Autumn Jackson

Passions

Notable

Family

American news figure, the daughter of Shawn Renee Byers Thompson, who is alleged to be the daughter of comedian Bill Cosby. She was arrested on 1/18/1997 for attempting a love-child extortion scheme two days after Cosby's son Ennis was shot to death. Jackson, 22, and two accomplices were charged with trying to blackmail the 59-year-old Cosby, whom she says is her dad, for $40 million. Cosby admitted publicly that he had an affair with Thompson, but denied paternity. On her birth certificate, Autumn's dad is listed as Jerald Jackson, a Rialto, CA truck driver. He says that he is definitely her biological father, and also said that he didn't know why she was doing the scam. On 7/25/1997, the third day of her trial, Autumn broke down in tears in court when she was convicted of extortion and conspiracy. Her sentencing was set for 10/22/1997. On 12/12/1997, he was sentenced to more than two years for extortion. She could have gotten as much as six years but Judge Barbara Jones portrayed her as an unsophisticated player in a scheme devised by Jose Medina, who is awaiting sentencing. Jackson entered Camp Dublin, CA federal prison on 4/22/1998, six months pregnant with twin boys. When she delivers, she will be allowed three months to bond with her babies before returning to prison to complete her sentence. Husband Antonay Williams, 27, will do the parenting duties for her duration. An appeals court overturned her 1997 conviction, saying the judge had not explained the extortion law adequately to the jury and she was released from prison in June 1999.