LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A Kentucky woman was convicted Thursday of demanding millions of dollars from Rick Pitino to keep secret their one-night stand in a restaurant, then claiming the Louisville basketball coach raped her after he reported the extortion.
Karen Cunagin Sypher, 50, was found guilty of three counts of extortion, two counts of lying to the FBI and one count of retaliating against a witness. She stared at the ceiling as the verdict was read while one of her sons wept openly.
The case involved a 2003 sexual encounter between Pitino and Sypher, a former model at car shows, at a table inside an Italian restaurant closed for the night. Pitino testified she came on to him and the sex was consensual. After she was charged, Sypher told police it was rape but Pitino was never charged.
Last year, Pitino received three threatening phone calls and two letters demanding cash and gifts for Sypher to keep the tryst secret. One of the letters showed to the jury was a handwritten note from Sypher that asked for cars, tuition for her children and her mortgage to be paid.
Neither Sypher nor her attorney commented as they left federal court, but one of her sons, Jacob Wise, confronted prosecutors. “Thanks for taking my mother away, guys,” said Wise, 20.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of 26 years in prison, but the penalty likely will be lighter. She will remain free until her sentencing Oct. 27.
Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich said Pitino has been “100 percent truthful” and will not be disciplined.
