Jackson Conspiracy Focuses on Associates
May 3 -- At his arraignment Friday, Michael Jackson learned that he was facing a new charge of felony conspiracy in the child molestation case against him and ABCNEWS has learned that prosecutors are focusing on two long-time associates of the "King of Pop."
Jackson, 45, has pleaded not guilty to 10 charges that include felony conspiracy with 28 overt acts involving child abduction, false imprisonment, extortion; committing lewd acts upon a child; attempting to commit a lewd act; and administering an intoxicating agent to a child. In the felony conspiracy charge, prosecutors have focused on Vinnie Amen and Frank Tyson, who both worked for Jackson at his Neverland ranch, ABCNEWS has learned.
Sources familiar with the case told ABCNEWS that Amen and Tyson are accused of using pressure tactics to try to silence the family of Jackson's alleged victim. The alleged victim's family says that Amen and Tyson, under Jackson's orders, threatened the boy's brother and allegedly said they would have him and his family killed if they revealed any information about the singer sharing alcohol with them. Jackson has been accused of serving his accuser wine in soda cans.
To read about the alleged threats made against the family of Jackson's alleged victim, click here.
According to the attorney for Amen and Tyson, Joseph Tacopina, the two men also have been accused of taking the alleged victim's siblings out of school, getting passports for the family and pressuring them to leave the country. Amen and Tyson were offered partial immunity to testify before the grand jury that decided to bring charges against Jackson, but both rejected the deal.
Pressure Tactics — by the Prosecution
Tacopina said his clients deny the allegations against them. Amen and Tyson, he said, helped the alleged victim's siblings switch schools and get passports, but only at the family's request.
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