V. Stiviano reportedly has quite a long rap sheet.
V. Stiviano, the woman at the center of the Donald Sterling controversy, is being investigated for allegedly extorting Sterling, according to TMZ, and it's reportedly not her first run-in with the law. TMZ reports she has been arrested four times and has used six different aliases since 2002.
Stiviano reportedly has gone by Vanessa Maria Perez, Monica Gallegos, Maria Valdez, Maria Vanessa Perez and Mariamonica Perez Gallegos before taking on the V. Stiviano identity, and TMZ said she was first arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department for petty theft in 2002. She was convicted and placed on probation only to again be arrested for another petty theft in 2004, according to TMZ. In 2010, Stiviano reportedly was arrested by LAPD for possession of a controlled substance and two years later she was arrested on charges of driving under the influence.
Court papers show that Stiviano legally changed her name in 2010, nine months after the drug charges, from Maria Vanessa Perez because she hadn't "yet been fully accepted because of my race" among other reasons.
"I wish I had just paid her off,"� Sterling said last week, according to DuJour.com.
Stiviano identified herself as Sterling's personal assistant and "silly rabbit" in an interview with Barbara Walters and told her that there are hours of recorded coversations between her and the Clippers owner -- though she denied releasing to the public the recording in which Sterling admonished her for bringing "black people"� to his games and told her not to "promote"� her association with them.
If Stiviano recorded Sterling without his knowledge -- though her lawyer says the Clippers owner knew he was being recorded -- she'd be in violation of California law. That's reportedly under investigation, according to TMZ. Also, Sterling's estranged wife, Rochelle, sued Stiviano in March seeking the return of more than $2.5 million in gifts Stiviano allegedly received from Sterling, including luxury cars and a $1.8 million duplex.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
