Ex-husband: Sypher turned down plea deal in Pitino extortion case because she wanted revenge

Ex-husband: Sypher refused plea deal to get Pitino

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — An ex-husband of a woman accused of demanding millions from Rick Pitino to keep quiet about their one-night stand has told jurors that his former wife turned down a plea deal because she wanted revenge.

Randy Wise testified Monday that Karen Cunagin Sypher said in the summer of 2009, “I’m going down. I’m going to take Pitino with me.” Wise said Sypher made the comments about two months after she had been charged.

Sypher has pleaded not guilty to extortion, retaliating against a witness and lying to the FBI.

She is accused of demanding college tuition for her children, her house to be paid off and $10 million. She claims the Louisville basketball coach raped her in an Italian restaurant in July 2003 — a charge that Pitino denied and that authorities dismissed as lacking merit.