By Nathan Duke
Lucyna Turyk-Wawrynowicz, of 79-32 69th Ave. in Middle Village, admitted stealing from several high-profile celebrity clients, including a pair of earrings belonging to Hightower that are valued at $95,500, according to the criminal complaint.The housekeeper also stole more than $3,000 in property from actress Bergen and over $3,000 from Renee Rockefeller, the daughter of the late Vice President Nelson Rockefeller, the court papers said. According to the complaint, she stole from her three employers over a period of four years.Turyk-Wawrynowicz stole a suede jacket from Bergen, the complaint said. When the “Murphy Brown” star confronted the housekeeper, she threatened to blackmail the actress, the complaint said.A spokeswoman for Manhattan DA Robert Morgenthau said Turyk-Wawrynowicz, a citizen of Poland who is in the United States illegally, entered a guilty plea on Feb. 8 and will be sentenced under the terms of her plea bargain to one to three years in prison on Feb. 21 in Manhattan Supreme Court. Once released from prison, she will be turned over to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and may possibly face deportment, the spokeswoman said.In addition to grand larceny charges, Turyk-Wawrynowicz pleaded guilty to forgery for using an employer's credit card to buy items at Barney's New York, the spokeswoman said. She also pleaded guilty to identity theft in the first degree for using a 9-year-old's Social Security number to obtain employment, the spokeswoman said.Turyk-Wawrynowicz was arrested on June 20, 2005 on grand larceny charges, the spokeswoman said. She originally denied all charges. Reach reporter Nathan Duke by email at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
