The Michigan couple who attempted to extort $680,000 from actor John Stamos has been sentenced to four years in prison.
Allison Coss and Scott Sippola were arrested in December after they threatened to sell photos of Stamos partying with strippers and cocaine – pictures the FBI has confirmed do not exist.
Coss, who was 17 when she met Stamos, claimed to have been romantically involved with the actor. Stamos denied the allegations but admitted to meeting Coss at a 2004 party in Orlando, Florida, shortly after separating from his wife, Rebecca Romijn.
In July, Coss and Sippola were found guilty of conspiracy and using emails to threaten a person’s reputation. On Friday, U.S. District Judge R. Allan Edgar sentenced Coss and Sippola both to four years out of a possible nine.
Coss was crying at the sentencing and didn’t address the judge; Sippola had apologized in a court document filed earlier in the week, saying, “I sought to exploit my knowledge of the personal weaknesses of a perfect stranger for my own undeserved financial gain. I would be angry and hurt if that had happened to me and I am certain that Mr. Stamos feels that way towards me.”
In a statement read at the sentencing, which he did not attend, Stamos wrote, “The defendants’ strategy consisted of lying and inventing stories at trial in a bid to confuse and incite the jury. I was forced to watch (Coss) slander me at trial with impunity while the press reported their fabricated allegations.”