So-Called 'UES Madam' Anna Gristina Sentenced To Time Served In Prostitution Case
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Anna Gristina, the so-called "Upper East Side madam," was sentenced Tuesday to six months in prison plus five years probation after pleading guilty to a single count of promoting prostitution.
She was released after getting credit for time served.
1010 WINS' Juliet Papa Reports
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In February, prosecutors charged Gristina after getting a tip alleging she was running a high-priced prostitution ring that racked up millions of dollars in profits out of an apartment on East 78th Street.
Gristina has been free on bail since June after spending nearly four months behind bars on Riker's Island.
She pleaded guilty to the single count of promoting prostitution back in September.
"There is nothing glamorous about prostitution," said Erin Duggan of the Manhattan District Attorney's office. "Anna Gristina rented women's bodies for profit, which makes her a pimp. That also makes her a felon, and the court has now issued that judgment."
"She has no one to blame for herself for her decisions," Duggan added.
Despite pleading guilty, Gristina publicly insists she never crossed the line, and blames her friends and alleged accomplice Janie Mae Baker for turning on her.
"Sometimes people get great deals for being state's witnesses, for being rats," said Gristina's defense attorney Norm Pattis. "I think in this case Ms. Baker decide to flip and roll over to get a deal."
Pattis said Gristina flirted with the idea of taking back her plea in favor of going to trial.
"It was a very difficult decision and until the penultimate moment it was an open question whether she would elect to go to trial. She remains convinced that those who are prepared to testify against her remain active in the very thing for which she was convicted," he told WCBS 880's Irene Cornell.
WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reports
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"It's a sense of relief that it's over, we can move on," said Gristina's husband Kelvin Gorr. "This was in the best interest of the kids, just to start over and move on, and that's it."
In addition to her sentence, Gristina, who is a legal U.S. resident originally from Scotland, also faces the possibility of deportation.
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