The Manhattan lawyer who owns the Hot Lap Dance Club has rejected a plea deal that would keep him out of jail but cost him $550,000.
Lawyers for Louis Posner said in court Thursday that he won’t take prosecutors’ offer because he would have to plead guilty to a felony and that could cost him his law and accountant’s licenses.
Posner, 52, is accused of laundering money and promoting prostitution at the high-priced strip club in midtown Manhattan.
Prosecutors were willing to settle the case if Posner pleaded guilty to fourth-degree money laundering in exchange for five years probation and forefeiture of the cash cops seized when they raided the club this summer.
As part of the deal, prosecutors would have dropped all misdemeanor charges against Posner’s wife, Betty, one of 20 people arrested at the club after a an undercover vice investigation.
The club raked in more than $1 million a year, police said, and Posner had let his professional licenses lap while he was running the joint.
He’s due back in court Dec. 11.
