Letterman producer pleads guilty to blackmail over affairs

By Lewis Bazley.

A former television producer has pleaded guilty to attempting to blackmail TV host David Letterman over his infidelity.

Letterman revealed in October he was the victim of a $2 million (£1.2 million) extortion plot after having sexual relations with female members of his staff.

The blackmail attempt saw Letterman make a surprise admission in front of his studio audience that he had engaged in affairs with his production staff.

Robert Halderman, a former producer for the CBS crime show 48 Hours, has now pleaded guilty to attempted blackmail after appearing at New York State supreme court.

Though he faced up to 15 years in prison had the case gone to trial, Mr Halderman agreed a plea bargain as part of which he will serve six months in prison, perform 1,000 hours of community service and give up his right to appeal against his conviction.

"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," Mr Halderman told the judge.

The 52-year-old admitted to the court he had delivered an extortion threat, veiled in the form of a screenplay treatment, to Letterman's driver.

"This so-called treatment was just a thinly veiled threat to ruin Mr Letterman if he did not pay me a lot of money," Mr Halderman confirmed.

He will be formally sentenced in May.