A brawny bodyguard for the alleged soccer-mom madam was revealed yesterday as a retired NYPD detective who once worked for the prosecutor’s office.
Sylvan (Sly) Francis joined the NYPD in 1985 and retired in 2002 after working his last years in the Manhattan district attorney’s squad — the same unit now investigating alleged madam Anna Gristina, authorities said.
“He was an NYPD detective assigned to the [DA\]‘s squad,’’ said a spokeswoman for District Attorney Cyrus Vance.
It was unclear if Francis is suspected of any wrongdoing or if his career as a cop overlapped with his work for Gristina.
NYPD policy prohibits officers from working second jobs without department approval. Sources said Francis would have stood zero chance of being allowed to work for Gristina, who allegedly ran a brothel on E. 78th St. for high-end clients.
Francis, 54, could not immediately be reached for comment Friday, but the media attention didn’t seem to faze him.
“Nice photo of me from back in the day,” he posted on Facebook after seeing a published picture of Gristina sitting on his lap.
The Brooklyn-born Francis attended South Shore High School and a city college, according to his Facebook page.
Gristina, 44, a mother of four from upstate Monroe, has been charged with a single count of promoting prostitution and is being held at Rikers in lieu of $2 million bail.
She was captured on wiretaps bragging about her connections to law enforcement and said they would protect her from getting arrested.
rparascandola@nydailynews.com
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