RobertHalderman

The latest news in the David Letterman extortion scandal hit the airwaves today. Robert "Joe" Halderman, the guy who grabbed headlines for trying to extort money from the 'Late Show With David Letterman' host, pled guilty to grand larceny in exchange for six months in prison and five years probation.

With good behavior, Halderman could spend as little as four months in prison -- a much lighter sentence than he might have faced had the case gone to trial, reports 'News Central' (weekdays, 4PM ET on Kcal).

Any thoughts on this? Too little prison time for the crime?

Watch the video after the jump.

Here's a late breaking surprise ripped from the headlines: Robert Halderman, the '48 Hours' producer accused of blackmailing David Letterman, has admitted to his guilt.

He took a plea deal with prosecutors in federal court that nets him six months in prison and 1,000 hours of community service, plus four and a half years of probation. For the unfamiliar, Halderman was busted in an undercover sting in which he tried to extort more than $2 million from Letterman. If Letterman didn't pay, Halderman would go public about Letterman's secret relationships with female members of his staff.

News of the plea came as quite a surprise since he and his attorneys have waged a loud campaign to expose and humiliate Letterman in open court. Halderman has since made a public statement, as seen in the video below, apologizing to Letterman and 'Late Show' staffer Stephanie Birkett and their families.



[via Comedy News]

It's time to look back to a simpler, less vicious time in late night television when the alleged extortion of a major talk show host and his office flings was all the rage in the daily news rags.

Robert Halderman, the 48 Hours producer accused of extorting Late Show host David Letterman, lost his recent bid to have a judge throw out his grand larceny charges. His defense claimed that what Letterman and the FBI call his actions blackmail, he called it simply an offer to buy a screenplay about the talk show host's life.

Call me crazy, but offers to do artistic work don't usually involve threats of dragging people through the mud for personal gain and profit. Then again, I've never worked for NBC.

"Do you feel like a story?" David Letterman asked his viewers during the Oct. 1 episode of 'The Late Show.' What started off sounding like a benign comedy bit slowly developed into a 10-minute confession, a tale of extortion and illicit sex few of Dave's fans could have imagined, a lurid true story that was one of the most riveting moments on television during this or any other year.

It looks like we've got the makings of a fight on our hands.

Robert Halderman, the man accused of extorting David Letterman and turning the always funny Late Show into a storm of innuendo and gossip, wants his case to go to trial and most likely won't accept a plea deal or make some sort of arrangement with prosecutors.

So far, he's got two things going for him: a whirlwind of press surrounding his case and the fallout of his arrest and money. The New York Observer reports he's raised almost $100,000 in legal funds for his case.

I hope this doesn't happen, but is it just me or is it starting to look like Halderman's trial could actually hurt Letterman and company more than it helps him?

So just who had the unbelievably huge Mammoth balls to extort late night legend David Letterman? You're looking at him, not his balls thankfully.

Robert "Joe" Halderman, pictured at the right sitting in his unholy beach chair of evil, is the man the Manhattan District Attorney's Office brought extortion charges against for trying to score more than $2 million from Letterman as part of a blackmail plot.

Letterman admitted on the air that he had a sexual encounter or encounters with members of his staff, and that Halderman used the info he had on those encounters as leverage to extort money from him. I've got three to one odds that the "Fire David Letterman" club awards Halderman their "Humanitarian of the Year Award."

According to New York City's Department of Correction records, Halderman received a felony count of attempted grand larceny. He entered a not-guilty plea at his arraignment.