The city of Eagan has agreed to pay $2,000 to buy two domain names similar to the city's own that had confused residents and embarrassed the city. And now, the man involved in that settlement has been charged with coercion for allegedly using a website full of derogatory claims to demand hush money from a man who allegedly had an affair with his wife.

Emmett D. Salberg Jr., 34, of Eagan is accused of trying to strong-arm the alleged adulterer into paying $5,000 so that Salberg would shut down his website, on which the derogatory statements and photos of the victim were interspersed with tidbits about local businesses and restaurants.

Salberg was charged on Wednesday in Dakota County District Court with two counts of attempted coercion, which are felonies, and one count of harassment, a gross misdemeanor, in connection with the alleged coercion.

"We're maintaining that he's innocent of the accusations lodged against him," Jeffrey Sheridan, an attorney representing the Salbergs, said on Thursday.

Emmett Salberg first came into the limelight after he bought the cityofeagan.org URL and then transferred it to his wife. He also owned another domain, city-of-eagan.com. The city's official website is cityofeagan.com.

The city previously tried to buy the sites because the similar names caused confusion and e-mails intended for city employees sometimes went to Salberg's websites instead.

In January, residents called a local television station with worries that Eagan's official website had been "hijacked" by hackers, a city spokesman said Thursday.

Concerns heightened at Eagan City Hall when Salberg's sexually-oriented derogations about the man with whom Salberg's wife allegedly had an affair began appearing on the private websites.

A criminal complaint says the investigation began on July 7, when the wife of the victim told police that she and her husband has been continually harassed by Salberg for nine months. The victims' identities were not disclosed in the criminal complaint. The victim's wife told police that her husband had an affair with Salberg's wife that ended in September 2008, and the harassment began two months later.

City of Eagan officials said Thursday they expect to soon take over the Salbergs' websites. The City Council approved the $2,000 purchase of the two sites on June 16.

Joy Powell • 952-882-9017