Lawyer Gets 3 Years for Running Brothel
VAN NUYS — A tax lawyer convicted of running a brothel out of his Ventura Avenue office was sentenced to three years in prison Thursday after a judge found he had failed to meet his end of a bargain that would have made his time in custody shorter and easier.
In a deal with prosecutors, Bobby Abrams, 51, would have been sentenced to a prison rehabilitation center if he made a legal showing that he was an addict.
Abrams was arrested in February 1998 on pimping and pandering charges for running a six-woman prostitution business called “Fantasy Affairs†out of his second-story office in Tarzana.
Andrew Flier, Abrams’ defense lawyer, accused prosecutors of getting cold feet.
“It’s not the spirit of the plea agreement,†Flier said. “I could have lost the case [at trial] and gotten the same time.â€
He said he was convinced his client is addicted to cocaine and that he would have been much better off at a rehabilitation facility.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter Korn quoted from a transcript from the hearing where Abrams entered his no contest plea and was told that he would be sent to a regular prison if he did not prove an addiction.
Superior Court Judge Michael Hoff agreed with Korn that the rehabilitation center was not an appropriate sentence and sent Abrams directly to prison.
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