Katina Powell won't cooperate without immunity

An attorney for self-described “escort queen” Katina Powell told ESPN 680 AM radio Tuesday that because he fears she will be “the scapegoat” she won’t cooperate with either the University of Louisville or NCAA probes without an immunity deal protecting her from criminal prosecution.

Powell has been under fire publicly -- there’s even a Youtube video rap attacking her -- after she alleged in her book, "Breaking Cardinal Rules: Basketball and the Escort Queen," that she arranged for strippers for basketball recruits and players at on-campus parties that sometimes involved prostitution. She also said two of her daughters were among the strippers and both publicly claimed to have had sex with one player each, though they didn’t discuss whether they were paid.

Powell claims she was paid $10,000 and game tickets to arrange the parties by former U of L basketball staffer Andre McGee, who has denied any criminal wrongdoing.

“There seems to be this boorish desire to burn her at the stake” with little focus on McGee’s alleged involvement, said Powell’s attorney, Larry Wilder.

McGee resigned last week as an assistant basketball coach at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Wilder said that means McGee no longer has to cooperate with the NCAA investigation.

But neither U of L nor the NCAA can offer anyone immunity from criminal prosecution.

While Kentucky doesn't allow for an official immunity agreement, Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Wine could agree not to prosecute someone in exchange for their testimony.

Wine, through a previous public statement, said he has “grave concerns” about the book’s allegations but declined to elaborate.

Jeff Cooke, a spokesman for Wine, said Tuesday that Wine's office wouldn’t comment on the case while a criminal investigation by Louisville Metro Police is underway. A key issue officers are expected to look at is whether strippers were indeed paid for sex and, if so, whether any were underage at the time.

Wilder has publicly said his client didn’t receive money for prostitution, but her book “claims she knew some of the escorts she brought to the parties agreed to exchange sex for money.

Defense attorney Alex Dathorne, a former state prosecutor who is not associated with this case, said in deciding whether to offer immunity, a prosecutor would weigh the person’s own culpability, the value of the information and whether there are weaknesses in the state’s case that necessitate offering the witness a deal.

“State prosecutors are generally given a great deal of latitude in making charging decisions and disposition determinations,” Dathorne said. “It’s real subjective -- who the prosecutor is and how they see it, how necessary that person’s cooperation is in making the case.”

Prosecutors more often gain cooperation by charging everyone involved with a crime and then offering to reduce charges or recommend a more lenient sentence to the least culpable person in exchange for his or her cooperation as a state’s witness, Dathorne said.

During his tenure as a prosecutor, he said an approach he used was, “Charge everybody and then if you have to cut some deals, cut some deals.”

U of L counsel would only be authorized to offer Powell civil immunity -- from filing a defamation lawsuit if it turns out Powell fabricated her account. There could also be a fight over the proceeds of her book if it details actual crimes she committed or if the allegations in the book are lies that damaged the university.

Reporter Beth Warren can be reached at (502) 582-7164 or bwarren@courier-journal.com.