John Stamos’ extor tionist is crying foul.
Michigan resident Scott Sippola, accused of trying to blackmail the former “Full House” star for $680,000, is now claiming that the FBI lost or destroyed “unflattering” photos showing Stamos with cocaine and cavorting with strippers.
According to legal documents obtained by thesmokinggun.com, the compromising photos, which Sippola claims were in a folder when feds raided his Marquette home last winter, are proof that he wasn’t trying to extort Stamos for cash. Instead, he says he was merely trying to arrange a legitimate business deal in which he would sell the photos to a tabloid unless the actor bought them first.
Sippola’s lawyer asked that the judge either dismiss the charges or instruct jurors that the missing photos should be considered a black mark against the prosecutor’s case, since the existence of the photos are a key element of Sippola’s defense.
The documents indicate that the government lost the “irreplaceable” photos — “the only copies in existence” — on purpose and in “bad faith,” possibly at the request of Stamos’ lawyer, who didn’t want the damaging photos to be entered into evidence.
The FBI and Michigan prosecutors argued that Sippola, 31, and co-defendant Allison Coss, his 23-year-old girlfriend, never had the photos in the first place. The prosecutors added that Sippola never e-mailed any of the salacious photos to Stamos in an effort “to convince him that compromising photos existed,” according to thesmokinggun.com.
Sippola and Coss were arrested in December and are charged with three crimes, including interstate conspiracy to extort money. After failing to reach a plea deal earlier this week, they are due for trial in Marquette federal court on July 12.
Coss met Stamos in 2004, while the actor was vacationing in Florida. They stayed in touch via e-mail afterwards.