Spitzer gal: Let me stay!
THE RUSSIAN woman accused of blackmailing former “Luv Gov” Eliot Spitzer wants a plea deal that will allow her to stay in the country, her lawyer said Wednesday.
Svetlana Travis Zakharova (photo below) is charged with extorting $400,000 from Spitzer to keep their relationship under wraps from 2014 to 2016.
“I’m looking for a plea that will not require her to be deported,” the Russian native’s lawyer, Joseph Murray, told Manhattan Justice Charles Solomon during a court processing Wednesday.
Solomon was skeptical such a plea deal could be worked out.
Under the Trump administration’s beefed-up immigration enforcement, any undocumented immigrant convicted of a felony, or any other crime, can face deportation.
Zakharova appeared disheveled during her latest court appearance, wearing a gray sweater and blue jeans.
The next court date is set for Oct. 30.
Prosecutors have said Zakharova was a regular advertiser on Backpage.com, a notorious place for prostitution solicitation online.
In February 2016, Zakharova accused Spitzer of choking her inside a room at The Plaza hotel. She flew to Russia right afterward.
When she returned eight months later, she was arrested and charged with trying to shake down the disgraced former governor. Spitzer has denied ever getting physical with her.
She has been held on $1 million bond since her arrest in October.