Alleged Upper East Side Madam Anna Gristina Out Of Jail
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Anna Gristina, the so-called "soccer mom madam," was released on bond from prison on Tuesday night, four months after first being put behind bars.
Gristina, 42, looked tired and overwhelmed by the cameras as she walked out of Manhattan Criminal Court with her attorney and family by her side.
"We'd like to thank all the people from the city that have contacted our office today to support Anna Gristina. The nightmare of her bail ends today, and trial preparation starts tomorrow," attorney Norman Pattis said.
Minutes earlier, her husband, Kelvin Gorr, and their 9-year-old son arrived at the courthouse to deliver flowers, CBS 2's Rachel Stockman reported.
Gristina was said to be especially happy to be reunited with her son, who has suffered medical issues since she's been in jail.
"He's been very terrified when she would come back," Pattis said.
Gristina's bail package was approved and involves one piece of property from a family friend. She will be required to wear an electronic ankle devicethat was to be placed on her Tuesday night, 1010 WINS' Juliet Papa reported. She must also check in every month in person, and every week by phone with Ira Judelson, a high-profile bail bondsman who also handled Dominique Strauss-Kahn's bail.
"She's very grateful, she was out. She thanked me up and down, she kissed me. Her son came down to see her. She was very nervous, she was a very nervous woman. She is kind of shocked she was out," Judelson said.
Last week, Gristina rejected an offer from her former lawyer to secure her $250,000 bond with the deed for his luxury Tribeca apartment.
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Gristina had been at Rikers Island since February, being held in lieu of $1 million bail or $2 million bond on a single count of promoting prostitution.
Last week, a panel of judges reduced her bail to a $250,000 bond or $125,000 cash bail. The lowered bail is an amount Gristina's family said they can meet, using former attorney Peter Gleason's Manhattan apartment as collateral.
Prosecutors said her original bail was so high because she had the means and motive to run. Gristina allegedly operated brothels on East 78th Street and in upstate Monroe.
But her husband, Gorr, has insisted the family is broke and has even taken to the Internet to raise money from strangers for her bail.
He admitted his wife would set people up, some of them married, but denied she was running a prostitution ring. She has denied the charges, saying she was doing nothing more than running a dating service.
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"She has some beautiful looking friends who are women and beautiful looking friends who are males," Gorr said. "Maybe they're missing something in their life, they want a beautiful woman, who doesn't?"
Gristina is expected to live with her husband and four children at their home in Monroe, N.Y. She is due back in court on Aug. 17.
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