Manhattan Madam 'pleads guilty to running high-class prostitution service from her apartment'... and now she WON'T have to name her wealthy client

Anna Gristina, 44, accepts plea deal for promoting prostitution charge
Previously claimed she would only accept plea deal to protect clients
Judge warns Scottish-born mother that she could also be deported

PUBLISHED: 15:42 EST, 25 September 2012 | UPDATED: 18:32 EST, 25 September 2012

The 'Manhattan Madam' has today pleaded guilty to running a high-end prostitution service from her New York City apartment.

Anna Gristina, 44, pleaded guilty in Manhattan Criminal Court to a single count of promoting prostitution.

The sole charge against her stemmed from a tryst she allegedly arranged between two prostitutes and an undercover police officer, who was posing as a client, in July 2011.

Copping a plea: Anna Gristina, pictured leaving court on Tuesday, has pleaded guilty to running a high-end prostitution service from her New York City apartment

Counsel: Gristina exits Manhattan criminal court with her attorney Norman Pattis, left, after pleading guilty to charges that she ran a prostitution service from her apartment in Manhattan

She took the deal in exchange for a promised sentence of time already served, DNAinfo reported, meaning she won't be going back to jail as she was in Rikers Island for four months earlier this year.

Gristina will be ordered to serve five months probation when she is sentenced on November 20. The judge warned the Scottish-born mother of four that she could also be deported.

The punishment is much more lenient than the potential outcome of a trial; she could have faced seven years behind bars if she had been found guilty at a trial scheduled for next month.

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She appeared in court at 4 p.m. on Tuesday with her husband, two sons and daughter by her side.

Gristina, also known as the 'Soccer Mom Madam', had denied before she went to court that there would be any such plea deal.

'Yes, I’m going to court today,' she told the New York Daily News. 'I’m going to listen to the options. A trial is still a strong option. There will be no plea today.'

Avoiding jail: Gristina reportedly took the deal in exchange for a promised sentence of time already served, meaning she won't be going back to jail as she was in Rikers Island for four months earlier this year

Back in court: Anna Gristina, pictured in March, is is court on Tuesday and sources said she will take a plea deal In court: Anna Gristina, pictured in March, pleaded guilty to a charge of promoting prostitution on Tuesday

Avoiding jail: Gristina will be ordered to serve five months probation when she is sentenced on November 20

But friends told the New York Post that Gristina had been considering a plea deal in recent weeks, as prosecutors pushed her to reveal the name of one man, whom she refuses to identify.

'The only reason I’d take a plea is because I don’t want to turn on a friend,' she said. 'So that nobody else gets hurt, no other families get destroyed. I would do it for my family and friends.'

She added on Dr. Phil earlier this month: 'I have a deep sense of loyalty and I'm Scottish. It was the way I was raised. Your word is everything. I'm not going to hurt someone with a family.

'I'm not going to put the nail in the coffin of someone who is very dear to me.'

She was arrested after a five-year corruption investigation, which allegedly unearthed Gristina bragging that she had connections in law enforcement who were protecting her.

Gristina, who is originally from Edinburgh in Scotland, has denied she was running a prostitution ring and instead claimed that she was simply running a high-class dating service.

Speaking out: Appearing on Dr. Phil earlier this month, Gristina said she would never reveal the names of her supposed clients. She has maintained she was providing a matchmaking service

Accomplice: Her alleged co-madam, Jaynie Mae Baker (right), also struck a deal with the courts in August

Scene: She stands accused of one charge of promoting prostitution. Prosecutors say she arranged girls for high-profile, wealthy men at her Upper East Side apartment, pictured

But prosecutors alleged she made $15million over ten years for arranging prostitutes - including underage girls - for wealthy clients.

She was arrested on February 22 and was held at Rikers Island on a hefty $2 million bail until her lawyers managed to argue it down.

Tuesday's appearance was her second since she was released from jail in June after posting $250,000 bail. In August her lawyer's request to drop the charge against her was denied.

Alleged co-madam Jaynie Mae Baker and accused hookers Katherine DeVries and Mhariangela Bottone have already agreed to plea deals and have stayed out of jail.

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Americans need to get out of the 19th century and legalize this.

- Mick , Sydney, 26/9/2012 01:07

Click to rate Rating 7

She's just a pawn in a far bigger game! Someone has given her some light at the end of the tunnel to take the rap, just hope she knows what she's doing?! There is a LOT more to this than meets the eye...

- Kenny , The Garden County of England, 26/9/2012 00:55

Click to rate Rating 10

Legalize the trade and move on. There really is no need for this farce trial because it's a waste of taxpayers' hard-earned money. So many politicians, lawyers, judges and professionals are paying for the service so let us not close our ears, eyes and pretend.

- KittyKat , Over the Rainbow..., 26/9/2012 00:53

Click to rate Rating 9

Well done. Loyalty is a rare commodity these days

- embrace , West Lothian, 26/9/2012 00:41

Click to rate Rating 17

Here in New-Zealand such things are perfectly legal.

- Professor Evil , Scotland, 26/9/2012 00:30

Click to rate Rating 4

From Scotland....Do we have to say more.

- Ted , Teddington, United Kingdom, 26/9/2012 00:22

Click to rate Rating 7

I smell corruption and collusion. If the District Attorney had the evidence to convict, they would be throwing the book at her. The only reasons a "Time Served" plea deal is offered are 1) they haven't got enough evidence to convict and they think they have her scared enough to plead out. 2) They have enough evidence, but it's mainly circumstantial and they city has a better than even chance of a jury finding her innocent. 3) They don't want the evidence to come out in open court. If as she says, she had clients in law enforcement and city government then that's probably the reason.

- Mountain Man , Denver, 26/9/2012 00:07

Click to rate Rating 12

Local politicians all breathed a sigh of relief.

- MarkD , Syracuse, 25/9/2012 23:59

Click to rate Rating 23

its nice to see that some people still have a sense of loyalty. refreshing actually.

- heather , Dallas, PA USA, 25/9/2012 23:57

Click to rate Rating 4

SEND her back to Scotland asap!

- Pringle123 , New York City, 25/9/2012 23:49

Click to rate Rating 6

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