Self-proclaimed “King of All Pimps” Jason Itzler was sentenced today to four years behind bars for his latest drugs, pandering and money laundering case — but before he left for prison he made a fervent pitch for legalized prostitution.
“In Nevada, the saying is, ‘If it doesn’t scare the horses, who cares?'” he told Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Thomas Farber before being led away in his handcuffs and black velvet jacket.
“I predict here and now that eight years from now, in the year 2020, New York and other enlightened states will decriminalize the world’s oldest profession, namely prostitution,” he said, ending his statement with, “And I’d like to give a shout-out to Billy Ray Cyrus!”
The perennially pharmaceutically-enhanced Itzler had mistakenly believed that the alleged john in the case — a Pennsylvania man who paid Itzler $19,500 for a cocaine and hooker binge at the Trump International Hotel last year — was country singer Billy Ray Cyrus using an alias.
This is Itzler’s second escort service conviction; in 2007 Itzler pleaded guilty to running the courthouse district-based New York Confidential, a service prosecutors say earned $1.2 million.
The colorful panderer had made numerous television appearances touting himself as a former pimp to notorious ex-Gov. Eliot Spitzer call girl Ashley Dupre.
“I really think he’ll be in Hollywood some day,” said Itzler’s lawyer ,Michael Marley, praising his client’s media savvy and entrepreneurism. “I don’t have many clients who have been on Larry King and Howard Stern.”