Tania Hollander, 36, became the fourth and likely last person to plead guilty in the sex scandal that exposed Ashley Alexandra Dupré as former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer’s high-priced call girl. The scandal led to Spitzer’s resignation and launched Dupre to national prominence. Hollander's lawyer described her as a minor character in the scandal, but she could face up to five years in jail.
Hollander, 36, of Rhinebeck, N.Y worked as a booker for the Emperors Club VIP, the high-priced New Jersey-based call girl ring that eventually hired Dupre. Hollander told the court she began looking for work early last year to supplement her job as a holistic health counselor. "She did not intend to get involved in a criminal enterprise," said Michael Farkus, her attorney, in a telephone interview with the Poughkeepsie Journal.
Farkus told the paper Hollander assumed she was taking a job as a receptionist and booking agent when ring kingpin Mark Brener, 62, of Cliffside Park, N.J., offered her the job. When it became apparent that it was an illegal activity, Hollander admitted she did not walk away, Farkus said. "That's why she's guilty.”
U.S. District Court Judge Deborah A. Batts asked Hollander if she knew she was engaging in an illegal activity. "It became apparent," Hollander replied.
Brener pled guilty to conspiracy to commit prostitution and conspiracy to commit money laundering. His former girlfriend Cecil Suwal, 23, formerly of Hopewell Junction, managed the business with Brener and also pleaded guilty to money laundering, conspiracy and conspiring to promote prostitution. Temeka Lewis, who lives in Brooklyn, pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution and money laundering last May.
Neither Spitzer nor Dupre have been charged in the probe that began last summer after investigators were tipped to a number of suspicious banking transactions by Spitzer. The ex-governor resigned March 12 after he was identified as "Client-9." His meeting with a prostitute known as "Kristen" in a Washington, D.C., hotel the night before Valentine's Day was outlined in an affidavit filed in connection with the case. Kristen was later identified as Dupre.
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