It seems Britney Spears’s life has gone from soap opera to spy novel.

Sam Lutfi’s younger sister Christina testified in a Los Angeles court Wednesday that she recently snuck a cell phone to the pop star at a Beverly Hills hotel – a plan allegedly hatched by Spears herself.

Spears, 27, whose phone access is strictly limited by her father Jamie, had initially called Sam’s cell phone

“[Britney] told me she wanted to get a hold of Sam,” said Christina, 25, whose brother had once been Spears’s manager. “She wanted him to help her find a lawyer, and wanted someone to get a prepaid cell phone to her. She was scared because her father was blackmailing her with visitation rights over her kids.”

people.com