((HT: WDRB/Fox 41))
Prosecutors will not pursue charges against UofL basketball coach Rick Pitino ((pictured, thanks WLKY-TV)). That decision comes after the woman charged with trying to extort the coach filed a complaint with police last week.
Wednesday, the Commonwealth's Attorney said her complaint lacks evidence.
Karen Sypher told Fox41 News Tuesday she was praying this police investigation would go somewhere. Wednesday, that it hit a wall with prosecutors deciding they would not seek an indictment against the coach.
In a statement sent out Wednesday afternoon, Commonwealth's Attorney Dave Stengel writes "he has reviewed the videotaped complaint made by Karen Sypher to the Sex Offenses Unit of the Louisville Metro Police Department and has found it void of creditability and lacking any supporting evidence."
Sypher has pleaded not guilty to charges of extortion and lying to the FBI. The feds say she tried to extort millions of dollars from Pitino stemming from an encounter they had in 2003.
Another man, Lester Goetzinger, was charged with aiding and abetting her. He's accused of making threatening phone calls to the coach.
Sypher says she feels like her presumption of innocence has been revoked. Sypher says, "I feel like I've been raped of that. Yes. Totally."
UofL Athletic Director Tom Jurich released a statement saying "Coach Pitino has denied the accusations made against him. In our eyes, he did not need to take a polygraph exam because we believe him. However, we're glad he did so he could refute the allegations, recognizing they come from a person who is facing federal charges which include not being truthful.
After the Commonwealth's Attorney decided to not pursue an indictment, Jurich released another statement saying the decision "confirms what we've known all along."
Here's the coverage of the story from Fox41 and their morning show...
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