Disgraced governor may still face legal woes

NEW YORK -- Publicly humiliated after announcing his resignation over a sex scandal, Eliot Spitzer could now be caught in a legal tangle for months, former prosecutors said Thursday.

If Spitzer really is "Client 9" who patronized an upscale prostitution ring, he could face prosecution for transporting a prostitute across state lines or for structuring money transfers to avoid detection -- or lastly for paying for sex.

"I think there's a reasonably strong likelihood that (prosecutors) would initiate charges, or at least pursue this very seriously at this juncture," said Brad Simon, a former federal prosecutor who now works as a defense attorney at Simon & Partners LLP in New York. "In his case I'm sure there will be many months of discussion, negotiating and investigating."

While prostitution is illegal in Washington, D.C., as it is in most U.S. states, clients are rarely prosecuted.

But because, authorities say, Client 9 paid for the woman to travel to Washington from New York, he may have violated the Mann Act that bans interstate transport to engage in prostitution.

A possible money-laundering or structuring charge could be harder to fight. Structuring involves making wire transfers in a way intended to conceal the money's purpose and source.

Investigators may also be looking into whether there was any misuse of state funds, although media reports suggested Spitzer only used his own money.

Legal observers speculated Spitzer was seeking to reach a deal to avoid or reduce any criminal liability. But U.S. Attorney Michael Garcia, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, said Wednesday there was no such deal.