Sex-for-tickets Trial Nearing Climax

I’m a sports fan.  Not to the extent that I’ll paint my face or assault someone because they’re wearing a rival jersey, but I understand rooting for a favorite team.  I just can’t see taking it to the extreme that superfan Susan Finkelstein did.

Susan Finkelstein, 44, is currently on trial in Pennsylvania for attempting to trade sex for Phillies-Yankees World Series tickets.  She was arrested last October in a prostitution sting, when undercover cops answered her Craigslist ad: “Diehard Phillies fan – gorgeous tall buxom blonde – in desperate need of two World Series tickets,” the ad said. “Price negotiable – I’m the creative type! Maybe we can help each other!”

The prosecutors are pushing for Finkelstein to be found guilty of prostitution or attempted prostitution.  Both are third-degree misdemeanors- the jury must find that she was engaging in sexual activity as a business.  Prosecutors have explained to the jury of seven women and five men that Finkelstein broke the law when she offered to have sex with a Bensalem undercover officer – and the man’s brother, if need be – in return for tickets for herself and her husband.

Officer Michael Brady, with the Bensalem Township Police Department, was undercover as “Bob” when he met Susan Finkelstein, who was “adamant” about getting Phillies World Series tickets, he testified.  Finkelstein “said she was interested in anal sex and she brought lube with her if I wanted that,” Brady said under oath when questioned by Assistant District Attorney Steven Jones.

“She then exposed herself to show that she wasn’t wearing any underwear. She told me, ‘I’m a whore, and I love to have sex.’ Brady said, Finkelstein “said she was interested in having sex for the tickets.”

Noting Brady’s youthful appearance, Finkelstein “mentioned that she was a cougar, and I could be her cub,” the officer said. She offered to have sex with his brother, too, in return for the brother’s ticket, Brady said.

She said the siblings could “DP” her, Brady said.  “DP” is short for “double penetration,” he explained.  Brady stepped away, saying he would call his brother. Instead, he phoned other undercover officers sitting nearby, who arrested Finkelstein.

Finkelstein’s attorney, William J. Brennan, pressed that his client couldn’t be taken seriously as a “professional”.  “If a prostitute deals in Phillies World Series tickets, her shelf life is about as long as Haley’s Comet,” Brennan told the jury in his opening, referring to the infrequency of the team’s last three appearances in the fall classic, 1993, 2008 and 2009.

“If she is in the business of prostitution, is she just open in October? . . . So she’s just open in the Octobers when we have [the Phillies] in the World Series?” he asked. “That business is not open very often.”

“You’ve never had a prostitution case where the alleged prostitute asked for a second ticket for her husband, have you?” Brennan asked.

“No, I haven’t,” Brady said.

Brennan was able to get the “promoting prostitution” charge dropped last January. “She’s not running a prostitution ring,” he said. “If two people meet in a bar and have a conversation that’s sexually explicit, that’s not a crime. I mean, if that’s a crime, then every guy who ever bought a girl a Cosmopolitan . . . “

Assistant District Attorney Steven Jones rested the state’s case against Finkelstein, and Brennan will put up his defense later today.