Man Who Attempted To Extort Robert Griffin III Faces Sentencing Wednesday

Richard Hurd, who attempted to extort $1 million from Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III, will face up to three years in prison Wednesday.

Like Griffin, Hurd is a former Baylor University student-athlete, having played for the Bears' basketball team from 2004-08. He contacted Griffin's agent in June asking for $1 million to not release sensitive information apparently damaging to Griffin's reputation. Griffin's agent then contacted authorities, who arranged to give Hurd $120,000 to sign a non-disclosure agreement. Once Hurd did, he was arrested.

Hurd pleaded guilty in September to threatening to injure the reputation of another person and receiving the proceeds of extortion. He will be appearing before a judge in Waco, Tex. to receive his sentence.

Tuesday, Griffin discussed the matter with Dallas-area reporters. Griffin will return to Texas for the first time as a professional when his Redskins play the Cowboys Thursday.

“Whenever you have situations like that, you come into a lot of money, anything like that, people are going to try to bring you down, try to tarnish your image and things of that nature,” Griffin said. “It was unfortunate. It’s a guy that I know who he is. He’s my fiancée’s ex-boyfriend. People do things like that when they’re angry at you, or for whatever reason it is. To me, it’s just extremely unfortunate and you just got to move on from it. That’s what I’ve done, I’ve moved on from it. It’s not anything that I’m afraid of. It’s just sad.”


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