NYC- A 62-year-old former tax specialist who is accused of starting a prostitution ring to pay his late wife’s medical bills and ended up unwittingly ensnaring former Gov. Eliot Spitzer is expected to plead guilty this week to money laundering and prostitution charges, his lawyer said yesterday.

The man, Mark Brener, will be the third of four defendants to plead guilty in the case against the high-end prostitution ring, which the authorities have said was patronized by the former governor.

Mr. Brener, who has been held without bail since his arrest on March 6, the day the charges against the four defendants were unsealed, is scheduled to enter his guilty plea in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday, according to his lawyer, Murray Richman.

Mr. Richman said the plea did not include an agreement to cooperate with the authorities or to testify in the case.

While court papers filed in the case did not name Mr. Spitzer, he was identified as the man referred to in the criminal complaint as Client No. 9, whose Feb. 13 rendezvous with a 23-year-old prostitute in Washington is detailed in the criminal complaint.

Mr. Spitzer resigned on March 12, two days after his involvement with the ring, the Emperor’s V.I.P. Club, was disclosed. It remains unclear whether federal prosecutors intend to bring charges against Mr. Spitzer in the case. A spokeswoman for him declined to comment on Monday.

Mr. Brener is expected to plead guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy and a second conspiracy count that charges that he conspired to violate federal prostitution laws, said a person with knowledge of the case.

The fourth defendant, Tania Hollander, who worked part time as a booker for the Emperor’s V.I.P. Club, has been in plea negotiations with prosecutors, according to court papers and her lawyer, Michael C. Farkas

“We’re still in active negotiations, and it is my hope that an amenable resolution will present itself in the next few weeks,” Mr. Farkas said.