years.
He is currently free on $200,000 bail.
Last week, Norwalk, Conn., prosecutor Suzanne Vieux filed a motion objecting to the warrants’ release, arguing that disclosing such information could put the witnesses named in the documents under intense media scrutiny.
More importantly, she said it could hurt the case against Robert “Joe” Halderman. THG NOTE: How is the guy’s name both Robert and Joe? Confusing!
Nevertheless, Norwalk Superior Court Judge Bruce Hudok disagreed and authorized the release, provided the names of witnesses were redacted.
Stephanie Birkitt on Paid Leave From Late Show
It turns out the woman at the center of David Letterman’s sex and extortion scandal is not banned from the The Late Show set as some media outlets reported.
“Stephanie Birkitt is on a paid leave of absence. TMZ’s reporting that she is banned from the set or the building is incorrect,” a rep for Worldwide Pants said.
Worldwide Pants is Letterman’s production company.
Whatever Birkitt’s status, Letterman has escaped any kind of official reprimand so far, remaining on air, cracking jokes at his expense and raking in ratings.
Stephanie Birkitt, 34, worked as David Letterman’s former assistant on The Late Show before moving on to bigger and better things as his personal attorney.
Her ex-boyfriend, CBS News producer Robert “Joe” Halderman, was arrested for trying to extort $2 million from Letterman by threatening expose the affair.
Stephanie Birkitt was a recurring comic muse for Letterman.
But it wasn’t just money motivating Halderman, according to reports. It was a grudge the star held against him for years, and most of all, it was jealousy.
As recently as August, Halderman saw Letterman and Birkitt passionately kissing in a car in the driveway of the Norwalk, Conn., home he shared with her.
According to a People source, Letterman and Birkitt “were seen making out in the driveway in August,” despite her telling Halderman they were just friends.
“He drove her home once a week. The interesting thing was he lives in North Salem, New York. Driving her home to Norwalk wasn’t exactly the next town.”
Halderman and Birkitt lived together for several years. He reportedly left Dave a package with a copy of her diary and emails elaborating on their hookups.
It was previously believed that their affair had ended in 2003, before the birth of Letterman’s son Harry, but these ecent reports seem to suggest otherwise.
Letterman apologized to his staff and his wife, Regina Lasko, who he married in March, on the air Monday, his first day back at work since the alleged plot.
Robert Halderman: Motivated By Letterman Grudge?
Earlier this week, it was alleged that Stephanie Birkitt carried on her affair with David Letterman even as she lived with boyfriend Robert Halderman.
Halderman was arrested last week for attempting to bilk Letterman out of $2 million in exchange for keeping quiet about his interoffice romance(s).
Well, it looks like another factor on top of Birkitt’s cheating may have motivated the CBS News producer - Letterman just plain didn’t like the guy.
After Letterman broke up Stephanie Birkitt, a former Late Show staff member, and she began dating Halderman, Dave was not a fan, sources say.
Insiders say that Dave made it clear he didn’t want her new 51-year-old producer boyfriend at any Late Show office parties and other staff events.
He wanted Stephanie there, just not her new squeeze.
Robert Halderman is accused of blackmailing David Letterman. But why?
That grudge may have driven Robert “Joe” Halderman’s alleged plot to extort $2 million from Letterman by threatening to expose his sexcapades.
Letterman and Halderman Birkitt in common, but little else.
Halderman liked to live well, golf and party. Office affairs aside (Dave was also tied to Holly Hester), Letterman is private, reserved and geeky.
Even the cultures of their workplaces were poles apart.
The Late Show boss, who in March married longtime girlfriend Regina Lasko, might have been playing around, but the female staffers all loved working there.
“I would be shocked if someone came forward with a sexual-harassment complaint,” a female insider said. “I’ve worked in a lot of places, and [The Late Show] is one of the better places for a woman. Dave’s not a groper.”
Birkitt has since been banned from the set of the Late Show.
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