Legal Ethics
Lawyer Accused of Running Client’s Call-Girl Ring Enters Misdemeanor Plea
Posted May 5, 2009, 05:55 am CST
By Debra Cassens Weiss
A well-known New Jersey criminal defense lawyer accused of taking over his client’s exclusive call-girl business has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to promote prostitution, a misdemeanor.
The New Jersey Star-Ledger describes the lawyer, 53-year-old Paul Bergrin, as “one of New Jersey's brashest and best-known criminal defense lawyers.” His clients had included Queen Latifah and Lil' Kim. Prosecutors had claimed Bergrin ran NY Confidential, an escort service that charged $1,000 an hour and supposedly launched the career of the escort involved in the scandal that led to the resignation of former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.
Prosecutors said Bergrin took over the call-girl operation after its founder, Jason Itzler, pleaded guilty to money laundering and promoting prostitution in 2006. Bergrin had represented Itzler.
The plea deal calls for a sentence of three years’ probation and forfeiture of $50,000, the Associated Press reports. Bergrin was represented by Gerald Shargel, the criminal defense lawyer who also represents lawyer Marc Dreier, accused of selling $700 million in phony securities to investors.
Bergrin had originally been charged with money laundering, conspiracy, promoting prostitution and misconduct by an attorney, charges that could have resulted in a 25-year prison sentence. Shargel said the misdemeanor charge amounted to a minor transgression, according to the Star-Ledger.
"You jump a turnstile in a subway—that's a misdemeanor," Shargel said.
Prior coverage:
ABAJournal.com: “Prosecutors Question Whether Lawyer Had Role in Witness Intimidation”
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