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Sex-for-tix suspect recaps after attending Series twice

By Peter Mucha

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER

Susan Finkelstein got more than she bargained for.

She sought to go to one World Series game with her husband, Jack.

Instead she got to go to two - after being handcuffed in a bar, shackled to a wooden bench at the Bensalem police station and booked on misdemeanor charges of promoting prostitution.

Five policemen were mobilized, she said, to find out what she meant by a Craigslist ad she placed before the World Series:

"DESPERATE BLONDE NEEDS WS TIX. Diehard Phillies fan - gorgeous tall buxom blonde - in desperate need of two World Series Tickets. Price negotiable - I'm the creative type! Maybe we can help each other!"

Maybe not.

The case became a media sensation, with requests for interviews - and offers of tickets - coming in left and right. She was on national TV - and radio shows as far away as San Diego and Alaska.

But "fun" wouldn't be the word that describes all the attention - even if the arresting officers, who had drinks in the bar, had a good laugh, the Philadelphian said.

"Absurd" and "bizarre" come closer, she said. "We're definitely taking it very seriously."

She faces a Dec. 16 preliminary hearing on a charge that could carry a sentence of two years in jail.

She's still on paid leave from her job as an assistant communications director at the Wistar Institute, medical research center in University City.

And she knows that Googling her name will forever turn up mentions of the arrest.

She did, however, gain a couple of thousand Facebook friends, and, except for a piece in one suburban paper, got many words of encouragement and support.

She also got into the World Series - twice.

"She could have had a ticket to every single game," but she declined offers that had "strings attached," said her attorney, William J. Brennan.

Like the one about wearing a T-shirt with an unprintable phrase, he said.

Most of the suggestive, er, suggested deals were smart-alecky. "It was guys trying to get funny, which it wasn't, or just being stupid," she said.

But she and her husband did get into Game 2 at Yankee Stadium, the night before her appearance on the CBS Early Show, courtesy of firsthandtickets.com.

Good seats? "Let's just say we got a good view of the blimp," she said.

They also saw Game 3, despite a mixup over tickets that Wired 96.5's Chio secured from car dealer Gary Barbera. As cameras from Inside Edition rolled at Citizens Bank Park, the home club came through with similar seats, she said.

The lifelong Phils fan was disappointed the team lost both games.

The undercover cop who met her at Manny Brown's Bar & Grill at Neshaminy Mall was a pretty good actor, she said. "He was convincing in his role as a construction worker, and he was actually quite pleasant to talk to. . . . And he was attractive.

"He was absolutely central casting for this role," Brennan said. "This was no Sheriff Buford T. Justice. He really looked the part."

Brennan doubts the police have audio or video tapes of the encounter, which Finkelstein suggested was just playful talk.

"If I can flirt with someone and maybe get cheap tickets, more power to me," she told Inside Edition.

Brennan hopes prosecutors will reconsider and drop case - and maybe go after some of the blatant examples of real solicitation on Craigslist.

She's innocent until proven guilty, and it's unlikely any jury would convict her, he said.

Finkelstein hopes she'll have her familiar life back soon, as the media attention wanes and people stop recognizing her.

"I think it will definitely get back to normal," she said.

No, she hasn't gotten offers for reality shows.

But it has been a wild ride.

So much so she tempted to write about the case - and all the media attention - as a project for her master's degree in liberal arts at Penn.

Contact staff writer Peter Mucha at 215-854-4342 or pmucha@phillynews.com.

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Comments

Posted 06:00 PM, 11/06/2009

The Truth Hurts

Not to worry, the book and movie deal will more than compensate her.

Posted 06:00 PM, 11/06/2009

The Truth Hurts

Not to worry, the book and movie deal will more than compensate her.

Posted 06:25 PM, 11/06/2009

john d

waste of tax money drop the charges bensalem police look like hillbilly hicks

Posted 06:47 PM, 11/06/2009

Bill1966

Just cant figure out what the 'gorgeous' refers to

Posted 07:00 PM, 11/06/2009

phillylady3

This is not a good commentary on the state of the world when this kind of behavior wins tickets to the World Series and loads of media attention. And she is going to write about it for her masters degree? How embarrassing. No shame.

Posted 07:01 PM, 11/06/2009

zaituna

The Caste & Entitlement System is alive and well in the USA. Since she's at the top of the pecking order, she didn't do anything wrong, of course. If she had a different background/ethnicity, however, she'd be in jail by now, with no sympathetic press coverage. For those of you encouraging such favoritism, enjoy it while it lasts.

Posted 07:10 PM, 11/06/2009

Conshy04

gorgeous tall buxom blonde - FALSE ADVERTISING???

Posted 07:42 PM, 11/06/2009

Liberty1776

I know "ho's" that have AIDS in Philly. They get sent to rehab instead of prison. WHY? That's Murder in my book. Leave this woman alone. Our tax dollars will do much better somewhere else!

Posted 09:21 PM, 11/06/2009

KevSim

zaituna: thanks I will enjoy it and its going to last a long long while so get used to it, whiner

Posted 09:51 PM, 11/06/2009

CollingswoodResident

She must be good at what she does.

Posted 11:42 PM, 11/06/2009

flamingo

nothing like rewarding bad behavior

Posted 12:54 AM, 11/07/2009

runzwithscizzorz

Go girl!!! Hope it all works out in your favor. Too bad that your team didn't win. I'd rather see the cops focus on some serious crimes. This isn't be worth the time spent trying to prosecute.

Posted 12:53 PM, 11/07/2009

kelprod1

What a great use of taxpayer dollars on police resources. Absolutely ridiculous.

Posted 01:22 PM, 11/07/2009

BosoxJohnny

She's a piece of white trash. She got to go to two games basically because someone felt sorry for her. I'll bet there are a hundred more hardluck stories out there that didn't get to go. The moral of this story is basically that crime does pay. This woman offerred sexual services in exchange for tickets, she got the tickets and didn't have to pay up. I wonder how her husband felt knowing that she was meeting guys in bars with the intent of nailing them (which last time I checked, was called cheating) so she could get tickets. If my wife ever did that I'd be in divorce court.