A man has been sentenced to two years in jail after trying to extort $US100,000 from Cindy Crawford.

Edis Kayalar, 26, surrendered to German authorities in November after he was charged in Los Angeles with trying to extort money from Crawford and her husband, Rande Gerber, over a photo of their seven-year-old daughter gagged and bound to a chair.

The photograph was reportedly taken by the girl’s nanny when they were playing “cops and robbers”.

According to court documents in Los Angeles, it fell into the hands of Kayalar – a friend of the nanny’s.

Judge Joachim Spieth noted that Kayalar had admitted asking for the money even though he claimed it was not extortion, rather an appeal “to cover costs” for his attempt to warn Crawford that the nanny was not a good influence.

“The attempted extortion was at an advanced stage and failed,” Judge Spieth told the court in the south-west town of Kirchheim unter Teck.

Kayalar – who is German – contacted Crawford last year and sought to use the photo to get money from the couple, allegedly saying tabloids would pay a lot.

Crawford and Gerber contacted authorities, prompting Los Angeles police to launch a criminal investigation.

Kayalar was arrested in September and deported to Germany for being in the US illegally.

In November, he again phoned Crawford and Gerber and demanded $US100,000, which led to him being charged with extortion.

- Reuters