A lawyer who repeatedly broke down in tears after getting busted turned his frown upside down and pleaded guilty today to conspiring with crooked money manager Kenneth Starr.
Jonathan Bristol, 55, told the judge he was taking unspecified drugs prescribed by a shrink, but that his mind was clear and he knew what he was doing.
The former partner at Winston & Strawn admitted helping launder nearly $19 million he knew Starr had stolen from his wealthy celebrity clients.
“During 2010, I agreed to allow another person to move funds in and out of my attorney escrow account,” Bristol said in Manhattan federal court.
The money included $1 million that Starr took from Uma Thurman to buy a luxury Upper East Side condo for himself and his fourth wife, ex-Scores stripper Diane Passage.
When Thurman got wise to the theft, Starr — currently serving 7-1/2 years behind bars — paid her back with cash stolen from Jim Wiatt, former CEO of the William Morris talent agency.
Although sentencing guidelines would normally call for at least 70 months in the slammer due to the amount of dough involved in the scheme, Bristol faces a maximum five years under terms of his plea bargain to money-laundering conspiracy. He also agreed to pay $18.9 million in restitution.
Prosecutor Michael Bosworth noted that Bristol didn’t commit the crime crime “to gain money for himself, but to maintain a book of business to maintain his position at the prominent law firm.”
Bristol exited the courtroom smiling and shook hands with reporters, but declined to comment at the direction of his court-appointed lawyer.
Defense lawyer Susan Kellman said she’ll seek leniency at Bristol’s Sept. 26 sentencing.