Woman pleas guilty in Spitzer's call-girl ring

Source: Xinhua  |   2008-6-4  |     ONLINE EDITION

ANOTHER woman yesterday pleaded guilty to money-laundering conspiracy and to conspiring to run the prostitution ring in the scandal that brought down former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer.

Cecil Suwal, 23 was claimed as the manager behind the Emperors Club VIP escort service where clients paid up to US$5,500 an hour.

The plea bargain calls for Suwal, who has no criminal record, to get between 21 and 27 months in prison.

Her attorney, Alberto Ebanks, suggested that Suwal was naively led into the business by her 62-year-old boyfriend, Mark Brener, the escort service's alleged ringleader. She sobbed during the hearing and called her former business "disgusting."

Spitzer apologized and announced his resignation on March 12, two days after the case became the top news item in the United States.

Suwal, a former University of Miami student who graduated from the prestigious Blair Academy in New Jersey, got her job at the Emperors Club after answering a help-wanted ad.

Suwal is the second woman pleaded guilty in this scandal. Temeka Lewis, a booking agent for the escort service, pleaded guilty to similar charges on May 14 and agreed to testify in any further proceedings.

Mark Brener and Tanya Hollander, a nutritionist who is said to have worked as a part-time booker, have also been in negotiations with the government.