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Report of plea from PR exec Grubman might be just rumor

By Matt Bean
Court TV

(Court TV) -- Public relations maven Lizzie Grubman may have copped a plea bargain to escape jail time in last summer's Hamptons crack-up -- but the truth might just be lost in the spin.

A story Friday in the New York Daily News reported that Grubman, 31, and the Suffolk County, New York, district attorney's office were set to ink a plea deal.

According to the paper, Grubman would plead guilty to leaving the scene of an accident, pay $700,000 in fines and serve 500 hours of community service in lieu of standing trial for the 26 assault charges stemming from the crash.

But since then, both the district attorney's office and Grubman's counsel have been busy denying the reports, which the publication attributed to an unnamed source close to the case.

"I have no idea what prompted them to run this," said Rick Henshaw, a spokesperson with the prosecutor's office. "There's been no plea agreed to."

Stephen Scaring, a lawyer for Grubman, told Newsday that the Daily News story was simply inaccurate. "There's been no offer made by the district attorney."

Grubman's public nightmare began July 7 last year when she plowed her Mercedes SUV through a crowd of clubgoers outside Southampton's Conscience Point Inn after allegedly arguing with bouncers.

Grubman, whose firm has represented such clients at Jay-Z, Britney Spears and Tara Reid (who was with her earlier on the night of the accident), rushed off with a friend, leaving her Mercedes at the scene.

As reports of the incident surfaced, one account had her allegedly yelling at the bouncer before she returned to her car. "F--- you, white trash."

Grubman retreated from the spotlight as public opinion turned against her following the crash.

Even if Grubman makes a plea deal, she faces millions of dollars in civil suits -- 11 suits so far -- filed by those injured in the accident.

A conference in Grubman's case was scheduled for Monday in front of Suffolk County Judge John Mullin.

But Henshaw, of the prosecutor's office, says the conference, which Monday was postponed until April 29, was just a routine pretrial proceeding.



 
 
 
 



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