Thomas George Paculis, 62, of Newfield, New York, was arrested and charged with extortion, the FBI said in a statement.
Deen, 66, who had a
multimillion-dollar enterprise built on books, restaurants, television
shows and housewares, has lost about a dozen business deals since a
deposition surfaced in which the TV chef admitted to using a racial epithet for black people.
A former employee of Paula Deen Enterprises, Lisa Jackson,
is suing Deen and her brother Earl "Bubba" Hiers for racial and sex
discrimination in the work place. The video-taped deposition related to
the suit was made in May and surfaced in June.
According to an FBI agent's affidavit, Paculis
emailed attorneys for both sides in the civil lawsuit on June 24 saying
he had "damning" information. The affidavit never specified what
information, if any, Paculis had.
"The statements are true and
damning enough that the case for Jackson will be won on its merit
alone," Paculis said in the email he sent to Deen's attorney, Greg Hodges, according to the affidavit.
The email went on to say, "There
is a price for such information," and "You can contact me here if you
feel it is necessary ... or I can go public and we will see what happens
then...," the affidavit said.
Hodges contacted the FBI after receiving the email. The FBI told
Hodges to reply to Paculis and they exchanged several emails and then in
a telephone call on June 26 Paculis told Hodges he wanted $250,000 not
to go to the media, it said.At the direction of the FBI, Hodges negotiated a reduction in the extortion payment to $200,000 during another call with Paculis the next day, the affidavit said.
Paculis was released on his own recognizance after appearing before a federal magistrate judge in New York
on Friday. Because the charges were filed in federal court in Georgia
where the attorneys practice, Paculis is scheduled to appear before a federal magistrate judge in Savannah, Georgia, at 9 a.m. EDT on July 16.
