The man who allegedly tried to extort Kevin Hart by threatening to release a sex tape last year has been charged and is facing a maximum sentence of four years in jail.
Jonathan Todd Jackson, 41, was charged on Wednesday “with trying to coerce actor Kevin Hart to pay him for a video that was surreptitiously recorded last year,” the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced.
Jackson, who also goes by Action Jackson, according to the D.A., was charged with one count each of attempted extortion and extortion by threatening letter. He is expected to be arraigned on Wednesday.
Kevin Hart.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty
“Jackson is accused of trying to extort an undisclosed amount of money from Hart between Aug. 25 and Aug. 30, 2017,” the D.A. announced. “Jackson allegedly had a videotape of the actor with a woman in Las Vegas and then is accused of trying to sell the recording to numerous celebrity news websites.”
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Prosecutors are recommending bail be set at $100,000, and if convicted, Jackson faces a max sentence of four years in county jail.
Last year, Hart apologized to his pregnant wife, Eniko Parrish, and his two children in a social media video, revealing that someone was allegedly trying to extort him for a sexually suggestive video. The FBI was reportedly investigating the alleged extortion attempt.
Montia Sabbag.
Lisa Bloom
“I’m guilty, regardless of how it happened and what was involved, the s– that I can’t talk about, I’m guilty. I’m wrong,” Hart said in an interview with the Power 105.1 FM show The Breakfast Club. “It’s beyond irresponsible. There’s no way around it. That’s Kevin Hart in his dumbest moment. That’s not the finest hour of my life. With that being said, you make your bed you lay in it.”
At the time, model Montia Sabbag came forward at a press conference, identifying herself as the woman involved with Hart and saying, “I am not an extortionist. I had nothing to do with these recordings.”
“I did not know he was married,” model Sabbag told Daily Mail TV in 2017. “I found out after we already had been together. So I did not know at first.”
She added, “The way he was acting didn’t seem like he was married.”
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