JAYNIE MAE BAKER
Expected to surrender today.
She’s gone from the cathouse to the big house — but accused Upper East Side madam Anna Gristina has to wait another couple of days to see if she now gets to stay at her lawyer’s house.
A Manhattan judge yesterday postponed a decision on whether to release Gristina on $2 million bond secured by the TriBeCa loft her lawyer owns.
Defense attorney Peter Gleason said Gristina, 44, could live there with an electronic monitoring bracelet while she battles the bombshell prostitution case.
Prosecutor Charles Linehan argued that the DA’s office has “serious concerns” over Gleason’s offer to put his $2.5 million condo on the line as collateral for Gristina’s bail so she can leave Rikers Island.
“It’s unethical,” said Linehan, who considers the Scottish-born Gristina a flight risk. “We definitely oppose this.”
But Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan said, “I don’t believe the law is crystal clear on this point . . . I believe, preliminarily, it is not a per se violation of the ethical rules.”
The judge ordered everyone back to court Thursday to further hash out the matter.
Merchan also asked Gleason to justify why Gristina is being represented both by him — on a pro bono basis — and a court-appointed lawyer, Richard Siracusa, who is being paid by taxpayers under a program earmarked for indigent defendants.
“The allegation is that she made over $10 million, possibly $15 million, and that she ‘squirreled away’ money,” Merchan said of Gristina — who is accused of pimping prostitutes to clients whose net worth was a minimum of $1 million out of her East 78th Street sublet apartment.
“She doesn’t have two nickels to rub together,” Gleason replied. And he noted that prosecutors have shown no evidence of Gristina’s so-called hidden wealth.
Merchan allowed Gristina to continue having a court-appointed lawyer — but rejected her bid to replace Siracusa, who has clashed with Gleason over how the case is being handled. Gleason, in turn, noted that Siracusa hasn’t been to Rikers to visit Gristina.
“I’m willing to provide Ms. Gristina with the best defense possible,” Siracusa said, “but since the time [that Gleason joined] he has been nothing but a hindrance. Being interfered with is a problem I have.”
The judge said simply, “I’m going to assume everyone is conducting themselves professionally unless I hear otherwise.”
Merchan also warned Gristina, “If it comes to light that you can afford an attorney, I will fully expect you to pay back every penny that the courts have paid to represent you. Do you understand that?”
Gristina, looking drawn, softly replied, “Yes, your honor, I do.”
Her alleged accomplice, Jaynie Mae Baker, 30, is expected to surrender today, sources told The Post.