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UP couple want Stamos extortion case thrown out
Posted: 11.30.2012 at 1:18 PM
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MARQUETTE (AP) -- Two people in the Upper Peninsula who were convicted of trying to extort money from actor John Stamos are blaming their lawyers.

Allison Coss and Scott Sippola are asking a judge to set aside their convictions and four-year prison sentences. They say the attorneys who represented them gave them bad advice and recommended they turn down a favorable plea deal.

Prosecutors have until January to respond.

In 2010, Coss and Sippola were convicted of conspiracy and using email to threaten a person's reputation. They had threatened to sell photos of Stamos with strippers and cocaine unless he paid $680,000. The FBI said the photos didn't exist.

Attorney Frank Stupak Jr. says it was Coss' decision to reject a deal. Sippola's lawyer didn't return a message seeking comment.

(Copyright ©2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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