Seagal's former friend in prison over threats
A former business partner of Steven Seagal has been sent to prison after admitting that he arranged for the film star to be threatened.
Julius Nasso was sentenced to a year and one day in prison, having pleaded guilty to extortion conspiracy last August.
He will also pay a $75,000 fine (€58,800) and receive mental-health counselling. He had arranged with members of a reputed crime family to confront Seagal and threaten him over a debt.
Nasso's lawyer said his client's crime was "an aberrant incident that is unlikely to happen again and totally out of character for somebody who is otherwise a well-respected and successful businessman".
Nasso and Seagal had formed a production company in Los Angeles in the late 1980s. Over the next decade, they made several films before they fell out.
