If you buy the argument that former DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni is tied to the Buffalo mafia, it might be because of his boyhood relationship with Peter Gerace.
Gerace is the operator of Pharaoh's, the Cheektowaga strip club raided by federal agents Thursday, and the nephew of Joseph Todaro Jr.
For years, the FBI maintained the Todaro family – Todaro and his late father, Joseph Todaro Sr. – headed the local mob, but investigators never proved that allegation.
Federal prosecutors stopped short of tying Bongiovanni directly to the mob but, in his Nov. 5 indictment, made several references to "Italian organized crime."
When federal agents followed up by raiding Pharaoh's, two sources said the raid indicates prosecutors suspect there may be a link to the mob.
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On Friday, Gerace's lawyer dismissed that notion.
"Anyone who would suggest my client is connected to organized crime doesn't know him," said defense attorney Joel L. Daniels.
In addition, a lawyer who knows both Todaro and Gerace said the government's efforts to link the two is based on groundless allegations.
Two other sources who know Gerace said he and Bongiovanni go back decades, and that Gerace is "co-conspirator 1," a reference found repeatedly in the 11-count indictment against Bongiovanni.
The indictment does not mention Gerace or Pharaoh's by name but claims co-conspirator 1 called Bongiovanni from a Cheektowaga strip club he ran when one of his strippers overdosed on drugs.
Bongiovanni, according to the government, advised co-conspirator 1 to "get her out" of the club.
After his retirement from the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bongiovanni was interviewed and asked about his relationship with co-conspirator 1 and the former agent described him as a boyhood friend, according to the indictment.
"I would sometimes randomly encounter (him) at a restaurant or golf outing and have not made plans to meet him socially in several years," he said at the time.
Gerace is not charged at all but his brother, Anthony, is facing drug and firearms charges in a separate federal prosecution. Both cases are based on Homeland Security Investigations.
Anthony Gerace was indicted after federal agents searched his home in Clarence Center in January and found two hockey bags stuffed with marijuana, 14 firearms and $103,000 in cash, according to court papers.
When asked if Anthony Gerace's case is connected to Bongiovanni, Thomas J. Eoannou, his defense lawyer, said, "My client's charges stand alone in a separate indictment."
The court-ordered search of Pharaoh's on Aero Drive followed the indictment accusing Bongiovanni of taking $250,000 in bribes from drug dealers.
In return, according to prosecutors, he provided information on DEA investigations and the identity of cooperating sources. They also claim that he believed the drug dealers he was dealing with were tied to the Buffalo mafia.
He is also charged with creating fake investigations so that information, including the identity of cooperating sources, would be funneled his way.
Investigated by Homeland Security, FBI and the Justice Department's Inspector General Office, Bongiovanni is charged with conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, obstruction of justice, making false statements to a federal agency and taking a bribe as a public official.
Bongiovanni, 55, of Tonawanda, has pleaded not guilty.
When asked about the allegation that Bongiovanni has ties to the mob, defense attorney Paul J. Cambria Jr. said he has heard those type of charges before.
"It makes for great press," he said at the time. "I've been hearing that for all the years I've been practicing. There's no basis for it."
After the Pharaoh's raid, Cambria said the raid may be part of the government's efforts at linking Peter Gerace to the conspiracy outlined in the charges against his client.
Cambria called the government's conspiracy allegations groundless and noted that the government is also trying to remove him from the case, claiming he has a conflict of interest.
NYS Police have blocked off the entrance to Pharoahs Gentlemen's Club on Aero Drive in Cheektowaga while other law enforcement search in and around the premises. pic.twitter.com/y1CAshuPVY
— Harold McNeil (@HaroldMcNeilBN) December 12, 2019
The U.S. Attorney's Office and Homeland Security Investigations have declined comment on the raid except to confirm that Homeland Security was at the scene of Pharaoh's on Thursday.
Bongiovanni, a former Erie County sheriff's deputy, was released on a $250,000 bond and ordered to limit his travel to Erie and Niagara counties.
News Staff Reporter Dan Herbeck contributed to this report.
