Tennessee man gets 20 months for threatening to expose Christian singer as gay

A Knoxville, Tenn., federal judge has sentenced a Johnson City man to prison, brushing aside his argument that "moral outrage" drove his attempt to extort money from Christian singer Kirk Talley. Walbert Keith Farmer, 39, had pleaded guilty but asked for probation. Farmer said he had been logged onto an innocuous chat room when he got an unwanted sexual overture from Talley, who lives in Kodak. He claims Talley later sent him a nude photo of himself. Defense attorney Scott Pratt said his client is a Southern Baptist and was greatly offended. But senior judge James Jarvis scoffed at Farmer's request for probation, asking him if he believed that, as a Christian, Farmer had a right to punish Talley. The court gave Farmer 20 months and a $100,000 fine. The federal prosecutor says Farmer had called Talley and threatened to expose the married Gospel singer unless Talley paid him nearly $15,000. Talley called the FBI.