Personal trainer pleads guilty to extorting ex-employer for $350,000

A personal trainer from Corona del Mar pleaded guilty Monday to his part in an extortion plot that threatened to smear a former employer if she and her husband didn’t turn over hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In 2008, Michael Earl Roberts, 49, allegedly sent his lawyer to demand $350,000 from Priscilla and Richard Marconi, owners of the Marconi Automotive Museum in Tustin.

Roberts’ lawyer at the time, James Toledano, a former chairman of the Orange County Democratic Party and a three-time Assembly candidate, still faces charges in the case. He has pleaded not guilty to one felony count each of extortion and conspiracy.

On Monday, Roberts pleaded guilty to felony charges of conspiracy and extortion in addition to two misdemeanor counts each of making anonymous phone calls and making annoying or harassing phone calls.

An Orange County Superior Court judge sentenced him to six months in jail, three years’ probation and 100 hours of community service, according to court records.

Roberts worked for the Marconis between 1995 and 2005, when they fired him, according to prosecutors.

Between 2006 and 2008, Roberts called Priscilla Marconi and her friends dozens of times, threatening to sue her or simply make her life difficult, prosecutors said.

In court documents seeking a restraining order against Roberts, Priscilla Marconi said her harasser fabricated a world “that did not exist anywhere but in his mind.”

According to the Marconis’ filing, Roberts believed that he and Priscilla Marconi had an affair and that she would leave her husband for him, taking with her a substantial chunk of the couple’s money.

Roberts threatened that if she didn’t pay up, he would spread lies about her to newspapers and local TV stations in an attempt to tarnish her reputation, according to prosecutors.

Newport Beach police arrested Roberts and Toledano in 2008.

Toledano, a Costa Mesa resident, is free on $100,000 bail while he awaits trial.

[For the record, 4:30 p.m. Oct. 29: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Michael Earl Roberts was sentenced to six months in state prison. He was sentenced to six months in county jail.]

— Los Angeles Times staff writer Joseph Serna contributed to this report.