A week before ESPN courtside reporter Erin Andrews struts her stuff on Dancing with the Stars, the Illinois insurance executive who shot nude videos of her via a hotel room peephole was sentenced to two and a half years in prison, the Associated Press reports.

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Michael David Barrett, 49, was also ordered to pay $7,366 in restitution to Andrews in addition to the jail term.

Barrett gave a tearful apology before the sentence was announced, but Andrews, 31, rejected it and even urged the judge for a higher sentence.

"There are no words to tell Ms. Andrews how sorry I am for what I've done to her," he said. "I hope someday she can forgive me."

"You violated me and you violated all women," Andrews then told Barrett. "You are a sexual predator, a sexual deviant and they should lock you up."

The suspect in December pleaded guilty to interstate stalking, as he was found to have followed Andrews to at least three cities, checked in to rooms adjacent to Andrews', and shot videos of her when she was naked. He was also accused of trying to sell the videos online to TMZ.

"The victim, Andrews, will be suffering with this problem for the rest of her life," U.S. District Judge Manuel Real said. "There is no life sentence that can be imposed upon him, except his own guilt."

As for her upcoming stint on Dancing with the Stars, Andrews claimed that the deal was made before the stalking allegations surfaced. She doesn't want to send the wrong message to victims of a similar abuse by staying "secluded" from the public eye, she added.

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Andrews' pro partner will be Maksim Chmerkovskiy, and they'll perform their first routine when Dancing with the Stars premieres on March 22 on ABC.


Source: Associated Press
(Image courtesy of ABC)