SAN ANTONIO (Dec. 7, 2006) -- An 81-year-old woman has been charged with trying to extort $2 million from Hall of Fame quarterback Bart Starr.
Ruby Y. Young mailed a letter to Starr, 72, alleging a romantic encounter with him in 1960, prosecutors said. Starr, MVP of the first two Super Bowls with the Green Bay Packers, denies knowing the woman, according to a criminal complaint affidavit filed against Young in Birmingham, Ala.
Young was released on bond after a short hearing Dec. 5 in federal court. Young told U.S. Magistrate Judge Pamela Mathy she understood the charges and that "it's not true."
The initial letter was dated Oct. 30, according to the affidavit.
"And now, the time has come for you to pay -- to pay for the many injuries you caused me. ... No I am not a push-over Mr. Starr -- and no, I do not need the money -- but I intend to see that you pay for your wrong doings (sic) to me" said an initial letter.
Prosecutors said in Dec. 6 editions of the San Antonio Express-News that Young wrote two more letters to Starr.
Starr's son, Bart Starr Jr., said Dec. 6 his family felt badly for the woman and only went to the authorities because it seemed like it "could be a dangerous situation."
He said his mother recalled a situation some 30 years ago when a woman from Texas named Ruby, who was about Ruby Young's age, claimed she had met Starr. The woman described the man she met as "a great big guy" who smoked cigars, wore cowboy boots and Stetson hats. Starr is a slender 6-footer.
Her husband later called the Starrs to apologize and said his wife needed help, Bart Starr Jr. said.
No money was paid to Young in response to the recent correspondence, and investigators with the U.S. Postal Service obtained a copy of the first letter from Starr.
The letter, which listed a return address for an E.H. Young, was mailed to a business office for a ranch for troubled youths that Starr founded, officials said.
The affidavit shows that an investigator acted as if he was Starr and wrote a response. Authorities said Young then mailed two more letters to Starr.
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