Slammer dunk.
A jury today found Karen Sypher guilty of extorting former Knicks coach Rick Pitino.
Sypher was on trial for demanding $10 million, college tuition for her children, and her house to be paid off in exchange for her silence about her tryst with the coach.
Sypher, 50, has pleaded not guilty to extortion, retaliating against a witness and lying to the FBI. She was found guilty on all six counts and faces jail time.
The trial ends a long, embarrassing episode for the beleaguered Louisville coach, who had to relive in great detail a “15 second” sexual encounter in 2003 that tarnished his squeaky-clean reputation.
Worried that his wife and kids would find out he had a one-night stand with a woman he met in a bar, Pitino acknowledged that he didn’t immediately tell police about demands for cars, cash and housing in order to keep the tryst secret. The Louisville coach told jurors he kept quiet for nearly two months, hoping he could contain the damaging information.
Ultimately, rather than pay Sypher, Pitino contacted the FBI.
She then accused him of rape. A claim investigators said had no merit.