Autumn Jackson begins 5year jail sentence for Cosby extortion plot

Jackson, who is six months pregnant withtwins, was convicted in July of threatening to ruin Cosbys reputation by offering to sell her story to a supermarket tabloid if he did not give her money.
 

Jacksons husband, Antonay Williams, also had a role in theextortion scheme but cooperated with police. He was sentenced tofive years probation. Another man, Jose Medina, was alsosentenced to 26 months in jail.

The judge in the case ruled that Cosbys alleged paternitywas irrelevant and that the real issue was whether thedefendants committed extortion. Cosby testified he had sex oncewith Jacksons mother but denied being her father.

Camille Cosby yesterday stood by her husband, Bill, after he publicly acknowledged having an affair two decades ago declaring, "We are a united couple."

"All old personal negative issues between Bill and me were resolved years ago," said Camille Cosby, a mother of five who has been married to the entertainer/comedian for 33 years.

"What occurred 23 years ago is not important to me except for the current issue of extortion," she added, referring to the arrest of a woman charged with trying to shake down Bill Cosby.

Camille Cosby, 52, also broke her silence on the Jan. 16 slaying of her only son, Ennis, issuing a poignant plea for help in the hunt for the killer.

"What is very important to me is the apprehension of the person or persons who killed our son," she said in a statement released yesterday.

"I appeal to all of you to help us find the murderer."

Her words came a day after it was reported that Bill Cosby, 59, acknowledged an affair with the mother of the young woman arrested for allegedly trying to blackmail him for $40 million.

Autumn Jackson, 22, allegedly threatened to tell a supermarket tabloid she is Cosby's illegitimate daughter.

In an interview Sunday, Cosby told CBS' Dan Rather that he didn't believe he was Jackson's father but conceded "there is a possibility" her claims are true.

Cosby said Shawn Thompson, now 43, told him he was the father of her daughter months after Jackson was born in 1974.

Cosby said he didn't believe Thompson.

California trucker Jerald Jackson, 47, who is listed on the birth certificate, maintains that he is the dad.

The TV superstar, who played the lovable dad on "The Cosby Show," previously alluded to past marital troubles. In 1987, he told Time magazine he went through a period of "selfish behavior" in the early 1980s.

"I just asked my wife and kids to forgive me, and ever since then, they've been part of everything I do," said Cosby, who wears a silver bracelet inscribed, "Camille's Husband."

Yesterday's statement marked a rare moment in the spotlight for the intensely private Camille Cosby, who has long been a behind-the-scenes force as an author, Broadway producer and philanthropist.

She was the model for Claire Huxtable on "The Cosby Show" a strong-willed, independent person, who has successfully juggled the roles of wife, mother and businesswoman.

Like her husband, she earned a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts. The couple's son was studying for a similar degree at Columbia University at the time of his slaying on a Los Angeles roadside.

Born in Washington, Camille Olivia Hanks met Cosby on a blind date when she was a 19-year-old psychology major and he was a struggling young comic. Cosby proposed on their second date, and they married Jan. 25, 1964.

http://articles.nydailynews.com/1997-01-29/news/18040375_1_camille-cosby-autumn-jackson-cosby-show