A Brooklyn federal court judge laughed in the face of a retired NYPD officer who pled guilty to running a high-end escort service Wednesday, after his defense attorney claimed the ex-cop was merely trying to provide platonic companionship for the deep-pocketed lonely.
“I could explain that to any middle schooler in New York City, and they’d laugh at that,” Brooklyn Federal Court Justice Carol Bagley Amon responded after Michael Rizzi’s lawyer Javier Solano called the endeavor “wholesome.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Bagley scoffed. “What are they, the visiting nurses of New York?”
Meanwhile, Rizzi begged the judge for leniency, reminding her in court papers that he “did not invent the world of escorts and prostitution,” and even quoting King Henry VIII’s 1546 proclamation that ordered the closing of all London brothels.
The bid also included a picture of Rizzi posing with his cat.




