David Letterman extortionist Robert Halderman gets new job at Investigation Discovery

Robert “Joe” Halderman, the former CBS News producer who tried to extort $2 million from Late Show host David Letterman, has found his first full-time television job since he was released from prison after being convicted of the crime.

According to Reuters, Halderman has been given a full-time producing position at the Investigation Discovery weekly news magazine On the Case with Paula Zahn. Halderman had already started working on the program in a part-time capacity.

A Discovery spokesperson said in a statement that Halderman is employed by Weinberger Media, the company that produces the program, not the network. Weinberger Media is headed by former deputy sheriff and investigative reporter Scott Weinberger, who created On The Case with Scott Sternberg.

According to The New York Daily News, Halderman, a former 48 Hours producer, got in trouble when his extortion plot was made public in 2009. He tried to get $2 million out of Letterman in exchange for keeping quiet about a relationship the comedian had with a staffer that Halderman dated. Last year, he plead guilty to grand larceny, saying he felt “great remorse for what I have done.”

He was sentenced to six months in jail, plus five years of probation and 1,000 hours of community service. He only served four months, though, and was released in September 2010. The Daily News reports that the Emmy Award-winning producer may have done some under-the-radar television work since then, but his On The Case job will be his first major position since his jail time.

On The Case is currently in its third season and airs on Sundays at 10 p.m.