UPDATED: Halderman playing the Tiger Woods card in Letterman extortion case (NYP)

By Nancy Tartaglione

Updated:

Following a New York Post report (see below) that David Letterman's alleged blackmailer, Robert Halderman, is seeking a plea deal, the newspaper now says Halderman is playing the Tiger Woods card.

Halderman's attorney has filed court papers saying his client simply had valuable information and wanted to get paid for it - just as many of the women involved in the Woods sex scandal have been.

Lawyer Gerald Shargel's filing, according to the Post, says the Woods case "placed the legal issues here in stark relief," noting that many of the players in the Woods scandal were reportedly paid money to go away - and haven't been charged with anything.

The filing also notes that "evidence of celebrity misdeeds has significant fair market value."

Halderman, the filing says, "offered to sell his very marketable story to David Letterman. If Letterman refused, Halderman would move on and sell his story to someone else, for fair market value. There was no threat beyond that. As a result, no crime was committed."

Earlier:

The New York Post reported yesterday that the man accused of attempting to blackmail David Letterman has floated an offer to plead guilty in exchange for a one-year prison term. Citing unnamed sources, The Post said the offer won't be considered by the office of outgoing Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau because prosecutors feel the call should be made by Cyrus Vance Jr., who will take office in January.

A Letterman spokesman would not comment on whether he had been contacted about a possible plea deal.

Alleged blackmailer Robert Halderman faces a possible 15 year sentence if he is convicted of trying to shake down Letterman for $2 million.

Halderman's lawyer, Gerald Shargel, denied any knowledge of an offer. "There have been no plea negotiations. None whatsoever," he said.

Rather, according to The Post, Shargel said he plans to forge ahead, filing additional papers on his motion to dismiss the charges. Halderman is free on $200,000 bail.