SLEAZE BALL: Karen Cunagin Sypher (far left) goes to court yesterday in Kentucky, where a judge sentenced her to prison for a sex-extortion scheme (left) against cheating basketball coach Rick Pitino (right). (Chris Hall)
The psycho Southern belle who tried to blackmail ex-Knicks coach Rick Pitino for keeping mum about their 15 seconds worth of bad sex on a restaurant table, then falsely cried rape when he didn’t fork over millions in cash and gifts, was sentenced yesterday to more than seven years in prison.
Karen Cunagin Sypher, 50, dabbed away tears after the federal judge imposed the 87-month sentence for trying to wrangle from Pitino millions in cash, a top-of-the-line Lexus and a new home.
The fading Kentucky beauty and former trade-show model maintained her innocence, and claimed she’s the victim of a bizarre conspiracy that included the judge, her previous lawyer, the FBI and Pitino.
“At trial, I wanted to say everything,” she said with a quivering voice.
She thanked her new legal team for “at least allowing some of the evidence” to be heard.
But US District Judge Charles Simpson III wasn’t buying her story.
“This is a serious crime because it involves serious money. It is brazen, driven by sheer greed,” he said.
He also ordered Sypher to two years of supervised release after her release.
Pitino, a married father of five and a staunch Catholic known to bring priests on team road trips, did not attend the sentencing at the Western District of Kentucky courthouse.
The University of Louisville basketball coach’s image took a beating during the trial, when he was forced to testify about a quickie sex encounter in an Italian restaurant.
He said the “unfortunate” sex lasted “15 seconds.”
That brief act evolved into every philanderer’s nightmare.
Sypher, who boldly pursued the star coach after spotting him at the restaurant bar, claimed she became pregnant from the 2003 sex act and aborted his child.
Six years later, she began hitting him up for cash and demanding he buy her a house and a car.
Initially, Pitino was reluctant to bring in the authorities because he didn’t want his wife to learn of the brief tryst.
When he finally worked up the courage to go to the police, Sypher accused him of raping her.
In August, a jury found her guilty of trying to extort Pitino and lying about the encounter being rape.
Since her trial, Sypher has tried repeatedly to get the conviction thrown out. Yesterday, her lawyers called four witnesses — including her son — to the stand in an effort to show she couldn’t have blackmailed Pitino.
Jacob Wise told the court he went to a meeting with his mother and Pitino in which she said, “Rick, I don’t want your money. That’s not going to bring back my dead baby.”
Investigators hired by Sypher also testified she suffered from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from her relationship with Pitino.
Her history of erratic behavior prompted prosecutors yesterday to ask the court to send her to prison immediately, but the judge declined.
After the ruling Sypher remained defiant, saying “I’m fighting until the end.”