Longtime talk show host David Letterman was involved in a sex and extortion scandal in October and the case continues to be pursued by authorities.

Robert “Joe” Halderman, a former CBS employee who was indicted Oct. 2, was accused of extorting Letterman after he threatened to publish a book and screenplay about the talk show host’s office affairs if he didn’t pay him a specified amount of money.

Halderman is scheduled to appear before a judge for a motions hearing next Tuesday morning.

Letterman is not expected to appear at the hearing as plaintiffs rarely have to be present at motions hearings. Halderman, however, is ordered to appear.

In a motions situation, an attorney makes a request to the appointed judge to make a ruling on a specific issue, which generally results in various court appearances.

When a person is charged with extortion it is considered a felony crime and is punishable by law. Penalties for such a crime can range from jail time to heavy fines, depending on the nature of the case.

To learn more about extortion, blackmail and related crimes, visit USLaw.com and the New York State Citizen Guide.

Last night TV host David Letterman’s opening monologue took an unforeseen turn. Viewers tuned in to hear Letterman make usual cracks at current celebrities and politicians in the news, but instead learned something about the 62-year-old host they’d never expect.

Letterman, who is married to longtime love Regina Lasko, admitted to the audience that he’s had various sexual affairs with a number of female coworkers over the years working at The Tonight Show. Not only was his infidelity to his wife – and mother of his child – shocking and disappointing to the millions of viewers watching the show, he soon revealed another scandalous aspect to the story: blackmail.

Until the known suspect was arrested, Letterman had been the victim of an on-going extortion plot by CBS’s 48 Hours employee Robert J. Halderman. For a few weeks, the suspected Halderman threatened to publish a book and screenplay about Letterman’s office affairs if he didn’t pay him a specified amount of money. Halderman is accused of trying to extort $2 million from Letterman, who issued a fake check during the investigation which ultimately got Halderman caught.

Letterman stood before the grand jury issuing his story and Halderman was eventually arrested shortly after.

Extortion is a criminal offense which occurs when a person acquires money or property from an individual through coercion or blackmail. Other relating white collar crimes include fraud, bribery, counterfeiting, embezzlement, forgery and larceny. Penalties for such crimes vary from fines to a prison sentence or both. Criminal laws sanction maximum penalties, but most defendants receive less than the maximum sentence issued by the judge.

If you want to learn more about white collar crimes, visit the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Service’s website . To better understand the laws pertaining to white collar crimes, also visit the New York Penal Law website.

I am so mad I fell asleep!!!!!

I had to hear it from Q104.3, which is Jim Kerr’s morning radio show. I missed The Late Show with David Letterman which had Paul McCartney perform on the Ed Sullivan Theater Marquee. Oh to be a fly on that stage!!! There are a ton of videos posted on the internet already. A few broke copyright law and had to be pulled off YouTube. Here’s a snapshot of the show from CBS.com.

Did you know that the Paul McCartney and the Beatles debuted on the Ed Sullivan Show 45 years ago? The question at the water cool at my office this morning is “What’s your favorite Beatles song?” Although I am a total fan of all the songs on The White Album, I love the song “I Will.” It is definitely my favorite!

Paul McCartney has had copyright issues with the music from the Beatles early days. I’ve read up on how England has a 50 year copyright limit. Hard to believe fans would even deny McCartney keeping the rights to his own music.