From Feds: Stanford law school grad failed to pay taxes on prostitution earnings (Mercury News, 9/30/08):

A Stanford law school graduate suspected of paying off her costly student loans by running a high-priced escort service has now been hit with federal tax evasion charges.

In court papers filed Tuesday in San Jose federal court, prosecutors allege that Cristina Warthen (pictured) failed to pay taxes on more than $133,000 she earned as a prostitute in 2003, jetting off as a call girl for clients in Washington, D.C., Chicago, New York and other cities. The government has charged her with felony tax evasion for failing to pay about $25,000 in federal income taxes.

Warthen's business as a reputed high-priced hooker was first revealed several years ago, when the federal government searched her then-home in Oakland and seized more than $61,000 in cash suspected to be linked to her escort business. Court papers allege that starting in 2001, Warthen, then Cristina Schultz, used the name "Brazil'' and advertised her escort services on a Web site, TouchofBrazil.net.

Since then, the 34-year-old Schultz married David Warthen, the wealthy co-founder of the online search engine Ask Jeeves, now known as Ask.com. In a prior court fight over the seized cash, Warthen's lawyers insisted he gave the money to his then-girlfriend for "vacations, wedding and/or honeymoon.''

Scott, a reader, has some cynical but interesting thoughts about high-end prostitute Cristina Schultz (now Warthen), who paid off her costly Stanford student loans through prostitution. Scott writes:

The reason I found this interesting is that human trafficking/sex slavery is invoked nearly every time prostitution is discussed, but it’s rarely found in the resultant stings or raids.  The standard story is that some poor disadvantaged woman HAS to turn to prostitution (and what do men in similar debt situations do?  Dig ditches? Sell drugs?), and is held in virtual slavery until she can pay back her debts--typically incurred to enter the US and practice her profession in a  higher-paying market.

As many graduates of law school could tell you, this is similar to their situation--having to take out crushing debt in order to get the credentials to practice law, and then being forced to work in what often times are extreme and humiliating conditions (e.g.,  big law firms with high hourly requirements, often working on distasteful matters) in order to pay it back.

This debt/servitude system runs throughout our higher education system, and is not limited to the practice of law.  The parallels in this case were just too amusing not to share.

Cinderella ending, though--glad to see that after four years of college, three years of Stanford law school, and after being busted as a top-end prostitute, she was still able to “marry up."  I can’t help but wonder if she would have been better off just skipping law school altogether and whoring for those three years.

David Warthen is one lucky guy.  Anyone want to guess how this will end for David?

This entry was posted on Monday, October 6th, 2008 at 10:40 am and is filed under Gender Issues (Misc.).