Entertainment
Paula Deen’s Blackmailer Sentenced to 2 Years in Prison
[UPI]
Tournament of Roses Grand Marshal Paula Deen (L) and her husband Michael Groover ride down Colorado Boulevard during the 122nd Rose Parade in Pasadena, California on January 1, 2011. UPI/Jim Ruymen
ATLANTA, Sept. 17 (UPI) — Thomas Paculis has been sentenced to two years in a Georgia prison for attempting to blackmail celebrity chef Paula Deen, court records show.
Paculis contacted Deen’s attorney, claiming he would release “true and damning” information about Deen’s use of the N-word if the TV personality didn’t pay him $250,000, prosecutors said.
The FBI arrested Paculis and he was charged with two counts of extortion. He struck a deal with prosecutors last month, agreeing to plead guilty to one count of extortion if prosecutors dropped the remaining charge.
