Republished October 02, 2017 - 3:20 PM
Original Publication Date October 02, 2017 - 2:11 PM
NEW YORK - A Russian woman accused of blackmailing former New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer won't have to face trial on the allegations.
A judge sentenced Svetlana Travis Zakharova to 90 days in jail after she pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanour larceny charge involving a different man. She already has served more than that while awaiting trial.
The plea bargain also resolves an indictment in which Zakharova had been accused of extorting Spitzer by threatening to reveal details of their sexual relationship, Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said.
Zakharova's lawyer, Joseph Murray, said she denies blackmailing Spitzer, a Democrat who resigned in 2008 amid revelations that he had sex with prostitutes.
"She's had a long-term relationship with (Spitzer) and to be accused of extorting him was absolutely not true. She would never admit to that," Murray said.
Zakharova pleaded guilty to signing a New Jersey man's name to a lease, costing him $18,000 when she didn't pay rent.
In 2015, the Russian woman brought Spitzer back into the tabloid headlines when she accused him of assaulting her in a Manhattan hotel room.
Spitzer acknowledged having been with the woman but said through his attorney that the assault allegations were false and created by someone with "emotional difficulties." He was never charged.
Months later, he filed a lawsuit against the woman, saying he had been paying her money to keep their relationship quiet. In the suit, which was later withdrawn, he claimed she had demanded hundreds of thousands of dollars and trips to Paris, or she would "ruin his life."
News from © The Associated Press, 2017