Ex-DEA agent, strip club owner should be tried together, judge says May 5, 2023
Retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent Joseph Bongiovanni drives a vintage car he restored. Bongiovanni was arrested in 2019 on felony charges that accuse him of accepting $250,000 in bribes and using his position in the DEA to help Buffalo drug dealers, including some connected to organized crime, avoid arrest. His attorney says the feds have no evidence that Bongiovanni took bribes and that the classic car is Bongiovanni's "only uniquely prized possession."
A former federal agent accused of protecting drug dealers with ties to the local mob fears he can't get a fair trial if he has to stand trial together with a strip club owner facing a sex-trafficking count. And the strip club owner worries he can't get a fair trial if jurors hear about the former agent's alleged ties to Italian organized crime.
The defense teams for Joseph Bongiovanni, the retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent and Peter Gerace Jr., the owner of Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club in Cheektowaga, each sought separate trials. But U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. declined to sever the case, so the two men are scheduled to be tried together next month in U.S. District Court in Buffalo. The prosecution anticipates its case will take six to eight weeks and involve 100 witnesses or more.
“There is no way this jury is going to be able to unhear the term Italian organized crime," Cohen said. "They're not going to unhear the term mafia. And they're also not going to be able to unhear the fact that Peter does have relatives who were involved in that. Peter himself was never involved in Italian organized crime. But he has relatives who likely were."
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A grand jury indictment against the former agent names Michael Masecchia, a former Buffalo schoolteacher described in court papers as a longtime drug dealer and member or associate of "Italian Organized Crime."
A year ago, Masecchia was sentenced to seven years in prison for trafficking more than a ton of marijuana into Buffalo and its suburbs over 20 years.
Masecchia was one of several local men targeted in a federal investigation into suspected organized crime activities. He told law enforcement officials that he and others in the drug trade had help from Bongiovanni, according to his plea agreement. He said Bongiovanni helped him and other drug traffickers avoid arrest by providing “law enforcement-sensitive information,” including the names of potential cooperating witnesses.
Bongiovanni is accused of blocking investigations into Masecchia and others he believed were tied to the local Mafia and, in return, receiving at least $250,000 in bribes, prosecutors say.
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Gerace's defense counsel argues that including in a joint trial charges against Bongiovanni that relate only to Bongiovanni's alleged conduct with Masecchia is improper.
Grand jury excerpts appended to a prosecution court filing show "outrageously prejudicial hearsay evidence admitted against Mr. Gerace," according to Gerace's legal team.
In a court filing, prosecutors for the U.S. Attorney's Office said their proof at trial will establish that Gerace has held himself out as being associated with Italian organized crime – or at least was aware that others believed he was.
"For example, one witness from Pharaohs testified in grand jury that she heard Gerace refer to himself as a member of 'the mafia,' " according to the prosecution's filing that urged against separating the cases."
Re: Buffalo’s Joseph Bongiovanni
[Re: LuanKuci]
#1058620 05/06/2306:51 AM05/06/2306:51 AM
Feds arrest woman expected to testify against strip club owner in upcoming trial Dan Herbeck May 6, 2023
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A woman who is expected to testify in the upcoming federal trial of a Cheektowaga strip club owner was arrested this week on two misdemeanor drug charges.
Phlycia Hunt, 32, was arrested on drug possession charges filed by the FBI this week relating to two incidents in October 2021 and October 2022, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in court papers made public Friday.
“These are drug possession charges for personal use. Her case has been put off until Wednesday of next week, and my top priority at this point is to help this woman get help and treatment for her drug problem,” said Fonda Kubiak, a federal public defender who represents Hunt.
Defense teams for Joseph Bongiovanni, a retired Drug Enforcement Administration agent and Peter Gerace Jr., owner of Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club in Cheektowaga, each sought separate trials. After a district judge's ruling, the two men are scheduled to be tried together next month.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy arraigned Hunt on Friday and ordered her to be held in jail until the court appearance next week, Kubiak said....
Judge Michalski has been involved in controversy in recent years. The Buffalo News reported that the feds were investigating his relationship with Peter G. Gerace Jr., the owner of Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club, who was under investigation and has been charged with the distribution of drugs and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. He also allegedly bribed former disgraced Drug Enforcement Administration agent Joseph Bongiovanni.
Both Gerace and Bongiovanni have been charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and defraud the United States. This story is very bizarre and we may never get the full scope of it now that Judge Michalski has killed himself
During a lengthy, three-month long RICO trial in Buffalo, New York before now ChiefUnited States District Court Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford, members of the Outlaws attendedevery day of the trial, sat prominently in the gallery, and took notes.See United States v.Willson, et al., Case No. 1:15cr142. In that case — a RICO prosecution of the KingsmenMotorcycle Club — the Outlaws were not specifically mentioned in the Indictment, but thecase involved testimony and matters that related to a support club affiliated with the Outlaws.Despite no direct link to the Outlaws, they monitored the proceedings daily, and theirpresence at trial created a stressful dynamic in the courtroom, caused issues with witnesses,and risked the orderly administration of justice.Here, unlike in the Kingsmen case, the Outlaws are specifically referenced in theIndictment, see Dkt. 89, Introduction ¶ 4, and they likely have a strong interest in supportingGerace at trial. Indeed, the National President of the Outlaws is the manager o fPharaoh’sGentlemen’s Club and was present there when federal authorities executed a search warranton December 12, 2019. Other members of the Outlaws are employed in various positions atPharaohs — a location where sex trafficking, drug trafficking, and other unlawful activities arealleged to have occurred. Further, the National President of the Outlaws submitted anaffidavit in support of Gerace’s motion to amend his conditions of release in this case. seeDkt.108-2. Therefore, the Outlaws have an even greater interest in this case than they did in theKingsmen Motorcycle Club case. As a result, there is reason to believe that the Outlaws willattend trial daily and cause great risk to the orderly administration of justice.Case 1:19-cr-00227-LJV-MJR Document 619 Filed 09/06/23 Page 14 of 23 15Moreover, the Outlaws themselves do not even need to attend the trial to accomplishtheir goals if it is held in Buffalo. As the dominant 1%er MC in the Buffalo area, the Outlawshave a network of smaller support clubs who can also cause security and logistical issuesassociated with the trial, even if the Outlaws themselves do not attend.7. Indeed, as thegovernment has explained in previous submissionsrelated to Gerace’s release or custodialstatus, see Doc. No. 110, at n. 7, law enforcement considers the Outlaws MC to be a dangerousand violent criminal organization, which has been subject to numerous prosecutionsnationally.See, e.g.,United States v. Starrett , 55 F.3d 1525, 1533 (11th Cir. 1995) (noting that“The Outlaw Motorcycle Club (the “Outlaws”) is one of the four largest national ‘one-percenter’ motorcycle clubs[,] . . . who are known to cause the most trouble, or ‘raise the most hell.’”); see also United States v. Bowman, 302 F.3d 1228, 1231 (11th Cir. 2002) (formerinternational president of the Outlaws convicted of racketeering, conspiracy to murder, andvarious other offenses);United States v. Lawson, 535 F.3d 434, 438 (6th Cir. 2008), as amended(Oct. 9, 2008) (RICOprosecution relating to Outlaws MC “Green Region”, including amurder at a strip club.)
"The king is dead, long live the king!"
Re: Buffalo’s Joseph Bongiovanni
[Re: LuanKuci]
#1082927 02/12/2404:46 PM02/12/2404:46 PM
Bongiovanni Trial Starts with Jury Selection today... Here is this morning's article from The Buffalo News
Ex-DEA agent accused of corruption and a 'little dark secret' gets his day in court Patrick Lakamp
After waiting more than four years, Joseph Bongiovanni’s day in court is upon him. The retired DEA agent could very well spend the next two months on trial in a federal courtroom in Buffalo on charges he accepted at least $250,000 in bribes from drug dealers whom he thought were associated with Italian organized crime and shielded them from arrest, as well as provided them with information about investigations and cooperating sources.
Jury selection starts Monday. Given that 88 court documents have been sealed, there’s plenty of evidence not yet publicly known about his case. But pretrial hearings and the public court filings offer a glimpse of what prosecutors intend to delve into as they seek to convict the first DEA special agent in Western New York charged with bribery and corruption.
Prosecutors describe one witness as a co-conspirator who is expected to testify that he participated in a conversation about marijuana shipments. “He’s going to talk about the words he heard come out of other people’s mouths and his participation in that conversation: who the people were, what they said,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Cooper at a recent court proceeding.
Other testimony is expected to cover: --Bongiovanni’s associations with drug dealers and alleged drug use. --His finances, described by prosecutors as strained. --What he told fellow DEA agents about his dealings with co-defendant Peter Gerace Jr., the owner of Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club in Cheektowaga, who will be tried later. -His alleged fondness for Italian organized crime members.
During the trial, prosecutors and defense attorneys will argue over which statements and evidence can be used against Bongiovanni. The judge who will preside at the trial has already made clear what it will not become: a deep dive into the inner workings and hierarchy of organized crime in Western New York.
“This is not going to become a trial about whether Mr. Gerace’s grandfather was the head of the Italian organized crime,” U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo said.
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The two bribery counts allege Bongiovanni was paid at least $250,000 to mislead others in law enforcement and provide sensitive information about investigations and help those he believed connected to Italian Organized crime.
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The two counts of conspiracy to distribute controlled substance covers his alleged involvement with Masecchia and Gerace. The first count alleges Bongiovanni conspired with Masecchia and others to distribute marijuana and cocaine. The second count alleges he conspired with Gerace and others to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, Adderall and marijuana.
Snip… Bongiovanni’s lawyers have expressed doubt over the admissibility of evidence suggesting he was aware of drug use at a party in Toronto. They say the government intends to point to the party as an example of Bongiovanni being comfortable around drug use and associating with people who take drugs.
A person at the party who was also involved in drugs will testify, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi said at a recent hearing.
Also, a government witness who has known Bongiovanni for decades will testify to Bongiovanni’s alleged drug use as a DEA agent as well as when both were in their 20s, Tripi said. That witness used cocaine with Bongiovanni early and later in Bongiovanni’s life, and the witness and a “circle of friends later conspired and bribed him,” Tripi said
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If Bongiovanni was at a party in Toronto with people who may have been sneaking off to a bathroom to use drugs, it’s not an act of deceit or part of some conspiracy if he didn’t arrest anybody, Singer said.
Vilardo asked the defense lawyers, “Why isn’t hanging out with these folks, allegedly using drugs with these folks, and ignoring the use of drugs by other folks, why isn’t that all part of the story here?”
“If all the co-conspirators got together every Friday night, used cocaine together and hung out, that might go to telling the story about the formation of a conspiracy,” Singer replied.
That’s not what the Toronto party was, he said. “It was a birthday party for Mr. Bongiovanni’s sister-in-law,” Singer said, adding that the witness who will testify about the party had never before met Bongiovanni.
Snip… The trial is expected to clarify the roles, if any, of others linked to the Bongiovanni investigation. The Buffalo News reported in 2021 that Ronald Serio is one of the drug traffickers whom prosecutors sought to connect to the former federal drug agent.
Snip… At least one DEA agent who worked with Bongiovanni is expected to testify.
When Bongiovanni learned about who his fellow agent was investigating, the agent said Bongiovanni asked him, “Do you hate Italians?” Bongiovanni then allegedly told the agent he should instead be investigating Black people and Hispanics, using derogatory epithets for them, according to prosecutors.
Bongiovanni denies making the statement, Mackay said, adding there is no corroboration. “Certainly, advising other agents to investigate somebody based on racial animus is a violation of duty,” said Jordan Dickson, a Department of Justice attorney.
Snip… When agents were preparing to search Serio’s Amherst property, Anthony Gerace of Clarence showed up, briefly visited and was pulled over by Erie County deputies as he drove off with oxycodone pills in his car, according to a Homeland Security agent’s affidavit. Prosecutors called Anthony Gerace an unindicted co-conspirator in Bongiovanni’s case. He is Peter Gerace’s brother and nephew of Joseph A. Todaro, who federal officials have claimed leads the Buffalo Mafia. Todaro has denied that.
Prosecutors say Bongiovanni was protecting people whom he understood to be part of Italian organized crime. Vilardo said Bongiovanni’s “thoughts about Italian organized crime ... and so forth can come in” at the trial. But he said, “the focus of this is not what the government thinks, it’s not what the rumors are – it’s what’s in your client’s head.”
Prosecutor: DEA agent Bongiovanni became 'a double agent' for drug traffickers in WNY Patrick Lakamp
The following article summarizes the government's opening argument.
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"A question uttered by a marijuana trafficker placed under arrest foreshadowed Joseph Bongiovanni's legal peril.
"As law enforcement officers uncovered pounds upon pounds of marijuana at Ronald Serio's properties in Amherst, Buffalo and Tonawanda on April 18, 2017, Serio asked if could speak to Bongiovanni, at the time a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration.
"When asked how he knew Bongiovanni, Serio let it drop.
"Bongiovanni didn't know about the searches because it was Erie County Sheriff's Office deputies and FBI agents conducting the raids – not the DEA. What the agents at Serio's properties did not know that day was that Bongiovanni had been shielding Serio and others in his drug-trafficking organization from investigation and tipping them off to informants, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi said Thursday in his opening statement at Bongiovanni's trial.
"They caught the big fish," Tripi said of Serio's arrest.
"Ronald C. Serio is awaiting sentencing on felony drug and weapons charges stemming from a 2017 raid at his former Lebrun Road mansion in Amherst. The case against Serio is part of a federal investigation into organized crime in Buffalo. Serio pleaded guilty to the charges.
"By July 2018, facing charges, Serio was telling authorities how he had paid money to Bongiovanni, through Michael Masecchia, to avoid being targeted by law enforcement. Serio said Bongiovanni provided information about federal informants to Masecchia and Louis Selva. But on that April 2017 day, Serio had not received the protection he expected. And he was angry, Tripi said.
"Federal agents raided Selva’s North Buffalo house and Masecchia's Williamsville home on Aug. 23, 2019 – 11 weeks after federal agents raided Bongiovanni’s home in the Town of Tonawanda."
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"As for the drug trafficking, Selva and Serio will provide "inside and intimate knowledge of how the conspiracy worked," Tripi said.
"While the prosecution characterized Bongiovanni's prosecution as a simple case, it's one whose participants have known each other for decades.
"Tripi characterized Selva as the negotiator of the first bribery scheme Bongiovanni is charged with. Selva, a childhood friend of Bongiovanni's, had been part of a marijuana-grow operation, and he convinced Bongiovanni to take the bribes, Tripi said.
"Masecchia, who attended high school and college with Bongiovanni, was the person who arranged the cash drops with Bongiovanni.
"Masecchia was the muscle and money man," Tripi said.
"Masecchia and Bongiovanni were the only ones who knew where Bongiovanni was receiving the bribes, Tripi said.
"He did it out of warped sense of loyalty to childhood friends who grew up to be drug traffickers," Tripi said." Serio was the "financier" of the operation, Tripi said.
"The second bribery scheme involved Peter Gerace Jr., another childhood friend of Bongiovanni's, according to Tripi.
"Tripi said Gerace's ex-wife will testify that Bongiovanni would enter a side entrance of the Gerace-owned Pharaoh's Gentlemen's Club, the one without cameras, to collect envelopes of cash.
"Bongiovanni has been charged with accepting cash bribes from Gerace in exchange for protection from arrest and prosecution, shutting down an investigation, and also of falsely portraying Gerace as a DEA confidential source in order to dissuade an FBI agent from investigating Gerace.
"Bongiovanni frequented Pharaoh's and reconnected with Gerace after returning from a DEA stint in Florida, Tripi said.
"Bongiovanni passed along to Gerace sensitive investigative information, used to protect Pharaoh's, a place Tripi called "a bastion of alcohol, women and drug use."
"In 2009, while on supervised release for a fraud conviction, Gerace worried that his positive test for cocaine would cause his probation officer to violate him.
"Bongiovanni "injected himself" into the matter by writing a report that Gerace called him and offered to provide information to DEA if he was treated favorably over the failed drug test. Nothing ever came of it.
"Bongiovanni, indicted by a grand jury in October 2019, faces charges he accepted at least $250,000 in bribes from drug dealers whom he thought were associated with Italian organized crime and shielded them from arrest, as well as provided them with information about investigations and cooperating sources. The ex-DEA special agent is the first from the agency in Western New York to be charged with bribery and corruption.
Bribery case against former DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni begins By: Maki Becker
Posted at 5:52 PM, Feb 15, 2024
and last updated 1 hour ago
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A quarter million dollars in cash bribes. Thousands of pounds of marijuana. Cocaine and prostitution at a Cheektowaga strip club.
Former Drug Enforcement Administration agent Joseph Bongiovanni is at the center of it all.
Bongiovanni is accused of taking money from old friends from his North Buffalo neighborhood with alleged connections to "Italian Organized Crime."
On Thursday, attorneys in the highly anticipated trial against Bongiovanni gave their opening statements.
The U.S. Attorney's Office is painting Bongiovanni as a "double agent" who betrayed his duties to the public by accepting more than $250,000 in bribes in exchange for providing sensitive information and steering cases away from his friends. He is charged with 15 crimes, including for accepting bribes.
Bongiovanni's attorneys countered that he never took any bribes and that the government's case against him is built on the questionable testimony of those with grudges against him and others who are hoping for leniency from the Justice Department by testifying against him.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Trippi told the 12 jurors and six alternates seated for the trial that Bongiovanni was motivated by financial problems stemming from a costly divorce and his taste for nights on the town and fancy trips, as well as his admiration for those associated with "Italian Organized Crime."
Trippi described who he called "key players" figures in the case:
Lou Selva: Bongiovanni's best friend from childhood who was his best man at his wedding and a former jail deputy at the Erie County Sheriff's Office. Trippi told jurors he was a marijuana grower and courier.
Michael Messechia: another childhood friend and a former Buffalo Schools teacher. Trippi described him as a "marijuana trafficker" and alleged he was a member of "Italian organized crime." "The muscle and money man," Trippi said of Messechia.
Ron Serio: Trippi said that Bongiovanni and Serio never met in person but were deeply connected. Serio was the financier of a marijuana trafficking operation.
Peter Gerace Jr.: Another longtime friend from Bongiovanni's childhood. He was the owner of Pharoah's Gentlemen's Club in Cheektowaga, where Trippi said Gerace provided "cocaine and women to high-end clientele." Trippi also said Gerace is the grandson of Joseph Todaro, the "reputed leader of the Buffalo Mafia," and that Bongiovanni was aware of that. Todaro has never been convicted of a crime. Also, Bongiovanni is not accused of being a member.
Before the trial began, U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Vilardo laid out rules for the attorneys, barring the U.S. Attorney's Office from using the word "mafia" in front of the jury and reminded Trippi outside of the presence of the jury not to use that term again during the trial. The trial is expected to last as long as eight weeks.
Deep roots of friendship are intertwined in alleged scheme to bribe DEA agent Patrick Lakamp
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“Mike Masecchia, in the circles in which Bongiovanni grew up in, in his North Buffalo predominantly Italian neighborhood, was a high-profile guy due to his connections,” Tripi Said.
Thanks for the updates I'll check this out later. Why was/is the borgata called The Arm?
Daniel “Boots” Sansanese Sr. was serving time in prison in the early 1950s. “While in prison, a close friendship was made with his cellmate, Joseph Fino. Through the years after their release, these two men became known as the ‘arm’ or ‘muscle’ for the organization.” Buffalo then was known as the Arm. This is from the Rizzo book and he credits a 1963 Currier Express article.
Rizzo, Michael F.. Gangsters and Organized Crime in Buffalo: History, Hits and Headquarters . The History Press. Kindle Edition.
Re: Buffalo’s Joseph Bongiovanni
[Re: LuanKuci]
#1083709 02/22/2410:41 AM02/22/2410:41 AM
Informant says DEA never asked him to help collar drug trafficker living in Amherst mansion Patrick Lakamp
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A one-time informant for the Drug Enforcement Administration gave a simple reason for not providing the federal agency incriminating information against a Buffalo drug trafficker who distributed thousands of pounds of marijuana and eventually cocaine and fentanyl pills.
No one asked him for it.
The informant said he could get whatever kind of drug he wanted in 2013 from Ronald Serio, a drug trafficker who lived in a 9,000-square-foot French Provincial mansion on 2.4 acres in Amherst, with a carriage house and tennis court. The informant said he had been inside Serio's mansion about five times and bought marijuana from him.
"I could have gotten to anybody in the Serio organization," the informant testified in retired DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni's bribery and corruption trial. "They didn't ask me to call him or anything."
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