A Cheektowaga strip club owner slated to go to trial on charges of bribing a DEA agent and conspiring to engage in drug trafficking and human trafficking was arrested Friday on new charges after he was accused of sending threatening Facebook messages to a potential witness against him, according to federal court documents and his attorney.
A grand jury indicted Peter G. Gerace Jr., 55, on three counts of witness tampering and one count of distribution of cocaine. He was arraigned Friday and was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshals. He was being held in the Niagara County Jail, where federal prisoners are held over the weekend. He is scheduled to appear for a detention hearing Monday afternoon.
His attorney, Steven M. Cohen, said it is his understanding that all four of the charges involved one witness "who I am very much looking forward to cross-examining under oath."
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Federal authorities surrounded Gerace's home in Clarence at about 7 a.m. Friday and called out to him on a bullhorn as they prepared to arrest him on a warrant on the new charges, Cohen said.
Gerace is accused in the court documents of three instances of "tampering with a witness" who is identified only as "Witness 1," all reportedly taking place on Nov. 19, 2019.
The indictment against Gerace accuses him of "sending intimidating, threatening, and harassing Facebook messages to Witness 1 with the intent to influence, delay, and prevent the testimony of Witness 1 in an official proceeding, that is a federal grand jury investigation and subsequent criminal proceedings involving the defendant, Peter Gerace Jr."
He is also charged with a single count of distributing cocaine.
Cohen denied all of the charges and wondered whether the federal government's case against his client was in jeopardy.
"We are not at all surprised that the U.S. Attorney is attempting to bring additional charges now. It has become apparent that there's no direct evidence against Peter" that he is facing in June in court, Cohen said Saturday.
Gerace, owner of Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club, was arrested in February 2021 on the bribery, drug and human trafficking charges and was released on conditions that included meeting regularly with a federal probation officer and wearing an ankle monitor to track his movements.
Earlier this year, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi said he was worried about the safety of some of the witnesses who will testify in the upcoming trial of Gerace and retired U.S. Drug Enforcement Administrative Agent Joseph S. Bongiovanni.
About 100 people will testify at the trial, and there are safety concerns about “seven, eight or nine” of the witnesses, Tripi told U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. in January.
Tripi made no claims that anyone had been threatened, but said there were some witnesses who could face danger if local criminals – including those who have nothing to do with Bongiovanni or Gerace – found out they were cooperating with law enforcement.
Tripi told the judge that he hoped to keep some of the witnesses’ names secret from defense lawyers and the public past May 10, the date Sinatra has set for him to submit a witness list to the court. That would be roughly six weeks before the trial is scheduled to begin on June 21.
“Six weeks is a long time (for someone) to be whispered a name, and to be sent on a mission,” Tripi said.
Cohen and James P. Harrington, who represents Bongiovanni, told the judge they needed the names of witnesses and information on expected testimony as soon as possible, so they could prepare to defend their clients.
In January, Cohen criticized Tripi for suggesting witnesses could be in danger without offering proof. He said his client has never threatened any witness.
“He can’t just say it … that my client poses a danger,” Cohen said. “They have to show cause.”
Bongiovanni is accused of taking $250,000 in bribes to help protect Gerace and others whom prosecutors say he believed were associated with Italian organized crime from being investigated and arrested.
Gerace is accused of bribing Bongiovanni and conspiring to engage in drug trafficking and human trafficking at his strip club.
Bongiovanni was arrested in November 2019, five months after a raid at his Town of Tonawanda home. He had retired from the DEA after learning that he was under investigation.
News staff reporters Dan Herbeck and Ben Tsujimoto contributed to this report.
