An attorney who tried to extort $310,000 from the real-life Erin Brockovich and her boss, Ed Masry, was found guilty Monday on three felony counts.
Jurors deliberated for three days before convicting John Reiner of two counts of attempted extortion and one count of conspiracy to commit extortion. Reiner, 43, faces as much as four years in prison when he is sentenced May 2.
Prosecutors said the Century City man attempted to extort $310,000 from Brockovich and Masry by threatening to tell the media she was a bad mother and that she and Masry had an affair.
Brockovich and Masry have denied the allegations.
Reiner represented Brockovich's ex-husband Shawn Brown and ex-boyfriend Jorg Halaby.
All three were arrested in a sting operation in April 2000, but prosecutors later dropped charges against Brown and Halaby without explanation.
Investigators recorded several phone conversations and videotaped a meeting where Masry handed two checks totaling $310,000 to Halaby and Brown.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Frawley said Reiner tried to use scare tactics to cash in on the fame and fortune Brockovich and Masry received after the release of last year's hit movie
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