Police Officer Cleared in Madam Case

Anna Gristina, the alleged madam, had spoken of her law-enforcement contacts.

A police officer whose name came up in connection to the investigation of an accused multimillion-dollar madam has been cleared.

Sgt. Richard Wall was ordered to give internal-affairs investigators his work log for the past five years after someone reported he had been to the Upper East Side apartment building where prosecutors say trysts arranged by accused madam Anna Gristina happened.

On Wednesday, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly said Wall was "not involved."

"We have no indication of wrongdoing on the part of Sgt. Wall," Kelly told reporters.

It turns out Wall had made visits to the building to investigate allegations of drug dealing, Kelly said.

Wall's lawyer had said last week that his client was shocked by the investigation.

"He's bewildered that he's even linked to this story," attorney Andrew Quinn said. "We honestly don't know how that happened."

Quinn added that Wall has "no involvement with this woman and with this allegation."

Gristina, a 44-year-old suburban mother of four, has pleaded not guilty to promoting prostitution, a low-level felony. Her lawyers say she was working on building an online dating service and has been hit with wrongful and unfair allegations.

Prosecutors say Gristina was heard during a five-year investigation saying she'd made millions of dollars over about 15 years by running a Manhattan prostitution ring and claimed to have law enforcement connections who would tip her off if she was about to get in trouble.

No police officers have been charged in the case.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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