TMZ reports that Deen's attorney went to the FBI after Deen received an email and follow up phone call from a man named Thomas Paculis, according to a federal criminal complaint filed in the Southern District of Georgia on June 24th

The complaint claims Paculis threatened to go to the media with information he claimed with bring hardship and financial ruin to Deen. According to the FBI, Paculis' email to Deen's attorney read, "I am about to go public with statements refuting your clients statements about using the 'N' word in her business practices at Lady and Son's ...