Roman Polanski has agreed to return to the US – if a judge agrees he has served his time.
The ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ director pleaded guilty to unlawful sex with a minor in 1977 after plying Samantha Gailey with champagne and drugs before taking topless photos and having sex with her during a photoshoot when she was just 13 and agreed a plea deal which allowed him to serve 42 days in detention while undergoing psychiatric tests.
But he fled to France when he feared the deal would be dropped and he’d be sent to prison for a long stint, and has remained in Europe – including stints in his native Poland – ever since.
And now his lawyer, Harland Braun, has filed legal documents stating the 83-year-old filmmaker will deal with the loose ends of his fugitive status, but only if a judge agrees in advance that he won’t be sentenced to jail.
According to TMZ, the lawyer argued the sentencing judge required the ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ director to serve less than 50 days jail but between his stint behind bars in the US and house arrested in Switzerland, he’s completed almost 400 days.
He claimed the sentencing judge later went back on the deal and threatened up to 50 years in jail, prompting Polanski to flee.
Samantha previously insisted she felt Polanski should be able to move on and put their illegal encounter behind him.
She said: "He said he did it; he pled guilty; he went to jail. I don’t know what people want from him.
"I’m sure he’s a nice man and I know he has a family and I think he deserves closure and to be allowed to put this behind him.
"We somehow ended up on the same side. Things have to go pretty wrong for them to end up this way."
And she thinks prosecutors have only pursued the case for publicity.
She added: "It’s a joke. A travesty. Hollywood justice at its finest."
Roman Polanski may return to US
