A former Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club employee faces three counts of witness tampering over accusations she assaulted a witness in a sex- and drug-trafficking investigation targeting Peter Gerace Jr., owner of the Cheektowaga strip club.
A criminal complaint against Jessica Leyland identifies her as a “longtime and loyal associate” of Gerace.
The federal investigation also established her as someone who distributed cocaine at Pharaoh’s and elsewhere, and she was charged with five counts of possession with intent to distribute cocaine, according to a court document.
In July 2019, after the witness provided information to investigators about Gerace, Leyland reportedly approached the witness at a local restaurant/bar and said she heard the witness was “talking to the feds” and asked the witness “what the (expletive) is wrong with you?”
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Leyland then reportedly told the witness, “I’m going to (expletive) kill you” while placing the witness in a headlock, according to an affidavit from Thomas V. Weis, a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, filed with the criminal complaint.
Someone at the establishment saw Leyland “actively assaulting” the witness, according to the filing.
“Shortly after speaking with federal agents, it appears that the victim’s cooperation with federal agents was discovered and the victim was assaulted by Leyland,” according to the court filing.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer granted a government motion to detain Leyland after hearing other information from prosecutors last week, as well. Roemer noted that the government said Leyland steered possible witnesses in the Gerace case to talk to a lawyer for Gerace, and that if they did not meet with the counsel, she would spread rumors that they were cooperating with the government.
Prosecutors also told Roemer that this year, two additional potential witnesses in the Gerace case contacted the government about Leyland contacting them and making them nervous about testifying and cooperating in the investigation.
“Witness tampering attacks the very heart of our justice system,” Roemer wrote in his detention order. “The court finds that as the Gerace trial nears, there is a serious risk that this defendant will make further attempts to threaten, injure or intimidate prospective witnesses, and that no condition or combination of conditions of release will reasonably assure that this won’t happen.”
Federal authorities have accused Gerace of bribing Joseph Bongiovanni, at the time a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, and conspiring to engage in drug- and sex-trafficking at the Cheektowaga strip club. Gerace’s charges include maintaining Pharaoh’s as a drug-involved premises where vulnerable young women were exploited through their drug addictions and coerced into engaging in commercial sex acts.
Prosecutors have charged the now-retired Bongiovanni with accepting $250,000 in bribes from drug dealers whom he thought were associated with Italian organized crime and shielding them from arrest, as well as providing them with information about investigations and cooperating sources.
In March, three charges of witness tampering were lodged against Gerace that accused him of sending threatening Facebook messages to a potential witness against him.
Both Bongiovanni and Gerace have pleaded not guilty. Their trial is scheduled to begin in January.
Leyland operates a company called Extraordinaire Entertainment, according to court papers, although a website for the company spells it Xtradinare Entertainment. Law enforcement agents said Leyland provides stag party services and often distributes cocaine at the parties through her company, according to the court filing.
The company’s website identifies Leyland as “one of the most entertaining and respected dancers since 2008” who was known as Charm.
“Additionally, law enforcement has learned that various women, who are often addicted to, or unlawfully use controlled substances, work for Leyland and provide ‘extras’ to men at stag parties,” according to the filing. “The extras include commercial sex acts during stag parties through Leyland and her stag company.”
An undercover law enforcement agent called the number for the company and discussed having a stag party with Leyland, as well as asking about how to obtain drugs from her, according to the court filing.
“As a result, Leyland ‘middled’ a drug transaction by placing the undercover law enforcement in contact with a cocaine supplier,” according to the filing.
At a hearing Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis Testani identified the supplier as Andrew Clements, calling him “the first person she thinks of” when she was asked by the undercover agent about how to get drugs for the stag party. Clements faces four narcotics charges similar to what Leyland faces.
During a search of Clements’ home and vehicle, authorities found “pounds of marijuana,” packaged cocaine, six unserialized and untraceable firearms, and thousands of rounds of ammunition, Testani said.
At the detention hearing for Clements, Roemer agreed with Clements’ defense attorney, Paul M. Michalek Jr., that Clements not be jailed as his case winds through court but wear an ankle monitor on home confinement after he gets in-patient drug treatment.
Roemer noted that he did not hear any evidence linking Clements to the Pharaoh’s criminal case involving Gerace and Bongiovanni.
Testani said there was “no tampering with witnesses” by Clements, but added agents found a Pharaoh’s VIP card during their search of Clements’ property.
Leyland’s lawyer did not reply to a request for comment.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi has said the government is dealing with some vulnerable witnesses, and that is why prosecutors have been concerned about the number of times the trial has been delayed and by the extensive media coverage the case has generated.
Since January, when the government began producing evidence to the defense, acts of witness tampering have increased, Tripi said in a court filing last month.
Victims and witnesses in the case have reported multiple instances of witness tampering, Tripi said. He has cited two incidents involving dead rats placed at a residence associated with a potential government witness.
