I wonder where they come up with these revenue estimates. $7MM over three years?

"Escorts, called "models," were required to sign employment contracts prohibiting sexual contact with clients in an effort to mask the illegal nature of the business, the indictment says." Not only will this not stand up in court, but if some lawyer sold his services telling them that it would, they got had.

I'll bet that estimate is low.

How many places did Spitzer bust as DA? Of course, most of us now know that he was playing both sides of the field: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eliot_Spitzer_prostitution_scandal

Maybe Hynes has an "Ashley Dupres"?

OK...

There still has to be a trial.  I don't think the lawyer would have sold the contracts as a way to mask illegal activity.  I believe he would have recommended them as something that could be presented to a jury should this day ever come.  It makes sense.  Whether you believe them or not, they can say they only wanted to run an escort service and had no control over what the girls did with clients.  There's your reasonable doubt.  And just think how effective it would be if you had a juror or jurors who feels prostitution shouldn't be a crime anyway.  They now have a legal basis in finding the defendants innocent.

Hay gov',

NOTHING judgmental above, just reporting the facts.  HERE'S the judgmental stuff:

1. You were a better DA than Governor and should have remained DA, almost as if you were born to it.

2. You should have FOUGHT the charges and challenged the puritanical laws that you previously had to enforce as DA. (I'm not talking about the possible SEC or money transfer laws, just the "hobbying" laws.)

Nothing in the article about client databases, but you have to presume these exist, and are now in the hands of our friend Uncle Leo.  

Just the series of agencies busted over the past ten or so years here in NYC. I am not aware of any agency busts in the immediate past.

I have never heard of this agency.  Not that I would have used them since they are out of my range, but I thought I knew most of them.

You're not including the whale factor [possibility].  The singles and doubles are important for any business, but it's the guys who wants one or more girls for 12-48 hours that can really make a difference.  Of course, everyone likes to exaggerate how much money these guys make when there's a bust because it makes for a more salacious story.

Speaking of whales, do these guys actually go to the bank and withdraw $20,000 in cash or is there another system for paying?

I just had one agency still refuse me an appointment because I wouldn't give my personal info.  I have a half dozen referrals from indies and agencies, white listed here and even a client of theirs knows me.  But nope some idiot agency owners still insist on putting clients at legal and personal risk.

I repeat, would this not stand up in court. All the prosecution has to do is present evidence that prostitution was occurring on the premises. This "agreement" then won't meet the standards of reasonable doubt.

about how the system works.  It's the CHARGES that have to stand up in court.  Not the evidence that the accused presents to defend against those charges.  And you can argue at how YOU view the contracts until you're blue in the face.  That doesn't mean that a juror, or 4, or 12 wouldn't find it to be enough doubt to acquit on at least one of the charges.  Anything that muddies the waters is good for the defendant, because the burden of proof is on the prosecution.

Clients who pay $10K for an overnight/extended session are not the average client, and that client usually is not the significant source of most of a provider's income.

When I hear that one guy paid $10,000 FOR ONE APPOINTMENT, I am unimpressed.  I'm like, "Well, how did she pay her bills the rest of the year?"  It's not like you can live of $10,000 forever.

I am more envious, when I hear stories about regular clients who pay smaller sums.  That is where the meat and potatoes is.

Present some actual statistics that cases have ever been won in front of a jury (very few of these cases ever get before a jury, btw) because of these contracts, and I'll back off. I've had discussions with working defense attorneys about just this subject, and they say these contracts aren't worth the paper they're printed on as long as the prosecution shows that sex was being paid for. Which is why they usually recommend to their clients in such cases that they accept a plea bargain. Between the laws as written and common sense, most jurors see prostitution for what it is and aren't particularly interested in hearing a defense attorney pretend that it's something it isn't.