Appeal in John Stamos extortion case is denied

An appeal made by two former U.P. residents, who were convicted of attempting to blackmail actor John Stamos for $680,000, has been denied.

U.S. District Court Judge R. Allan Edgar presided over the original case involving Scott Sippola and Allison Coss in November of 2010.

The initial deal would have required Sippola and Coss to plead guilty to a single felony count of blackmail, punishable by up to 2 years in prison.  Instead, a grand jury indicted them on two counts of blackmail and one count of conspiracy to commit blackmail, landing the pair in federal prison.

Coss and Sippola filed an appeal claiming they had received ineffective legal counsel during their trial, which led to the rejection of a possible plea agreement.  Judge Edgar heard testimony from both defendants and the lawyers in question in October, but still found that their case was not appealable.

Coss will remain in a halfway house until her sentence has been served. Sippola is currently lodged at a Federal Transfer Center in Oklahoma City.