Producer to admit Seagal plot

Seagal: "Pleased that justice is being pursued"

The former business partner of action film star Steven Seagal is to admit his part in a mob plot to extort money from the actor, a federal prosecutor has said.

Jules Nasso is to plead guilty to charges that he joined members of the Gambino crime family in demanding more than £100,000 from the star, according to prosecutor Andrew Genser.

Terms of the plea bargain were not disclosed.

Seagal, 50, who starred in Under Siege and Exit Wounds, had testified that he was threatened by the men in a dark upstairs dining room of a Brooklyn restaurant two years ago.

The actor's lawyer, Martin Pollner, said Seagal was "pleased that justice is being pursued and that his name is now clear".

Prosecutors said they had recordings of the mobsters laughing at how scared the actor was during the meeting.

Nasso, who served as a producer on some of Seagal's most popular films, had said he was seeking repayment for a £300,000 loan to the Hollywood star.

Lawyers for the producer, who was set to go to court next month, had repeatedly called Seagal a "pathological liar".

Nasso is expected to formally enter his guilty plea in a New York court next Wednesday.