A couple who attempted to extort $500,000 (GBP250,000) from Latin star ALEJANDO SANZ has accepted a plea deal to avoid the case going to trial.
Sanz's former maintenance worker Carlos Gonzalez and his wife Sylvia Alzate confessed to trying to blackmail the star last December (07), by threatening to release unspecified private information about him to the Spanish media unless he paid up.
Jury selection in the pair's Florida trial was due to begin on Monday (19May08), but minutes before it was due to get underway, Gonzalez and Alzate agreed to serve two years' probation instead - each avoiding a possible 50-year prison sentence if they were convicted.
During Monday's court session, Circuit Judge Israel Reyes ordered the release of Gonzalez from jail and also ruled that the couple must stay away from the Latin Grammy winner.
In addition, he has imposed a two-year gag order on all those connected with the case, banning them from talking to the media about the specific details.
According to reports, Sanz revealed he had fathered a son from a previous relationship just weeks after being threatened by the couple.
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