Major League Baseball
Sheffield says he was target of extortion plot

By Mike Robinson
The Associated Press

Gary Sheffield

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CHICAGO — Gary Sheffield of the New York Yankees and his wife were the targets of a blackmailer who claimed to have embarrassing sexual videotapes of her and a musician, the outfielder said yesterday.

"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.

Sheffield 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 already was on probation for bank fraud and remained in custody yesterday pending a bond hearing tomorrow.

Mosley's attorney, Luis Galvan, had no immediate comment after the arrest.
 
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 yesterday 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 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 baseball player's wife with a musician and an unidentified woman.

Williams said he had not seen any such videotape.

According to the 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, according to the affidavit, 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. Mosley was arrested four days later.