When Robert Joel Halderman's name first surfaced as the man behind a scheme to extort money from late-night talk show host David Letterman last fall, a lot of people were surprised, especially people who knew Halderman.

He wasn’t some kook or a career criminal looking for that big score, but a well-respected CBS producer.

Moreover, while the extortion demand was pretty hefty, $2 million, money wasn’t the driving force behind the scheme. It was personal, and as the whole scheme unraveled it seemed to tar everyone involved, including Letterman, who had apparently been carrying on with the woman Halderman had lived with, among others.

Yesterday, what’s likely to be the last chapter in the bizarre incident took place when Halderman pleaded guilty in a New York courtroom after reaching a plea agreement with prosecutors. In entering a plea to second-degree grand larceny, the former CBS producer told the court he felt great remorse for what he had done.

When Halderman, who is 52, is sentenced on May 4, he’ll face six months in jail and will have to perform 1,000 hours of community service. He’ll then be on probation for five years.

The extortion scheme read like something that might have been profiled on "48 Hours Mystery," where Halderman had been a producer until the whole thing unraveled.

Back in September, Halderman handed a package to Letterman's limo driver that included what was labeled "Treatment for a Screenplay." In a letter that was enclosed Halderman said he needed to make a “large chunk of money" and intended to do so by selling a screenplay revealing such details about Letterman’s personal affairs that his life would be ruined.

Those details, as would later come out, were about Letterman’s various affairs with “Late Night” staffers, including his longtime assistant, who had been Halderman’s girlfriend.

Yesterday, Halderman told the court he then set up a meeting with Letterman’s lawyer in which he made his demand for $2 million. The lawyer alerted police, and Halderman was arrested and charged with attempted grand larceny.

That following night, Letterman broke away from the usual patter of his show to speak directly to viewers, admitting that he had in fact had relations with women on his staff.