Louisville head coach Rick Pitino and Karen Sypher, who was found guilty of trying to extort Pitino, have each talked to the media and offered their respective (and very different) sides of the ugly trial.
Pitino spoke with Andy Katz of ESPN and explained that he had no choice but to go public with the extortion attempt:
"I paid the price," said Pitino by phone Friday, a day after the 50-year-old Sypher was found guilty of three counts of extortion, two counts of lying to the FBI and one count of retaliating against a witness.
"I used extremely poor judgment and I've made my peace with God and my family."
Pitino said that he had no choice but to go to authorities after Sypher attempted to extort him, knowing full well that the information would become public.
"I had no choice in this fight," Pitino said. "I had to take it on. I didn't want this to go public, but she went to the news stations."
Pitino added that he has told the truth of day one:
"I'm not concerning myself with the perceptions," Pitino said. "I told the truth from day one [of him being extorted in 2009, not of the encounter in 2003] to my employer to [UL athletic director] Tom Jurich and to Dr. [James] Ramsey and to my family right away. The only thing I was concerned with was telling the truth. I taught my players over the last 30 years that if you tell the truth your problems will become a part of the past. If you lie, they are a part of your future."
Here is the complete article from ESPN.com
Sypher, on the other hand, compared the trial to a "witch trial" and said she was not treated fairly.
Here is an excerpt from NYPost.com:
Comparing her prosecution to a "witch trial," convicted extortionist Karen Cunagin Sypher yesterday said she never stood a chance in a federal courtroom against a local legend like University of Louisville coach Rick Pitino.
"This was a 1700s witch trial from the very moment I was raped," Sypher told the Louisville Courier-Journal. "I knew that I couldn't get a fair trial here to begin with, but I tried one more time to believe in the justice system."
Pitino spoke with Andy Katz of ESPN and explained that he had no choice but to go public with the extortion attempt:
"I paid the price," said Pitino by phone Friday, a day after the 50-year-old Sypher was found guilty of three counts of extortion, two counts of lying to the FBI and one count of retaliating against a witness.
"I used extremely poor judgment and I've made my peace with God and my family."
Pitino said that he had no choice but to go to authorities after Sypher attempted to extort him, knowing full well that the information would become public.
"I had no choice in this fight," Pitino said. "I had to take it on. I didn't want this to go public, but she went to the news stations."
Pitino added that he has told the truth of day one:
"I'm not concerning myself with the perceptions," Pitino said. "I told the truth from day one [of him being extorted in 2009, not of the encounter in 2003] to my employer to [UL athletic director] Tom Jurich and to Dr. [James] Ramsey and to my family right away. The only thing I was concerned with was telling the truth. I taught my players over the last 30 years that if you tell the truth your problems will become a part of the past. If you lie, they are a part of your future."
Here is the complete article from ESPN.com
Sypher, on the other hand, compared the trial to a "witch trial" and said she was not treated fairly.
Here is an excerpt from NYPost.com:
Comparing her prosecution to a "witch trial," convicted extortionist Karen Cunagin Sypher yesterday said she never stood a chance in a federal courtroom against a local legend like University of Louisville coach Rick Pitino.
"This was a 1700s witch trial from the very moment I was raped," Sypher told the Louisville Courier-Journal. "I knew that I couldn't get a fair trial here to begin with, but I tried one more time to believe in the justice system."
Posts
_logo.png){kind=logo}
0 comments:
Post a Comment