Closing the Door Loop On Cristina Warthen

For those of you considering prostitution to pay off your law school debts (you know who you are), consider the cautionary tale of Cristina Warthen. As we have previously reported, Cristina graduated from Stanford Law School in 2001. But instead of going into Biglaw, Cristina adopted the porn name “Brazil” and turned herself into a high-priced escort.
Granted, if she graduated today, Cristina might have been able to get some public interest deferral money for her “service.” But this was a long time ago.
And for a while Cristina was a smashing success. She even landed a rich husband, AskJeeves founder David Warthen.
But the Warthens were hit hard by the recession, and the couple split. Meanwhile, the government came looking for $313,000 in back taxes from Cristina’s sultry side business.
The ABA Journal reports that there is a resolution in Cristina’s case. What sentence did she get?


Cristina argued that she couldn’t pay the $313,000 because she wouldn’t be getting as much from the divorce proceedings as she had hoped. It seems like the court was sympathetic to that argument:

Stanford law graduate Cristina Warthen has been sentenced to one year of home detention and ordered to pay $243,000 for failing to pay taxes on money earned running an escort service.
U.S. District Judge James Ware also sentenced Warthen to three years of probation and said she could not continue to advertise her escort services during that period, the San Jose Mercury News reports.

I’m no expert, but I think it’s nearly impossible to “escort” anybody anywhere while on house arrest.
But I bet Cristina can still have … visitors.
Even though it is inadvisable to provide paid companionship in order to pay off your loans, one can appreciate the situation recent graduates are looking at. The distinction between professional escorts and effective networkers is getting mighty blurry.
Stanford Law Grad Gets Home Detention for Unpaid Taxes on Escort Earnings [ABA Journal]
Earlier: The Stanford Law Escort: And She Lived Happily Ever After
Ask Jeeves: Why Was Your Wife (Stanford Law ’01) Indicted for Tax Evasion on Prostitution Proceeds?

Sponsored