Oprah Winfrey Sued By Extortionist

Oprah Winfrey

In 2006 Keifer Bonvillain was arrested by the FBI for trying to extort money from talk show host Oprah Winfrey. He recorded without permission, an inebriated employee of Winfrey's speaking sensitive information about her. He was later released in exchange for performing community service and paying a fine.

This week Bonvillain filed a $180 million dollar lawsuit against Winfrey for defamation of character. While, I don't share Oprah's views on several things, the law is the law and to record someone without consent is illegal.

Furthermore, you used said recorded items in a bid to extort millions from her. How can that be ethical or appropriate in any manner. Extortion is a crime and one worthy of imprisonment, but clearly someone went easy on you, thus enabling you to avoid jail time.

La. man sues Oprah over arrest on extortion charge

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A Louisiana man has filed a lawsuit against Oprah Winfrey, claiming she and an attorney made false statements that led the FBI to arrest him on charges that he tried to extort the talk-show host...

Bonvillain, of Houma, La., was arrested in December 2006 after he allegedly recorded telephone conversations with an employee of Winfrey's production company and told a company associate he wanted to publish a book based on the recordings. The FBI said he claimed to have offers from publishers and tabloids ranging from $500,000 to $3 million.

The FBI arrested Bonvillain when another company associate agreed to pay him $1.5 million, wired him $3,000 and arranged to meet him. Bonvillain claims in the lawsuit that he did everything he could to avoid doing anything illegal...

Federal officials agreed to dismiss the charges last year on the condition that Bonvillain perform 50 hours of community service, undergo drug testing and pay $3,000 in restitution.