Posted Oct 1st 2009 6:00PM by TMZ Staff
John Travolta's lawyer just testified the alleged extortionists were willing to get paid in installments over four years.
Michael McDermott testified that after a number of phone calls, Pleasant Bridgewater dropped the asking price for the alleged extortion document from $25 million to $15 mil ... but the Travoltas ended up agreeing to $10 million. McDermott testified he would be paid $2.5 million a year for four years.
McDermott said this was all a setup, because he gave police permission to tap his cell phone and set up a sting operation at a hotel room.
McDermott said after he met with both Pleasant and Tarino Lightbourne at the bugged hotel room, he got an email from Pleasant saying, "Please see wire instructions as requested."
Filed under: John Travolta
Tags: 10 million, 10Million, 15 million, 15Million, 25 million, 25Million, john travolta, JohnTravolta, money, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, tarino lightbourne, TarinoLightbourne, wire
Posted Sep 19th 2009 11:00AM by TMZ Staff
TMZ has confirmed John Travolta will testify next week at the extortion trial involving the death of his son, Jett.
Travolta will travel to the Bahamas to testify on behalf of the prosecution. Paramedic Tarino Lightbourne and former politician Pleasant Bridgewater allegedly demanded $25 million in return for not going public with a document which authorized paramedics to take 16-year-old Jett to a hospital via ambulance after suffering a massive seizure.
We're told Travolta and wife Kelly Preston are outraged by the alleged extortion plot which authorities say was concocted shortly after Jett's death.
Filed under: Celebrity Justice, John Travolta
Tags: 25 million, 25Million, bahamas, death, extortion, extortion plot, extortion trial, ExtortionPlot, ExtortionTrial, jett, jett travolta, JettTravolta, john travolta, JohnTravolta, kelly preston, KellyPreston, pleasant bridgewater, PleasantBridgewater, seizure, tarino lightbourne, TarinoLightbourne, trial
