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Anna Gristina 'Freaked Out' When Ankle Bracelet Lost Power After Storm

By Irene Plagianos | November 6, 2012 6:57am | Updated on November 6, 2012 8:46am

NEW YORK — Like hundreds of thousands of people across the tri-state area, “Millionaire Madam” Anna Gristina was left without electricity in the days after Hurricane Sandy struck.

But Gristina, who lives on a farm with her family in upstate Monroe feared more than dark, cold and wasted groceries — she was “freaked out” that she may be headed back to jail when her court-ordered ankle bracelet went out, said her bail bondsman Ira Judelson Monday.

Gristina, who pleaded guilty to a single count of promoting prostitution in September after a long legal battle, was one of a handful of Judelson's clients who lost power to the bracelets, which need to be charged every 18 hours, he said.

Gristina, who accepted a plea deal, was ordered to wear her monitored ankle bracelet until her formal sentencing, scheduled for Nov. 20.

“She was freaked out, calling me, texting me,”said Judelson. “There’s absolutely no way she wants to go back to jail. It’s her biggest fear.”

After her arrest in February, Gristina spent months on Rikers Island, trying numerous times to have her bail, initially set at $2million, reduced. She was finally released in June.

Judelson helped allay Gristina’s fears during the blackout by getting an alternate monitoring plan approved by the Manhattan District Attorney. Gristina needs to call Judelson every six hours to keep tabs on her whereabouts.

“I am completely confident Anna will stick to the plan — she never wants to head back to jail again,” Judelson said. “She’s constantly calling and checking in, more than she even has to.

“She even said she’d come to stay with me,” Judelson said, who is living with his own power outage in Westchester. “But I don’t think my wife would be too happy with that plan.”

Another one of Judelson’s notorious clients, Louise Neathway, the alleged stalker of Yankees general manager Brian Cashman, is also without power in New Jersey and has no way of charging up her ankle bracelet. She has to call into to him every three hours to check in.

“She’s also been extremely compliant, and very nervous about doing the right thing,” he said.

The DA’s office declined to comment.