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Millionaire Madam Reunited With Pet Pig, Other Family Members
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 27, 2012
Modified Jun 27, 2012
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 27, 2012
Modified Jun 27, 2012
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Anna Gristina, the suburban mom accused of running a multi-million-dollar prostitution ring from an Upper East Side apartment, was finally released from Rikers on $250,000 bail. NBC News got the exclusive of Gristina back at home and the 44-year-old said, “I'm just going to walk around the garden and just feel the grass under my feet, smell the fresh air, and just watch the sun coming up. (I want to) see what it's like to be back home again and let it really settle in that this is home again. I'm back. It's real.”
Gristina had been in jail since early March, when a $2 million bail was set. While her lawyers said she didn't have the money, prosecutors pointed out that Gristina was recorded saying that her high-profile clients would get her out of the country if she were ever in trouble. A higher court reversed the heavy bail recommendation two weeks ago, and it's taken that long for Gristina to get the money together.
The Post reports that she "boot[ed] her 'family lawyer,' Peter Gleason, because she felt the $250,000 collateral he personally was offering to provide came with too many strings attached. They included his insistence on guiding her media and legal decisions, multiple sources have told The Post." Now, some friends have put up their properties as collateral for her release.
Gristina is enjoying time with her children, husband, dog and pet pig, "I feel like I'm in a déjà vu, a dream or something. It's just all so shocking, because you get so programmed to a certain routine and being in a cell, and it's almost like the outside world vanishes."
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anna gristina
bail
millionaire madam
pet pig
prostitution
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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