The Associated Press recently broke the news that Louisville University men’s basketball coach Rick Pitino, 57, and former model Karen Sypher, 50, may have arrived at their final lawful destination. Karen Sypher has been pronounced guilty on three counts of extortion, two counts of misleading the FBI and a single count of witness retaliation. The catalyst for the charges was Sypher’s series of attempts to extort millions in hush cash from Pitino after a 2003 sexual encounter. Sypher claimed Pitino raped her during the encounter, but Pitino did not faces such charges. Sypher faces a maximum sentence of 26 years in prison, but federal guidelines will likely decrease the penalty.
Menacing phone calls and letters hounded Rick Pitino
Court records indicate that Rick Pitino received numerous telephone messages and two letters. The common theme was money in exchange for silence on Sypher’s part. ”This was nothing more than a pure shakedown of Richard Pitino,” attorney Marisa Ford told jurors within the case. Attorney Marisa Ford said that “This was nothing more than a pure shakedown of Richard Pitino”. Karen Sypher’s defense attorney James Earhart claimed that his client had been “villainized” during the trial, and that Pitino had received privileged treatment during the proceedings.
Pitino described the sexual encounter as ‘unfortunate’
During six hours of emotional testimony, Rick Pitino described his after-hours encounter with Karen Sypher in an empty Italian restaurant. The ‘unfortunate’ sexual dalliance was consensual, he said. 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 take the stand
Though Sypher didn’t testify, a never-released television interview was played for jurors. That footage involved Sypher’s allegation of rape by Pitino. She also corroborated Pitino’s testimony in which he gave assistance Tim Sypher $ 3,000 to give to Karen Sypher (then Karen Wise) for counseling and medical needs. Some time after the original meeting, Tim Sypher and Karen Wise married. The couple had the uncomfortable coincidence of meeting Pitino at numerous charity gatherings. Karen Sypher insists that the $ 3,000 was for an abortion, but Pitino has vehemently denied this was the case.
Alleged rape, circa 2009
Pitino spoke of more troubling telephone calls he’d received in February 2009. An unidentified male confronted him in much the exact same fashion he’d been confronted by Karen Sypher’s previous extortion tries. Rick Pitino recounted that “He mentioned the word rape. I got very sick to my stomach”. However, Pitino did not report these calls or the original event to the authorities for an additional two months, as he “tried to contain the damaging information”.
Additional reading
Associated Press
nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/38574025/ns/sports-college_basketball/
