Plea deal in Alejandro Sanz blackmail case

MIAMI - A husband and wife who once worked for Latin music star Alejandro Sanz took a plea deal Monday just as their blackmail trial was about to start.

Carlos Gonzalez, 38, and 48-year-old Sylvia Alzate admitted making threats of extortion against Sanz. They agreed to a sentence of two years' probation and their criminal record could be erased if they successfully complete that term. The plea came minutes before jury selection was to begin.

The pair had faced up to 50 years each behind bars if convicted of the original charge of trying to extort money from Sanz, a Spanish singer who has won multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy awards. Sanz, whose real name is Alejandro Sanchez Pizarro, was not in court Monday.

Security was nevertheless extremely tight outside the courtroom, with cell phones collected from all spectators and reporters and an extra metal detector set up outside the door.

Circuit Judge Israel Reyes imposed a strict gag order on everyone connected to the case for the next two years, banning participants from talking publicly about the case. He ordered Gonzalez and Alzate to stay away from Sanz. Reyes also ordered Gonzalez released from jail.

Prosecutors said the couple threatened to release unspecified information about Sanz to Hispanic media unless they were paid $500,000. Gonzalez had done maintenance work at Sanz's home in Miami Beach, and he and his wife were allowed to live there.

A short time after the threat in December, Sanz issued a press release acknowledging that he has a 3-year-old son from a previously undisclosed relationship.

Sanz had objected to being forced to testify in the case but eventually gave a videotaped deposition, which remains sealed under Reyes' order.

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