BRIDGEPORT – A woman who ran a multimillion-dollar East Haven-based prostitution ring under the guise of an escort service will spend 21 months in federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Stefan Underhill sentenced Deborah Kerpen, 48, the longtime owner and operator of Deb’s Escorts, on Friday. “It is a serious crime, because of the victims, like the women who were working for you,” Underhill said. “I have no doubt there are dozens of women who will be scarred as a result of your operation.”

Kerpen, who lived at 135 Warner Road in East Haven at the time, has since moved to Kentucky. She must surrender to federal authorities Jan. 5.

After Kerpen serves 21 months, she will be on supervised release for three years, when she will have to do 100 hours of community service. Underhill also fined Kerpen $4,000.

“I hope you will turn your life around, as you seem to be doing,” Underhill said.

The government is seizing Kerpen’s assets, including her share of the Warner Road property.

Kerpen entered a guilty plea in February to money laundering and conspiring to use the U.S. mail and interstate facilities to operate and promote a prostitution enterprise.

When given a chance to address Underhill, Kerpen apologized.

“I am sorry I committed these crimes and I won’t anymore,” said Kerpen. “My lifestyle has changed for the better. I have no desire to return to this type of business again.” Her attorney, William Bloss, said she lives in the country, raising and training horses.

“The woman here in court today is out of that (prostitution) business,” Bloss said. “This is a woman who was seriously abused. People used her to get her into this business for their own purposes.” Bloss said some newspapers routinely have pages filled with advertisements for escort services.

“I don’t know there is much the court can do to deter others from engaging in this business,” Bloss said.

He noted that Kerpen’s forfeiting of her assets, as part of her plea bargain agreement, have put her in the same financial position she was in when she dropped out of high school in the 11th grade.

Assistant U.S. Attorney John Marrella called the prostitution ring a prominent, multimillion-dollar statewide operation. The government claims Kerpen ran it from the early 1980s through 2002.

“Through this illegal enterprise, Kerpen received millions of dollars in income, which she used to buy real property, horses, vehicles and boats to maintain her affluent lifestyle,” prosecutors wrote in a pre-sentencing memorandum.

The government claims she continued her involvement even while serving an 18-month term of probation after her conviction in 1995 for promoting prostitution.

Deb’s Escorts, which employed about 100 women, advertised in area newspapers. Customers could call to make an appointment with an escort. A one-hour session cost between $175 and $260, and customers could pay in cash or by credit card.

Escorts typically met clients at their residence or a hotel for a sexual liaison, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

Kerpen and her escorts then had “square-up” sessions to divide the proceeds, with Deb’s Escorts getting 40 percent and the women keeping 60 percent, prosecutors claim.

The case arose in 1999 when Fairfield detectives arrested a prostitute working for Deb’s Escorts who had stolen a credit card from a customer in Fairfield, according to prosecutors. A Fairfield police investigation revealed prostitutes working for Deb’s Escorts routinely met customers at locations in the Fairfield area, including at private homes and hotels.

Two women who allegedly worked as managers of the prostitution ring, Shannon Ferraiuolo, 30, of East Haven, and Amy Gagliardi, 39, of West Haven, cooperated with the government in the case against Kerpen. Both were sentenced in June to three years of probation.