John Stamos Thwarts Blackmail Scheme

Full House star cooperates in FBI sting to take down two would-be extortionists, according to federal affidavit

By Josh Grossberg Dec 07, 2009 11:40 PMTags
John StamosAP Photo / Neilson Barnard

If you thought the Olsen twins were the two worst things that John Stamos ever had to deal with, you haven't met this pair.

The FBI has arrested a couple of Michigan residents for trying to extort $700,000 from the erstwhile Full House and ER star, or as the feds like to call him, Mr. X.

Per an affidavit obtained by The Smoking Gun, 23-year-old Allison Coss and 30-year-old Scott Sippola threatened to go public with photographs they claimed would be extremely damaging to the 46-year-old Stamos' squeaky-clean reputation, unless the actor coughed up some major cash.

And it was Stamos himself who helped crack the case.

The legal docs refer to Stamos only as "Mr. X, an actor," but The Smoking Gun reports that the photos were snapped during a 2004 party that Stamos, Coss and Sippola all attended.

Neither federal officials nor Stamos' rep would immediately comment on the report. There's also no indication on just what made the candid-camera moment so potentially compromising.

But according to the affidavit, Team Stamos tipped off the feds, who used an undercover agent posing as one of the actor's posse to make a money drop at a Michigan airport and snare the alleged perps.

A search warrant was executed at the house shared by the pair and agents found three photos of Mr. X, along with papers containing his cell phone number and numbers for various tabloid magazines.

The two suspects are now free on bond but under orders to refrain from any contact with the actor, currently hoofing it up on Broadway in Bye Bye Birdie.

Stamos joins the likes of parents Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber, and late-night host David Letterman as celebs targeted in alleged extortion plots in the past year.

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