Westside : Woman Admits Guilt in Extortion Plot

Actress Tori Spelling’s former assistant pleaded guilty to attempted extortion Tuesday after allegedly trying to coerce the “Beverly Hills, 90210” star to pay $30,000 in hush money.

Karen Tublitz entered her plea to one count of felony extortion and conspiracy, just as jury selection was scheduled to get underway in her trial at Santa Monica Superior Court.

Judge Robert Altman reduced the charge to a misdemeanor and sentenced Tublitz to three years’ probation and 200 hours community service, said Los Angeles County Deputy Dist. Atty. Rhonda Saunders.

The woman who was acting as Tublitz’s attorney, Frances Jones, pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor count of practicing law without a license and received the same sentence. A single count of extortion filed against Jones was dropped in exchange for her guilty plea, Saunders said.

As a condition of their probation, both women are prohibited from talking about Spelling or her family, she said.

Tublitz and Jones had threatened to go public with “secret, personal information” about the 22-year-old daughter of television producer Aaron Spelling, unless she paid them $30,000, Saunders said. The information the pair held against Spelling has not been made public.