New York- She’s not sorry for being a madam, is even a bit proud of it. But she doesn’t like being in jail, and when she gets out she’ll stay away from prostitution and devote herself to animals.

That was the message last night from Julie Moya, 47, the admitted Manhattan madam from Freeport, in a telephone interview from Rikers Island, where she’s jailed on prostitution-related charges. “When I get out of here, I’m just going to work with animals,” Moya vowed. ” … My life in Freeport was just taking care of animals. I love people and I love animals … I regret being here. I don’t regret the business. I just wish it were legal.”

Until her arrest last month Moya, the mother of three adult children, lived two lives. Out of her modest home in Freeport, she was known as a quiet neighbor, with a household of pets including dogs, birds and turtles. There, she occupied much of her time caring for stray and injured animals. But in Manhattan, authorities say she operated a multimillion-dollar prostitution ring.

She has been hit there with a 56-count indictment that includes charges of third-degree statutory rape, and 28 counts of criminal sex acts in the third degree, all for sex involving underage girls. The most serious charges, promoting prostitution, could result in 15 years in prison if she is convicted.

A decade before these charges, Moya was prosecuted for being part of a federal cocaine trafficking ring in the Bronx and Westchester, court records show. And that criminal history could mean more prison time for Moya if she is convicted of the prostitution charges.

Records show that she was convicted in 1994 on federal felony cocaine possession with intent to distribute after being arrested as being part of a trafficking ring. Manhattan federal court records show that Moya was arrested in February 1992 with four others, charged with felony drug possession, two counts of cocaine conspiracy and three counts of possessing firearms in relation to a narcotics offense.

While Moya admitted being a madam, she denied in yesterday’s interview using underaged girls in her business or supplying anyone with drugs. “Even my lawyers are shocked by these allegations of underaged virgins,” she said. “Every damn girl there, every woman, was of age.”

Moya said she always was somewhat proud of her profession, and believes her boasting about it to the media after her arrest angered prosecutors and resulted in their leveling more severe, and according to her, untrue charges.

“I feel like a witch in Salem,” she said. “I’m devastated. There are dozens of madams in the city and I’m the only one being singled out because I talked to the media one time …

“It’s a business that is always going to go on. Now that I’m out of it, you can imagine there are others going in,” Moya said.