EKB News

According to a federal complaint filed Friday, Karen Sypher, estranged wife of University of Louisville team equipment manager, Tim Sypher, has been charged with attempting to extort $10 million from University of Louisville's men's basketball coach Rick Pitino. An alleged written list of demands from Karen Sypher, which included tuition, two cars of her choice, payoff of her home and $3,000 per month, allegedly delivered to Pitino by Tim Sypher, was later rescinded and replaced with a demand for $10 million. Pitino recorded phone messages from an unidentified man who attempted to extort him, but Karen Sypher claimed to have had no knowledge of the calls, but, following a polygraph test, she supplied the FBI with the name of the alleged caller. The alleged extortion stems from an accused encounter between Pitino and Sypher in 2003. If convicted, she faces up to two years in prison for extortion, five years for false statement and a $25,000 fine on each charge.