Tuesday, October 21, 2008Woman arrested in sex sting asks judge to end case
Jennifer Chambers / The Detroit News
TROY -- The woman arrested in a prostitution sting involving the spouse of U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow has no money to comply with the terms of her probation and is asking a judge to close her case.
Alycia Martin is unemployed, receives no financial support from her family and has no money to pay for drug and alcohol screens, monthly probation fees for her case or for the gasoline to get to the court-ordered appointments, her lawyer Frank Cusumano Jr. said.
Martin, arrested Feb. 26 at the Residence Inn and charged with prostitution, was allowed to plead guilty to the lesser charge of trespassing. Troy District Court Judge William Bolle placed Martin, who was 20 at the time of the offense, on probation under the state's Youthful Trainee Act, which allows her criminal record to become nonpublic if she completes six months of probation.
Compliance with the random screens, monthly probation fees and fuel expenses will cost Martin $745 over the six-month probationary period. If Martin -- who is more than five months pregnant -- cannot pay for the drug tests, Cusumano says, she risks violating probation and going to jail.
"Ms. Martin does not want to go to jail, especially pregnant," Cusumano wrote in a motion to the court requesting that Martin's probation be shortened from six months to time served.
Cusumano also is asking the judge to consider the alternatives of allowing Martin to pay the fees at the end of the case or to revoke her Youthful Trainee Act status and sentence her immediately.
Troy City Attorney Lori Bluhm said she had no objections to the requests.
Martin's case made national headlines when Stabenow's husband, Thomas Athans, was questioned and released as part of the investigation into a prostitution ring at the Troy hotel.
Athans, who was pulled over by Troy police the night of Feb. 26, admitted to officers during a traffic stop that he met a woman online and paid her $150 for oral sex at the hotel. Troy police learned Athans had a suspended driver's license but released him without arrest, expecting his cooperation in the criminal case against Martin.
Athans was never charged in the case and never testified. Martin, whose lawyers attempted to get the case dismissed, did not provide police information on whom she worked for.
Martin's motion is to be heard Nov. 4.
You can reach Jennifer Chambers at (248) 647-7402 or jchambers@detnews.com.
OTHER LINKS
http://www.experienceproject.com/uw.php?e=348668
http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2008/07/26/2008-07-26_in_prostitution_raids_lets_remember_men_-2.htmlCelebrity Insider - Photos And News: Alycia Martin Causes Heartache To Senator
http://www.alyciamartin.blogspot.com/
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3 comments:
Frank, don't you ever sleep? You're always posting at 4 in the morning!
Yes, I do sleep, albeit not that much. Actually, I am at work when these posts are put up. I operate a small business in the Detroit Eastern Market and we start at 3:00AM and wrap up before 12:00PM. In addition to paying my bar dues I am busy doing legal pro bono work. I probably couldn't have handled this case but for my skewed hours. I think it was worth it. Thanks for reading about this case.
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