Jason Lubell Itzler, born February 23, 1967, is an American businessman, attorney, and the founder of the
escort agency
An escort agency is a company that provides escorts for clients, usually for sexual services. The agency typically arranges a meeting between one of its escorts and the client at the customer's house or hotel room (outcall), or at the escort' ...
New York Confidential. He has been imprisoned for money laundering, drug charges and prostitution.
Early life and education
Jason Lubell Itzler was born as Jason Lubell Sylk
and is the only son of Ronnie Lubell and Leonard Allen Sylk.
Following his parents’ divorce, Itzler moved to New York with his mother.
While growing up, Jason was influenced by his grandfather, Nathan Lubell, who was a founding partner in the
Riviera
''Riviera'' () is an Italian word which means "coastline", ultimately derived from Latin , through Ligurian . It came to be applied as a proper name to the coast of Liguria, in the form ''Riviera ligure'', then shortened in English. The two areas ...
in
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish language, Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the List of United States cities by population, 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the U.S. state, state of Neva ...
. He also owned an amusement park in
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to th ...
for his four young daughters.
Jason's mother remarried Ron Itzler,
a lawyer in the firm of Fischbein, Badillo, Wagner, and Itzler, and so the family moved to the suburbs in New Jersey. Jason attended a number of private schools, including the
Elisabeth Morrow School
The Elisabeth Morrow School is a private, co-educational, day school in the United States in Englewood, New Jersey, educating children from nursery through eighth grade.
As of the 2022-2023 school year, the school had an enrollment of about 40 ...
, the
Dwight-Englewood School
The Dwight-Englewood School (D-E) is an independent coeducational college-preparatory day school, located in Englewood, Bergen County, New Jersey, United States. The school teaches students from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade in thr ...
, the
Hotchkiss School
The Hotchkiss School is a coeducational preparatory school in Lakeville, Connecticut, United States. Hotchkiss is a member of the Eight Schools Association and Ten Schools Admissions Organization. It is also a former member of the G30 Schools gr ...
, and
Tenafly High School
Tenafly High School is a four-year comprehensive community public high school in Tenafly in Bergen County, New Jersey, United States, serving students in ninth through twelfth grades as the lone secondary school of the Tenafly Public Schools ...
. Jason spent many of his evenings at the
New York Friars Club
The Friars Club is a private club in New York City. Famous for its risqué roasts, the club's membership is composed mostly of comedians and other celebrities. Founded in 1904, it is located at 57 East 55th Street, between Park Avenue and Mad ...
, and summers in the Catskills, where he worked as a
cabana boy
A cabana boy is a male attendant who serves the guests of a hotel or large private estate, operating from a nearby '' cabaña'' ( American Spanish for cabin; compare cabin boy, a similar occupation aboard ships during the age of sail), often on a ...
at the Concord Hotel.
Jason graduated from The
George Washington University
, mottoeng = "God is Our Trust"
, established =
, type = Private federally chartered research university
, academic_affiliations =
, endowment = $2.8 billion (2022)
, presi ...
with degrees in
political science
Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and ...
and
art history
Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, ...
.
Itzler enrolled in the
Shepard Broad College of Law
Shepard Broad College of Law (also referred to as NSU Law and Nova Law) is the law school of Nova Southeastern University, located on the university's main campus in Davie, Florida. The school offers full-time day and part-time evening programs.
...
in the late 1980s and graduated with a
J.D. in 1993.
Business ventures and convictions
While in law school, he started a
phone sex
Phone sex is a conversation between two or more people by means of the telephone which is sexually explicit and is intended to provoke sexual arousal in one or more participants. All parties participate voluntarily; it is typically accompanied ...
operation called M2 Communications, Inc., where he would charge $4.98-a-minute, and soon become a young millionaire. The company averaged $1,500,000 a month.
Due to his mother's untimely death from
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...
in 1994, he abandoned his business and was eventually forced to declare bankruptcy in 1997.
His next company was called SoHo Models, one of the first companies to supply Webcam porn, which he ran out of a rented an 8,000-square-foot loft on the corner of Canal and Broadway in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...
.
In 2001, Itzler was arrested at
Newark Liberty International Airport
Newark Liberty International Airport , originally Newark Metropolitan Airport and later Newark International Airport, is an international airport straddling the boundary between the cities of Newark in Essex County and Elizabeth in Union Cou ...
for trying to smuggle
ecstasy
Ecstasy may refer to:
* Ecstasy (emotion), a trance or trance-like state in which a person transcends normal consciousness
* Religious ecstasy, a state of consciousness, visions or absolute euphoria
* Ecstasy (philosophy), to be or stand outside o ...
into the United States.
After serving seven months in jail for the drug charge, he was released on
parole
Parole (also known as provisional release or supervised release) is a form of early release of a prison inmate where the prisoner agrees to abide by certain behavioral conditions, including checking-in with their designated parole officers, or ...
in 2003, after which he started an escort service named New York Confidential.
To meet the condition of his parole that he maintain legitimate employment, Itzler was fraudulently listed as a
paralegal
A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant, or paralegal specialist is a professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with a license to practice law. The market for paralegals ...
in the office of his attorney,
Paul Bergrin.
New York Confidential was run out of Itzler's Art Deco apartment in
Hoboken, New Jersey
Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58, ...
.
The company was doing well and the office was moved to a 5000 sq ft. loft at 79 Worth Street in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...
.
In 2004, Itzler was averaging a gross of $55,000 a night.
"That's because we were the best," said Itzler. "At NY Confidential, I told my girls that the pressure is on them because we have to provide the clients with the greatest single experience ever, a Kodak moment to treasure for the rest of their lives. Spreading happiness, positive energy, and love,that's what being the best means to me. Call me a dreamer, but that's the NY Confidential credo."
It was this attention to detail and customer satisfaction that made the group successful, attracting a wide array of clients, including senators and famous athletes.
There were even talks of franchising Confidentials in other cities, such as Las Vegas.
In 2005, authorities arrested Itzler, who pleaded guilty to money laundering and promoting prostitution in 2006, and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
On May 14, 2012, Itzler was sentenced to four years in prison for prostitution, money laundering, and drug charges after an investigation the previous summer found evidence that he had sold cocaine and provided a
prostitute to a Manhattan customer.
Personal life
Itzler is Jewish and has been engaged seven times.
He has dated his own girls, including the number one escort Natalie McLennan, known as Natalia.
Natalia made as much as $2,000 per hour with a two-hour minimum working as an escort at New York Confidential.
Asked if the work affected her relationship with Itzler, Natalia says he would sometimes get jealous of the time she spent away from him, but not of the men.
It would only bother him if she slept with another man for free.
In 2010, Natalia pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted money laundering in connection to New York Confidential. Itzler has had
Hanuman
Hanuman (; sa, हनुमान, ), also called Anjaneya (), is a Hindu god and a divine '' vanara'' companion of the god Rama. Hanuman is one of the central characters of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He is an ardent devotee of Rama and ...
and "Super Lucky" tattooed on his arms since the early 1990s.
Media
Itzler has been featured on ''
The View''.
He appeared several times on The ''
Opie and Anthony
''Opie and Anthony'' was an American radio show hosted by Gregg "Opie" Hughes and Anthony Cumia that aired from March 1995 to July 2014, with comedian Jim Norton serving as third mic from 2001. The show originated in 1994 when Cumia took part i ...
'' show, including phoning in from prison. He also appeared as a guest twice on ''
The Howard Stern Show
''The Howard Stern Show'' is an American radio show hosted by Howard Stern that gained wide recognition when it was nationally syndicated on terrestrial radio from WXRK in New York City, between 1986 and 2005. The show has aired on Howard 100 a ...
''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Itzler, Jason
1967 births
Living people
American company founders
Columbian College of Arts and Sciences alumni
Dwight-Englewood School alumni
People from New Jersey
Tenafly High School alumni