It has been a big year for Robert "Joe" Halderman. First, the former CBS producer was sentenced to six months in jail for trying to blackmail David Letterman for $2 million with information about the 'Late Night' host's infidelity. Now, Halderman is up for an Emmy, according to CBS News.

When the News and Documentary Emmy Award nominations were announced Thursday, Halderman's name came up in the category for Best Continuing Coverage as one of four producers of a '48 Hours' piece from April 2009. The story was about Amanda Knox, an American foreign exchange student who was tried for murder in Italy.
Halderman's blackmail scheme was creative -- he threatened to write a screenplay about Letterman's relationship with staffer Stephanie Birkitt, who appeared sometimes in the "Know Your Current Events" bit. Birkitt apparently also had a relationship with Halderman, possibly while still having a relationship with Letterman.

The whole thing was a bad soap opera, and it's hard to imagine Halderman would have done Emmy-quality work with a screenplay treatment. But his work on '48 Hours' helped CBS to earn 31 nominations, more than ABC and NBC combined.