Will Governor Eliot Spitzer Go to Jail?
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR DAVID PATERSON (D), NEW YORK: This has been a very sad few days in the history of New York. And, for me, it's been sadder. My heart goes out to Eliot Spitzer, his wife, Silda, his three daughters, his parents. I know them all. They're friends of mine.</s>COOPER: That was New York's lieutenant governor, David Paterson, earlier today. He will officially take office as governor on Monday. Shortly after Eliot Spitzer resigned yesterday, the U.S. attorney's office shot down speculation that a deal had been cut, saying -- and I quote -- "There is no agreement between this office and Governor Eliot Spitzer relating to his resignation or any other matter." Of course, that doesn't mean Spitzer's lawyers have given up on a plea deal. But, assuming there's no deal, what might Spitzer be facing? Erica Hill joins us again with that -- Erica.</s>HILL: Anderson, the prostitution angle may grab the headlines, but it's the really less sexy bank moves that could truly cost Eliot Spitzer.</s>HILL (voice-over): Paying a prostitute for sex doesn't carry much of a penalty. Even if Eliot Spitzer is charged and convicted of solicitation in New York and D.C., where it's a felony, the sentence is usually about a year. But knowingly bringing a woman across state lines for paid sex; that is where things could get messy.</s>JAMI FLOYD, "IN SESSION" ANCHOR: It's as if he read the Mann Act and decided, oh, I think I will move this one. I'm in New York. She's in New York. Why don't I move her to D.C., and the Mann Act will apply?</s>HILL: The Mann Act says you can't move a person across state lines for purposes of prostitution. Conviction on a violation carries a prison sentence of up to 20 years. Then there's the way he allegedly paid for the sex, by breaking up large sums of money into smaller amounts to hide the payments. If he did it on purpose Spitzer could be charged with structuring, which carries a possible five-year prison term and a fine. And then there's money-laundering.</s>FLOYD: Money-laundering is certainly on the table. If you're entering that cash into a criminal enterprise, then, somewhere along the way, money-laundering may have occurred. And I think that's probably his greatest concern here.</s>HILL: If Spitzer had his security detail with him or if he used any state money when he was allegedly with a prostitute that could amount to misuse of state funds.</s>FLOYD: How could it get any worse for Eliot Spitzer? I will tell you how. These sex rings very often have ties to organized crime. Four people have already been arrested. Four people suggest a conspiracy. And, if you're charged with conspiracy on any of these, laundering, prostitution, structuring, you're in big trouble.</s>COOPER: So, the question is, how is all of this most likely to play out for Eliot Spitzer? Digging deeper now, here's CNN's senior legal analyst, freshly back from Hawaii, and former prosecutor Jeffrey Toobin, and truTV "In Session" anchor Lisa Bloom, who is also a trial attorney. Jeff, is it likely he's going to get jail time?</s>JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR ANALYST: I think you have to divide these charges or potential charges into two areas. There's the prostitution and the Mann Act, which I think is very unlikely.</s>COOPER: The Mann Act is rarely ever invoked.</s>TOOBIN: Rarely ever invoked, particularly for a john and an adult prostitute. I mean, that, possibly, but I think very unlikely. The financial stuff is much more perilous for Spitzer. But, also, the evidence is much murkier about that. And I think the U.S. attorney's office will be interested in prosecuting him if the evidence is there. But that's a complicated crime. It takes time to investigate. And I think that's what they are going to spend their time looking into.</s>COOPER: And we have seen these pictures of Alexandra Dupre, the woman alleged to be involved in this. Would she be charged with something, or would her testimony be needed for any prostitution charge against Spitzer?</s>LISA BLOOM, TRUTV ANCHOR: Well, I think you put your finger right on it. Certainly, she could be charged. Prostitutes often are charged and convicted. But, if they can get her to flip to testify against a bigger fish, either the head of the operation or against Eliot Spitzer, if that's who they want, she is going to get immunity.</s>TOOBIN: I think she's an automatic candidate for immunity, no matter what, even in the case against the pimps, the original case that brought this. They are not interested in prosecuting her.</s>BLOOM: The ironic thing, Anderson, is, this is all about prosecutorial discretion. There are a lot of murky facts here that might give rise to some legal claims. It's up to the prosecutors to decide if they want to go after Eliot Spitzer, just as he took a lot of cases that may have been in the gray area...</s>COOPER: Because, usually, they go after the prostitutes. They don't go after the johns.</s>BLOOM: Usually, they go after the high-ranking people in the organization.</s>COOPER: Right.</s>TOOBIN: Certainly, the federal prosecutors and sort of big statewide prosecutors, like Spitzer himself, was an attorney general, they go after the pimps, the organizers. And local officials often arrest prostitutes, but johns rarely get arrested anywhere, even though it is illegal.</s>COOPER: People say Eliot Spitzer was pretty brutal in -- when he was prosecuting people, and making them have a public apology and not sort of cutting deals. Is that accurate?</s>TOOBIN: Absolutely. He was very, very tough. I mean, he felt that the moral component, the public component, the deterrent effect of seeing powerful people brought low was a big part of what prosecutors do. His specialty was Wall Street. But I think, you know, as Michael Garcia, the U.S. attorney who is investigating this, he's got to look at who is his target here. And he's going to see similar...</s>COOPER: How likely he will be disbarred?</s>TOOBIN: That's a different story. New York has a weird law. It has a law that says if you're convicted of a crime of moral turpitude. What is moral turpitude? Well, the courts have never settled on it. Frankly, prostitution, unlikely. But, if there's some financial crime, possibly.</s>BLOOM: Yes. And let me just add that, a year ago, Eliot Spitzer signed into law a very tough sex crimes law in New York...</s>COOPER: It actually made it tougher on the johns.</s>BLOOM: ... which encouraged law enforcement to go after the johns. He activity supported it, and he signed it.</s>BLOOM: And advocates for the law said they thought that Eliot Spitzer got it because it's so exploitive of women...</s>COOPER: I just want to read this. Alan Dershowitz has written an op-ed in "The Wall Street Journal." He's been on the show a couple times now defending Eliot Spitzer. His point is that money-laundering and these restructuring law crimes were designed to catch drug dealers and terrorists, not politicians. He says: "The very existence of these selectively enforced statutes poses grave dangers of abuse. They lie around like loaded guns waiting to be used against the enemies of politically motivated investigators, prosecutors and politicians." Is it possible Spitzer is being unfairly targeted?</s>TOOBIN: I don't think there's any chance. There's no evidence that I have seen that he's being unfairly targeted. And, look, these laws are on the books. Tax evasion was not intended to get organized crime figures, but it was used against Al Capone. If you commit these crimes, you have to be worried about prosecution, even if you are not the specifically intended target.</s>COOPER: How come no deal was made already? I mean...</s>BLOOM: They probably wouldn't make a deal. They probably wouldn't agree to a deal.</s>TOOBIN: I think that's exactly right.</s>BLOOM: And he had to go. And I think, politically, he had to go. He couldn't let this thing linger.</s>TOOBIN: He had to go. And, also, I think his lawyers figure they will go to the prosecutor at some time and say, look, this is a marginal case. He's already resigned. What's the public interest in pushing a weak case, when you have already gotten what the public needs?</s>BLOOM: But one of the big open questions, though, Anderson, is, how many counts? Yes, it's a misdemeanor to just be a john, but what if he did it 12 times? What if he did it 50 times? Or 100 times? I think if there are that many counts, the prosecutors may come after him.</s>COOPER: We still don't know.</s>TOOBIN: Actually, can I add one thing. I brought you macadamia nuts.</s>BLOOM: And I got nothing. I got nothing.</s>COOPER: For those that don't realize, Jeffrey was in vacation in Hawaii, ended up reporting poolside for many hours at a time for us on CNN. We appreciate his dedication and his macadamia nuts, so to speak. Jeffrey, thanks very much. Lisa Bloom, as well. Up next: the other side of the transaction that Eliot Spitzer allegedly took part in time and time again, prostitution, the reality of it.</s>COOPER (voice-over): You see it on the streets. You see it in the movies. But what are the real facts about prostitution in America? 360 investigates tonight. And you know what she's become. Tonight, where Michelle Obama came from. Stories you've never heard before of poverty, hard work and how she made her man fight to win her love. 360 tonight.