An ex-maintenance man for Latin music megastar Alejandro Sanz admitted that he tried to get the star to pay him $500K -- and just took a plea deal to avoid going to trial.

The worker, Carlos Gonzalez, and his wife Sylvia Alzate admitted to making extortion threats and agreed to two years' probation just before jury selection was to begin in their Florida trial. They faced up to 50 years in prison if convicted.

They had threatened to release unspecified info to the Spanish language media about Sanz unless they were paid $500K. Shortly after the threat, Sanz admitted that he had a three-year-old son from a previous relationship.

Sanz collaborated with Shakira on her 2005 hit "La Tortura."