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Anna Gristina Could be Free as Soon as Next Week, Source Says

Anna Gristina, 44, appears in Manhattan Supreme Court on March 15, 2012.
Anna Gristina, 44, appears in Manhattan Supreme Court on March 15, 2012.
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DNAinfo/Paul Lomax

MANHATTAN — After nearly four months on Rikers Island, and numerous pleas to reduce her $2 million bond, the alleged "Millionaire Madam" Anna Gristina could be headed home as soon as next week, a source said.

The team behind the accused Upper East Side madam is scrambling to come up with the funds to get her released as soon as possible after an appeals court panel ruled unanimously Tuesday to cut her bail to $250,000 bond or $125,000 cash.

The bail reduction came after four unsuccessful attempts by her legal team, and prompted a harsh slap for the original judge by the appeals court, which called the lower court's $2 million bail amount "unreasonable and an abuse of discretion."

A source said Gristina's lawyers have discussed using property belonging to her sister, or to the family of her husband, Kelvin Gorr. The family may also be able to come up with the $125,000 cash to spring her from Rikers, the source said.

Gristina was charged in February with one count of promoting prostitution for running what prosecutors say was a high-end brothel on East 78th Street for more than a decade.

Her former lawyer Peter Gleason told the court in March that he was willing to put up his $2 million TriBeCa condo as bail.

Gristina's family also started a website, helpanna.org, to solicit donations for her bail. The site described the harsh conditions Gristina was being subjected to in prison. The Department of Corrections denied she was being held in difficult conditions.

Gristina's lawyer, Norman Pattis, has also filed court documents calling on Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan to drop charges against her, arguing that prosecutors had "vindictive or selective" prosecution because she refused to cooperate with prosecutors and divulge information about her high-powered pals.

Gristina will have to wear an electronic-monitoring bracelet as part of the bail conditions, according to the court ruling. She will have to appear before Merchan to discuss the bail conditions prior to her release, and the assets will have to be reviewed to ensure they're not the proceeds of any criminal activity.

Once she puts up the bail money, she will be likely be released from Rikers Island, the source said.