Defense Lawyer Offers His Own NYC Loft to Back Client's $2M Bond in High-Profile Prostitution Case
In a highly unusual move, a New York defense attorney is offering his own TriBeCa loft as collateral for a client’s $2 million bond in a high-profile case involving a single count of promoting prostitution.
Attorney Peter J. Gleason also said in a court filing to be made today that his client, Anna Gristina, 44, her husband and their four children could stay at his loft, if the Manhattan Criminal Court so desires, reports the New York Post.
Why is he doing it? “I think Pete Gleason has a passion for justice and a congenital hatred of bullies,” said famed civil rights lawyer Ron Kuby, who is helping Gleason. “And when he sees someone being pushed around, he intervenes.”
The newspaper, which is calling Gristina “the Upper East Side’s alleged hockey-mom madam,” says the public corruption unit of the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which focuses on making cases against police and public officials, has been investigating her alleged operation for five years.
Gristina last week told the Post, in an interview from Rikers Island, where she is being held, that she is being pressured to provide information to the government about clients in the political, real estate and financial world. “In effect, it was, ‘Tell us what we want, and we’ll let you go,’ ” she said.
The article doesn’t include any comment from the DA’s office and the Associated Press says the DA’s office has declined to discuss the case.
Gristina, who has pleaded not guilty, is portrayed by prosecutors as a flight risk who has hidden millions, the news agency reports.
It says State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan expressed concern at a court hearing last week that Gleason apparently had been appearing in court and speaking to the media without yet entering an appearance in the case.
Kuby said he plans to address the situation in court today and explain why Gleason’s comments were appropriate.
Additional coverage:
Reuters: “Ex-detective in DA’s office was bodyguard for accused NYC madam”
Observer (commentary): “Anna Gristina: ‘McMadam’ – an export in the great British tradition”
Telegraph: “Scottish ‘madam’ Anna Gristina claims alleged brothel was ‘crash pad’ for model friends”
