Detroit Free Press - Only Reporter at Martin Hearing

Woman in prostitution case gets 5 days in jail
BY KORIE WILKINS • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • February 6, 2009

In tears, the Westland woman accused of accepting money for sex from the husband of U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., began serving five days in jail Thursday for violating the terms of her probation.

Alycia Martin, 21, was sentenced in August to 6 months of probation on a misdemeanor trespassing charge after she was arrested in a prostitution sting in February 2008 at a Troy hotel.

Police allege Martin performed oral sex on Tom Athans, Stabenow's husband. Athans was not charged in exchange for his assistance in the case.

According to court officials, Martin had not showed up for mandatory drug and alcohol testing since September.

Her pro bono attorney Frank Cusumano Jr. repeatedly has said Martin, who makes less than $100 a week working in a fast food restaurant, could not afford to pay for the testing.
"My car breaks down every other day," said Martin, shortly before she was led away by an Oakland County Sheriff's Office deputy. "There's nothing I can do. I can't walk here. And I don't have money for gas most of the time."

But 52-4 District Judge William Bolle said it didn't seem Martin was going to be able to comply with her probation.

Cusumano said Martin, who dropped out of high school in ninth grade and has been on her own since she was in her late teens, is working to get her GED.

"Alycia will get through this," Cusumano said. "She'll serve her time. I don't know why he'd throw her in jail, but it underscores the whole thing. There is a disparity between wealth and poverty."

Contact KORIE WILKINS at 248-351-5186 or kwilkins@freepress.com.