A former “Opie and Anthony” producer was caught terrorizing one of the show’s co-hosts with a deluge of alarming text messages and harassment, the Daily News has learned.
“F**king law-breaking piece of s**t you are. Have fun. I got you,” read one text to talk radio star Gregg Hughes (aka Opie), according to court papers.
“Get ready for many lawsuits…I have good lawyers. Looking forward to taking your money,” suspect Benjamin Sparks allegedly added after Hughes asked him to stop contacting him.
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Sparks, 40, of Chelsea, made it clear in the messages that he knew where Hughes and his family lived on the Upper West Side.
Hughes told the Daily News Monday that Sparks has been a longtime nuisance.
“He’s been harassing me and my family for eight or nine years. I can say it’s been more than just text messages,” Hughes said.
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“My family is my first priority. It’s one thing to take shots at me. But as soon as you make my family a part of it, it’s a different story.”
Hughes said it was probably true that Sparks felt he had been wronged by him but declined to elaborate.
The wacked-out ex-employee “caused [Hughes} anxiety, stress, sleeplessness, and fear in that he was forced to look over his shoulder to see if the defendant was following him,” according to a criminal complaint.
Sparks admitted to cops that he “sent the texts” and added that he “knew it was wrong, it was excessive, I’m sorry.”
“I went out to a party and it brought up a lot of things from the past. I knew it was wrong,” according to a court transcript of Sparks’ arraignment on Nov. 16 in Manhattan Criminal Court.
An order of protection was also issued last week in favor of Hughes and his wife Lynsi Smigo Hughes.
Sparks, looking disheveled, declined to speak Monday at his apartment, where he was sitting in the dark.
“No, no,” he said, shooing away a News reporter and threatening to call police. “Go away.”
Sparks is due back in court on Jan. 11. He was released on his own recognizance when he went before a judge last week.
“Opie and Anthony” was disbanded last year when Anthony Cumia was reportedly fired for posting racist tweets.
Hughes now hosts a show on SiriusXM satellite radio with comedian Jim Norton.
With Dale Eisinger, Alec Tabak
