http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080205/ap_en_mu/britney_spears_who_s_lutfi

Lutfi has previous restraining orders
By SOLVEJ SCHOU, Associated Press Writer

He's been seen squiring around a dazed looking Britney Spears, at
times acting as her spokesman, referring to himself as her manager and
friend, and insisting all the while that her best interest is his only
concern.

All the same, Sam Lutfi, the 33-year-old man in the baseball cap who's
been behind the scenes throughout Britney's public downfall, has not
been easy to define.

Then on Tuesday, accusations in a restraining order cutting him off
from the troubled pop star would seem to support at least one theory:
that he was a Svengali figure in her life, a shady hanger-on who
controlled everything -- from doling out her pills to holding the
paparazzi's leash.

The day before the court documents were released, Lutfi told The
Associated Press in a text message: "I have no problems with anyone
writing anything negative against me. My image is not of concern, hers
is." Lutfi did not immediately respond to further inquiry.

The restraining order, based on a statement from Spears' mother Lynne,
was not the first against Lutfi, who is listed in legal documents as
Osama Lutfi. Accusations in at least three prior orders range from
obscene messages following a business deal to a neighbor who said he
was hounded incessantly and threatened with bodily harm.

Spears remained hospitalized Monday for psychiatric evaluation after
being committed last week. The order, which bars Lutfi from contacting
her in any way, was granted the same day a court turned control of her
affairs over to her father and a lawyer.

Though Lutfi had recently reached out to various magazines and media
personalities with information on Spears' condition and state of mind,
details on him have proved elusive.

Public records show he was born August 16, 1974 in Los Angeles. Music
magazine Blender, in a March cover story on Spears, states that Lutfi
grew up in Woodland Hills, where his mother reportedly owns several
gas stations.

According to the movie database IMDb.com, Lutfi served as associate
producer of 1998 film "Circles" (also known as "Crossing Paths") and
2001's "Crossing Cords." And a profile titled "Sam Lutfi" on the
networking Web site LinkedIn lists him as an "Independent Media
Production Professional" with education from the University of
Southern California. The school's alumni Web site does not list Lutfi
as a past student.

How Lutfi connected with Spears in the first place isn't clear.

Brandy Navarre, co-owner of celebrity photo agency and Web site X17,
told the AP that Lutfi contacted the agency about nine or 10 months
ago -- after her head-shaving incident and others -- about telling
Spears' side of the story.

Since then, X17 photographers have cultivated a close relationship
with both Spears and Lutfi, whom they have photographed together
numerous times. Lutfi communicates with X17 by text messages, instant
messages and e-mail regularly, and has had long conversations with
Navarre, she said.

Navarre said she never asked him how he and Spears met. Still, "I
think I've always had a positive feeling of him," Navarre said. "He
seems to have Britney's best interest in mind."

In the order against Lutfi, Lynne Spears says her daughter met him in
October 2007, and that he "essentially moved into Britney's home and
has purported to take control of her life, home and finances." She
describes witnessing a situation of tight control and manipulation,
with Lutfi calling the shots on her medications, cutting her phone
lines, and deciding who's let in to see the pop star.

A court commissioner on Monday extended temporary conservatorship of
Spears to her father, from whom she's been estranged, through Feb 14.
Adam Streisand, an attorney who said he believed he had been
authorized to represent Spears, argued Monday that James Spears should
be removed because his role "is causing her more agitation and more
distress."

"Her family hasn't been around," Navarre said. "(Lutfi) has kind of
been filling that void. ... He's done everything from being a default
manager and publicist to being a brother, a dad."

Navarre denied rumors that the agency was paying Lutfi for access.

"We have paid people for information, for pictures, but we've never
paid Sam Lutfi and have never paid Britney Spears," Navarre said. "And
he's never asked us for any money."

Last month, Barbara Walters said on ABC's "The View" that Lutfi had
contacted her, telling her Spears "is suffering from what he describes
as mental issues which are treatable." She also said Lutfi "seems to
be enormously supportive" of Spears.

Court documents from previous cohorts of Lutfi present a darker
picture.

In October 2005, businesswoman Jumana Issa filed a complaint in Los
Angeles against Lutfi; it was dismissed in March 2006 because she
failed to appear for a preliminary hearing. When contacted by phone,
Issa refused to comment.

In court papers, the Westside Escrow Corporation owner claimed Lutfi
started harassing her from the day of closing an escrow account for
him after he demanded canceling an escrow check which she said she was
unable to stop payment on.

Issa said Lutfi antagonized her repeatedly with obscene e-mails,
offensive faxes and late-night voice mails, hanging up on her around
15-20 times a day, according to court documents. Issa described the
ordeal as "an overwhelming nightmare."

Lutfi allegedly wrote in one fax provided by Issa, "Come on big lady,
I know you are capable of responding. Put down the donuts and call
me."

In October 2004, a restraining order was issued demanding Lutfi stay
at least 100 yards away from Mark Douglas Snoland, a neighbor in
Lutfi's condominium building, for three years. Snoland's attorney
Ronald Ziff referred questions to Snoland, who did not immediately
return calls seeking comment.

According to Snoland's petition for a restraining order, Lutfi began
"pounding" on Snoland's front door on the night of Sept. 6, 2004 and
tried to kick the door in while also pounding on a kitchen window and
"yelling verbal threats of bodily harm" against Snoland and his
mother, who lived in the unit.

Snoland claimed Lutfi returned 15 minutes later to continue to kick
the door and yell threats. Snoland also alleged Lutfi buzzed him on an
intercom "non stop" and, hours later, called his home phone number and
hung up every few minutes.

Lutfi claimed in a response to the petition that Snoland only
"knocked" on the door, and that Snoland "was never threatened," but
actually "angry he was removed from the board of the condo complex."

In April 2007, an Orange County Superior Court granted a restraining
order against Lutfi for 29-year-old Danny Haines, who told Blender he
had been a close friend of Lutfi for two years and that Lutfi once
told him he should kill himself. Attempts by the AP to reach Haines
for comment were unsuccessful.

According to Blender, Haines said he and Lutfi met on Myspace.com in
2005 when Haines was struggling with relationships with his relatives
and friends. The two became tight pals, Haines told the magazine, and
Lutfi emphasized that he could be a mediator between Haines and his
family.

Haines claims Lutfi showed a jealous side, leaving voicemails calling
Haines "worthless," and then divulging, "I love you, man. I love you
to death." Haines alleges Lutfi later suggested Haines take sleeping
pills, "lots of them," following a dispute over money Lutfi allegedly
borrowed from Haines, according to the magazine.

Haines claims when he stopped communicating with Lutfi, Lutfi
retaliated by e-mailing naked photographs of Haines to his family,
friends, colleagues and employer, and text messaged and called
repeatedly.