DA: CBS News employee pleads not guilty in NYC to plotting $2M extortion of David Letterman

CBS employee pleads not guilty in Letterman plot

NEW YORK — A CBS News employee pleaded not guilty Friday to trying to blackmail David Letterman for $2 million in a plot that spurred the TV host to acknowledge sexual relationships with women who worked on his show.

Robert J. “Joe” Halderman, a producer for the true-crime show “48 Hours,” entered the plea in a Manhattan court as he was arraigned on one count of attempted first-degree grand larceny, punishable by five to 15 years upon conviction. Bail was set at $200,000.

Assistant District Attorney Judy Salwen told the judge Halderman was in debt, but did not elaborate. “The evidence is compelling,” she said. “It shows the defendant is desperate, and he is capable of doing anything.”

The prosecutor said Halderman gave the talk show host a package of materials that “contained clear, explicit and actual threats that indicate this defendant (wanted to) destroy the reputation of Mr. Letterman and to submit him and his family to humiliation and ridicule.”

Halderman, hands cuffed behind his back, stared at the floor during most of the hearing and said only, “not guilty.”

His lawyer, Gerald Shargel, said Halderman worked at CBS for 27 years and had no prior criminal record. He described him as an involved father, who coached soccer, baseball and football for his two children, ages 11 and 18.

“This story is far more complicated than what you heard this afternoon,” Shargel said outside of court, but he would not elaborate.

Documents filed in Stamford Superior Court in Connecticut show that Halderman, of Norwalk, was required to pay about $6,800 a month in child and spousal support to his ex-wife.

Prosecutors say Halderman demanded $2 million last month in exchange for not releasing information that would ruin Letterman’s reputation. Letterman told his viewers Thursday that the threat concerned sexual liaisons with female staffers.

Authorities say the plot prompted a sting operation at a New York hotel, with Letterman’s lawyer secretly recording Halderman’s threats.

Associated Press writers Colleen Long and Jennifer Peltz in New York, John Christoffersen in Norwalk, Conn., and AP Television Writer Lynn Elber contributed to this report.