Woman Convicted of Cosby Extortion

NEW YORK —  A federal jury on Friday convicted a 22-year-old woman of trying to extort $40 million from Bill Cosby, rejecting her argument that she was a waif who had been spurned by a famous father.

Two companions in the scheme also were found guilty.

Autumn Jackson, who claimed she is Cosby’s illegitimate daughter, buried her head in her hands and sobbed when the jury of seven men and five women declared her guilty after three days of deliberations.

“How could they?” she asked her lawyer, Robert Baum, after the verdict.

Jurors who spoke with reporters after the verdict gave the answer.

“Nobody has the right to extort money from their father,” said Deborah Hyman, who served on the panel.

David Henkel said his fellow jurors were swayed by the prosecution’s argument that Jackson and her co-conspirators continued to threaten to sell her story to a supermarket tabloid unless they were paid millions after being warned by Cosby’s lawyer they were committing a crime.

“The fact that they still carried it out was a convincing proof,” Henkel said.

Jack Schmitt, the entertainer’s lawyer, issued a statement saying, “The Cosbys appreciate the efforts of the prosecutors who brought this case and the efforts of the jurors who rendered a just verdict.” Cosby declined to comment personally.

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In addition to the extortion charge, Jackson was found guilty of conspiracy and crossing state lines to commit a crime. She could face up to 12 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 22.

Jose Medina, 51, a sometime occupational therapist and would-be screenwriter from Bethesda, Ohio, was convicted on the same charges.

A third defendant, Boris Sabas, 42, of Los Angeles, was found guilty of conspiracy and crossing state lines but exonerated on the extortion charge.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers presented starkly opposite portraits of Jackson, who sat demurely in court during the trial.

In closing arguments, Assistant U.S. Atty. Lewis J. Liman said Jackson “wasn’t asking for hugs and kisses or love. She was asking for cold, hard cash.”

During deliberations, the jurors asked for a picture of the estate that Jackson and her boyfriend, who pleaded guilty before the trial, planned to buy with more than $1 million in cash they expected to receive from Cosby.

Prosecutors said Jackson was the “public face” of the plot and that she was coached by Medina as she made phone calls to Cosby and his lawyer from a motel in California.

“Even if Bill Cosby were Autumn Jackson’s father, that still would not give Autumn Jackson the right to extort him,” Assistant U.S. Atty. Paul A. Engelmayer said.

He said that Jackson, in saying she would sell her story to a supermarket tabloid unless the actor paid her and Medina millions, was “threatening to fire point-blank at Mr. Cosby’s most valuable asset, his good name.”

Baum, Jackson’s court-appointed lawyer, sought to show her as a somewhat naive young woman who was spurned by Cosby over the years after receiving sporadic pep talks from the actor.

Baum quoted from Cosby’s best-selling book “Fatherhood” that the role of a father is to “be there.” It was an effort to show that the comedian avoided his obligations to Jackson while paying her mother to remain silent about their affair two decades ago.

Taking the stand last week, a somber Cosby admitted to a Las Vegas tryst in the mid-1970s with Jackson’s mother, Shawn Upshaw. He acknowledged providing more than $100,000 in regular financial support to the mother and daughter since.

But Cosby said he does not believe the young woman is his daughter. He refused to take a blood test.

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Baum said Jackson had merely engaged in what she believed were negotiations with a parent and charged that Cosby had driven the young woman to desperation by promising love and then ignoring her.

“Autumn believed she had certain legal and financial rights as a daughter,” the defense lawyer said. “There was no intent to extort.”

Baum said he will appeal and may also bring a paternity suit against Cosby.

U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones ruled that whether Jackson is actually Cosby’s daughter is not pertinent. But she allowed the defense to argue that Jackson was raised to believe the comedian is one of her parents.

Jackson and Medina were arrested in the Manhattan law firm retained by Cosby after traveling to New York in January to collect $24 million from the comedian in return for not selling the story to the Globe tabloid. Sabas was arrested later and charged with taking part in the plot.