Sheffield Says He Was Target of Sex Tape Blackmail Plot

[Walter Cronkite]

New York's Gary Sheffield (right) finished second in the recently released 2004 AL MVP voting.

New York Yankees star Gary Sheffield and his wife were the targets of a blackmailer who claimed to have embarrassing sexual videotapes of her and a musician, the slugger said Tuesday.

"I will not be blackmailed. I will not have my family dragged through the mud and filth," Sheffield said in a statement read by his Chicago-based business agent, Rufus Williams.

The Yankees outfielder said his wife, DeLeon, "had a long-term relationship with a well known professional singer over 10 years ago." Sheffield said he had known about the relationship, which came before the couple married.

"I have not seen the alleged videotape, nor do I care to," Sheffield said in his statement. "I love my wife and I vow again to stand by her through any trial or tribulation."

Sheffield said he hoped "the FBI and the federal authorities will prosecute this man to the full extent of the law."

Derrick Mosley, 38, a Chicago man who describes himself as a minister and has fashioned himself as a community activist, was charged Monday with operating a scheme to defraud for allegedly attempting to extort money from a professional athlete, who was not named.

Mosley was already on probation for bank fraud and remained in custody Tuesday pending a Thursday bond hearing.

His attorney, Luis Galvan, had no immediate comment after his arrest. A message left at his office after Sheffield's statement was released was not immediately returned.

Sheffield said in his statement that he was out of the country, would not be available for comment and would never discuss it publicly.

Williams described Tuesday how he had been contacted earlier this month by Mosley about a videotape purported to show Sheffield's wife. He said he called the FBI immediately.

"My client is very comfortable with the position he is in, and his wife is very comfortable with the position she is in," Williams said. "They have a very strong bond."

Neither Williams nor the FBI affidavit accompanying charges against Mosley identified the musician.

The FBI affidavit referred only to a professional athlete and his wife, and did not say whether the videotapes actually existed or whether Mosley's alleged remarks might have been part of a bluff.

The affidavit said Mosley claimed to have two videos that were delivered anonymously to his office. It said he claimed that the tapes depicted the athlete's wife with a musician and an unidentified woman.

Williams said he had not seen any such videotape.

According to that affidavit, Mosley first contacted Williams on Nov. 3, and Williams secretly taped several conversations with him over the next week.

In the first conversation, "Mosley stated that he was very upset and concerned about the tapes," the affidavit says. "Mosley further stated that he wished to speak to Individual A about reform and her moral standing."

Mosley later suggested he be hired for $20,000 to serve as a counselor for the athlete's wife and said he would destroy the tapes, according to the affidavit. At one point he told Williams "someone else would have called the tabloids and could have made millions," according to the affidavit.

Then, on Nov. 11, Mosley called Williams and said he wanted $20,000 immediately and provided Williams with a bank account number and said the money should be sent by wire, according to the affidavit. Mosley was arrested four days later.

Mosley is known in the Chicago area for stepping in as a spokesman for families hit by tragedies and speaking as a community activist after the E2 nightclub stampede last year. He was charged with bank fraud in 1999, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to one year and placed on probation for five years.

Source: AP