A former television producer who tried to extort $2 million from US talk show host David Letterman was sentenced on Tuesday to six months in jail, the Manhattan district attorney’s office said.
Robert Joel Halderman, a former producer for the CBS news programme 48 Hours Mystery, pleaded guilty in March to reduced charges of attempted grand larceny as part of a deal with prosecutors.
Halderman had threatened to reveal Letterman’s affairs with women who worked on the talk show host’s late-night programme on CBS.
New York State supreme court justice Charles Solomon sentenced Halderman, who is now in custody, to six months in a New York city jail to be followed by 1,000 hours of community service.
The case engulfed Letterman in a scandal when it became public in October, prompting the married comedian to admit to the affairs on his Late Show with David Letterman.
At the time he pleaded guilty, Halderman said he felt “great remorse” for his actions and apologised to Letterman.