It's been a tough few years for the so-called “Manhattan Madam.” Kristin M. Davis was arrested following a 2008 investigation of sex workers connected to big-name clients who allegedly included former New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer, former New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez and former Los Angeles Galaxy soccer superstar David Beckham. She ran for governor of New York and lost. She ran for New York City comptroller in 2013 and lost. Then she was convicted of trafficking prescription drugs and sent to federal prison in Victorville.

This week, a little consolation might have come her way as the State Bar Court of California has recommended disbarment for her onetime L.A. attorney, Anthony Ngula Luti, who represented her in 2009 and 2010, according to the bar.

The court determined that Luti “took money meant to pay a former madam of prostitution for services to an adult film company,” according to a statement.

He was hired to take care of an escrow account intended to cover payment to Davis “for services to Vivid Entertainment,” a Valley-based adult video company, according to the bar's statement. It's not clear what she did for Vivid. There's no apparent record of her getting credits in any of its videos. A spokeswoman for the firm declined to comment.

“Instead of paying Davis, Luti used most of the $15,000 account to pay for his daughter’s Montessori school fees, housekeeping costs, season tickets to the Los Angeles Clippers and the Golden State Rottweiler Club,” the bar alleges.

A spokesman for the bar said the California Supreme Court, as a matter of routine, would have final say on whether Luti is disbarred. But he said the court executes the bar's recommendations about 95 percent of the time. A decision could take a month or two, he said, but there's no deadline.

We reached out to Luti but did not get an immediate response. A spokeswoman for Davis declined to comment.

As a result of the state bar case, Luti's official state attorney profile includes a “consumer alert” that says he's not eligible to practice law. This case was composed of four counts of alleged misconduct that the bar court found to be true.

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