Former Miss Washington USA Rose Marie Williams will be doing a different community service than the one she's been performing out of her home - she was sentenced to community service and ten days in jail for running a prostitution service from her home.
The 60-year-old former beauty contestant said after her court hearing she was relieved with the short jail term and wants to work now with people recovering from substance addiction. "I don't have the words to even come close to describing what I've gone through," Williams told reporters.
She was just as contrite when addressing her sentencing judge. "I take responsibility for my behavior," she told him in tears. "I see the gravity of the situation, and I am very sorry. I am eager to do work in this community on drug and alcohol rehabilitation. I think that's very important. I've been sober for 24 years. I'm sorry for what I did."
APBNews says prosecutors wanted six months in prison for Williams, who pleaded guilty to promoting prostitution and money laundering charges in January. Police tell APBNews she employed up to ten people at "Karen's Personal Service", which she disguised as a massage business. Police seized a $97,000 bank account and $60,000 in a safe deposit box when she was arrested.
Her attorney, Leslie Terry, asked for no jail time, citing her public regret and humiliation, and saying she was better off serving as a drug and alcohol counselor. Williams herself is a recovered alcoholic who's been sober 24 years, APBNews says.
Williams was crowned Miss Washington in 1958. She has one previous prostitution conviction, a 1971 conviction for running a Seattle prostitution, for which she got three years probation. That may have figured in the ten days in jail, added to which Williams will serve fifty days of in-home incarceration.
She'll also be barred from running any type of home-based business without her community corrections officer's approval, APBNews says, and she's barred from associating with anyone involved in prostitution. And she's also barred from working as a masseuse, for which she has a license.
