3 Men Ordered to Stand Trial in Brockovich Extortion Case

VENTURA —  Three men, including the former husband and former boyfriend of movie subject Erin Brockovich, were ordered Tuesday to stand trial on charges that they tried to extort $310,000 from her and her boss.

The ruling came after a four-day preliminary hearing in which lawyer Ed Masry testified that he was blackmailed by defendants Shawn Brown, 38, and Jorg Halaby, 46, and their Century City lawyer, John Reiner, 52.

The three are accused of threatening to go to the tabloid press with allegations that Brockovich was an unfit mother and had an affair with Masry, for whom she worked as a legal aide.

The men were arrested on charges of extortion after a two-month investigation by the Ventura County district attorney’s office and the FBI. Authorities took them into custody after a hidden camera recorded Masry and Brockovich handing them checks for $310,000.

Masry and Brockovich have denied ever having an affair.

The movie, in which Julia Roberts portrayed Brockovich, tells the true story of how she and Masry helped win $333 million in compensation from Pacific Gas & Electric for 650 residents of the small desert town of Hinkley, whose water was found to be contaminated with the carcinogen chromium 6.

Attorneys for the defendants contended Tuesday that it was Masry who concocted the extortion scheme to ruin the credibility of Brown and Halaby if they were called as witnesses in a lawsuit contending he had sex with clients. “It’s sickening that my client could be arrested and forced to sit here trembling in court because of this kind of biased [prosecution],” said Reiner’s attorney, Gary S. Lincenberg.