Fixer for Escort Agency Linked to Spitzer Will Plead Guilty

A woman accused of helping arrange meetings between high-priced escorts and their customers has tentatively agreed to plead guilty in the prostitution scandal that led Eliot Spitzer to resign as New York’s governor, her lawyer said today.Tanya Hollander, 36, of Rhinebeck, N.Y., will probably plead guilty on August 25 to a charge of conspiracy to violate the travel act, said her attorney, Michael Farkas. It’s alleged that escorts sometimes traveled between states for illicit meetings with clients.The plea would mean all four employees of the Emperors Club VIP who were arrested in March had admitted roles in a business that charged up to between $1,000 and $5,500 an hour. The service arranged meetings between men and more than 50 prostitutes in New York, Washington, Los Angeles, Miami, London, and Paris, prosecutors say.Left unresolved today was whether Mr. Spitzer or anyone else would be charged in the probe that began last summer with a study of suspicious banking transactions.Mr. Farkas was coy about whether his client can offer prosecutors anything about links between Mr. Spitzer and the escort service, which ranked women on its Web site with diamonds to reflect how much money each could command.Asked outside court whether Ms. Hollander had had any interactions with Mr. Spitzer, Mr. Faraks said “no comment.”However, the lawyer said cryptically: “What may or may not happen to him in the future may affect my sentencing arguments to the judge.”Mr. Spitzer resigned March 12 after it was disclosed he was referred to in court papers as “Client-9,” a man who met a prostitute known as Kristen on Feb. 13 in a Washington, D.C., hotel. Law enforcers had listened to phone calls between Spitzer and the escort service’s employees and had analyzed his bank records.Appearing briefly today before a U.S. District Judge, Deborah A. Batts, Ms. Hollander waived her right to an indictment and entered a not guilty plea to the conspiracy charge. After lawyers indicated Ms. Hollander was prepared to agree to a deal, Judge Batts set the August plea date.Outside court, Mr. Farkas said he and his client were carefully reviewing the plea deal offered by prosecutors and expected to sign it within a week or two. “We have verbally come to an agreement,” he said.He said he was hopeful the deal would mean no prison time. “Her role in this enterprise was more minor than the other participants,” Mr. Farkas said.Mr. Farkas said Ms. Hollander was eager to put the case behind her and concentrate on her career as a holistic health counselor.Last month, the Emperors Club VIP operator, Mark Brener, 62, of Cliffside Park, N.J., pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit a prostitution offense and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He agreed to serve between 2 and 2½ years in prison as part of a deal with prosecutors.Also in June, Brener’s former girlfriend, 23-year-old Cecil Suwal, pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiring to promote prostitution, admitting her role as a manager of the company. She has agreed to spend as much as two years in prison.In May, a booking agent for the escort service, Temeka Lewis, pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution and money laundering.All three are awaiting sentencing.

Fixer for Escort Agency Linked to Spitzer Will Plead Guilty

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