Not Guilty Plea To Letterman Plot
A man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to plotting to kidnap David Letterman's 16-month-old son and nanny and hold them for $5 million ransom.
Kelly Frank, 43, faces felony charges of solicitation and theft and a misdemeanor charge of obstruction. The judge ordered him to remain jailed on $650,000 bail pending his next court appearance on April 5.
Frank, a painter who had been hired do to work on Letterman's ranch in north-central Montana, was arrested last week after an acquaintance told investigators he had planned to kidnap the talk show host's son, Harry Joseph, and the child's nanny.
The acquaintance said Frank talked about holding the two for 48 hours in the belief that he could extort $5 million from Letterman. According to court records, Frank said he had a key to Letterman's house and even knew where the child slept.
Frank's attorney, Jim Hunt, said his client "has agreed there were discussions about it, but with no purpose of carrying it out." He called it a "lighthearted conversation."
Frank's fiancee, Laurie Johnson, has said that Frank was falsely accused by a childhood friend he had a falling out with.
She said the estranged friend, who also worked at Letterman's ranch, has a "personal vendetta" against Frank because of a fight they had at work, and has been trying to incriminate him ever since.
On Monday night, as Letterman did his first show since the details of the alleged plot came to light, gratitude was way ahead of comedy on the show's priority list.
"Last week, my family and I were involved in a little legal activity, and fortunately everything turned out fine, but I want to just take a second here to thank some people," said Letterman.
He thanked two FBI agents, Teton County Sheriff George Anderson, county attorney Joe Coble "and the great people of Choteau, Montana.
"They have always made me and my family feel entirely welcome as though it were our home," said Letterman, "and that's how we think of it."
The boy, Letterman's first child, was named after the comedian's late father, Harry Joseph Letterman. The mother is Letterman's girlfriend, Regina Lasko.