super express                                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                            Posted 1/10/2006

Celebs' former maid is offered a plea-deal NEW YORK (AP)
— A housekeeper who has been indicted on charges of stealing her celebrity employers' valuables was offered a plea deal Tuesday of one to three years in prison to settle all charges. State Supreme Court Justice Renee White said the prosecution was considering additional charges against the housekeeper, Lucyna Turyk-Wawrynowicz, but would not pursue them if the defendant accepted the plea deal. Turyk-Wawrynowicz, 35, has been indicted twice, once on grand larceny and other charges related to alleged thefts from at least three high-profile employers over the past four years, and again for, five years ago, stealing the identity of a then 8-year-old girl.

The housekeeper is accused of stealing from at least three employers over the past four years. The alleged victims include Robert De Niro and his wife Grace Hightower, Candice Bergen and Renee Rockefeller.

White scheduled Jan. 31 for Turyk-Wawrynowicz to return to court for a possible disposition of her case. The judge dismissed one of the housekeeper's lawyers, Rae Koshetz, on potential conflict of interest grounds.

The housekeeper's remaining lawyer, Mark T. Zawisny, said the potential new charges involved the alleged fraudulent use of a Social Security card. He said he will talk to Schwartz to try to determine whether his client should consider the plea offer. Zawisny said he must also consider his client's immigration status. An immigration official last month submitted an affidavit to the court saying that Turyk-Wawrynowicz was not admissible as a resident alien because she used fraud to remain in this country.