Jurisprudence
From Staff and Wire Reports
George Steinbrenner testified that he paid Howard Spira $40,000 because he feared the admitted gambler’s many demands. “I was deeply concerned and apprehensive about what this guy was going to do to me personally and my family,” Steinbrenner said.
Spira, 31, is charged with trying to extort more money from Steinbrenner after he paid Spira $40,000 in January 1990. Spira has said the money was a payment for information on former Yankee outfielder Dave Winfield, with whom Steinbrenner was feuding.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
