Jury Picked for Heidi Fleiss’ Trial on Pandering, Drug Counts : Court: Opening arguments are set for Monday. Alleged ‘madam to the stars’ faces up to 12 years in prison.

A jury of five women and seven men was seated Thursday in the trial of alleged Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss on charges of pandering and possession of cocaine.

One potential juror was excused by the defense after he stated that prostitution is forbidden in the Bible, but the prosecution had no objection to the seating of an alternate juror who said he thought prostitution should be legalized.

Fleiss faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted. Opening arguments in the Los Angeles Superior Court trial are scheduled for Monday morning.

Donald Marks, one of Fleiss’ lawyers, said the possibility that his client was entrapped in an improper sting operation “is clearly going to be something discussed in the trial.”

Touted as the “madam to the stars,” the 28-year-old high school dropout was first arrested last year after she allegedly provided cocaine and four prostitutes to a “Japanese businessman” who turned out to be an undercover Beverly Hills police officer.

Then, last August, she and her 60-year-old father, pediatrician Paul Fleiss, were arrested on federal charges of tax evasion and money laundering--for allegedly hiding hundreds of thousands of dollars from Heidi Fleiss’ purported prostitution ring.

A month later, she was arrested for a third time, for violating the terms of her $50,000 bail in the federal case by testing positive for drugs six times since the August arrest. The drugs involved were Valium and methamphetamines, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark Holscher.

On Sept. 26, she was transferred from the Downtown federal Metropolitan Detention Center to Impact House, a drug treatment and rehabilitation center in Pasadena, where she is a residential patient.

Jury selection in the trial before Judge Judith Champagne began last week. A 15-page questionnaire was handed out to the 65 prospective jurors, and court was adjourned until Monday so lawyers could review their responses.

Although eclipsed by the O.J. Simpson trial, the Heidi Fleiss case--which centers on charges that she ran a glamorous call girl service that catered to the rich and famous--has generated considerable interest.

That interest has been heightened by speculation that Fleiss eventually may open her “black book,” disclosing the names of clients, who are said to include entertainment industry executives and jet-set glitterati.

The federal trial is scheduled to start Jan 24.