The Russian hooker accused of extorting ex-New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer now has a trial date but a Manhattan judge encouraged her to take a plea deal before jury selection begins in September.
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Svetlana Travis Zakharova is accused of extorting $400,000 from Spitzer from 2014 to 2016 in exchange for her silence about their relationship.
Jury selection will begin for the accused call girl on Sept. 25 but Manhattan Justice Charles Solomon encouraged Zakharova to reach a plea agreement with prosecutors.
“Before we prepare witnesses for trial I want to make sure she is 110 percent prepared for trial. She faces much more time and consecutive time…if she’s convicted it’s not just 5 to 15 years. You have two complainants here,” Solomon said, adding that she faces consecutive prison time for both the Spitzer complaint and one related to another alleged victim.
That man is a Manhattan toy-store owner she had a fling with before she accused the disgraced Love Gov of choking her in a $1,000-a-night room at The Plaza hotel.
Paul Nippes, 67, has accused Zakharova of ripping him off.
Zakharova’s lawyer, Joseph Murray, said, “she wants to stay in the country. She believes in her innocence and she wants to go to trial.”
If the case does proceed to trial Elliot Spitzer is expected to testify.
Originally the 26-year-old accused Spitzer of roughing her up during an argument the two had at the Park Plaza Hotel in Feb. 2016.
Zakharova fled to Russia after the dispute and the investigation turned on her when she was charged with grand larceny for the extortion scheme.
Zakharova remains in jail on $1 million bond and is due back in court on July 25.



