BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A 24-year veteran of the Amherst Police Department, Detective Gregory Trotter, has been arrested and charged with a federal crime.
In a criminal complaint, filed in United States District Court, the FBI claims Trotter made false statements, when questioned by authorities, about his connection to Peter Gerace, Jr.
Gerace, Jr., the owner of Pharaoh’s Gentleman’s Club in Cheektowaga, was indicted back in 2021 for allegedly paying bribes to a former federal agent to avoid criminal investigations and prosecution.
He's also facing charges of maintaining a drug-involved premises, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
Gerace, Jr., according to this latest criminal complaint, "...has substantial contacts in law enforcement, including at the federal, state and local level, and with members of the judiciary."
"The investigation has further determined that Gerace has at times attempted to improperly leverage these relationships," agents explain.
Gerace is the nephew of Joseph A. Todaro, who the government has accused of running the Buffalo mob. Todaro has always denied the claim, which has never been proven in court.
According to the complaint, Trotter is one law enforcement officer with whom Gerace had a relationship.
Trotter was interviewed about that relationship on September 30, 2022.
In the interview, "Trotter made a series of materially false, fraudulent, and fictitious statements that attempted to minimize his relationship with Gerace..." the complaint says.
An FBI agent explains, Trotter told him:
"I think my last interaction with [Gerace] was Jan of 2017."
But the complaint says Trotter knew that statement was false. Agents explain, "Trotter had provided Gerace with his personal cellphone number in December 2018 and...had been in communication with Gerace...in 2019, including arranging social encounters..."
Gerace had his cell phone seized by the federal government on April 27, 2019.
According to the complaint, cell phone data shows "...consistent communications between Trotter and Gerace from December 20, 2018, when Trotter texted Gerace thereby providing Gerace with Trotter's new phone number, until April 17, 2019..."
All of this came to light after Gerace filed a police report with Amherst Police, regarding a stolen watch, in March 2019.
Gerace told police his watch was stolen by someone "who is a former employee of [Pharaoh's Gentleman's Club] and former intimate partner of Gerace who previously resided with Gerace for a period of time."
The complaint says Gerace made the report in person at the police department.
That person was arrested on April 9.
But after that person was arrested, "a supervisor at the local police department, who does not have a relationship with Gerace, assessed that the [person] had information that would potentially be relevant to federal agents."
That unnamed person was interviewed by the federal agents.
Agents say, that person gave them information pertinent to the investigation into Gerace and Pharaoh's Gentleman's Club.
But after speaking with the feds, the complaint says that person was assaulted by a former employee of Pharaoh's Gentleman's Club and loyal friend of Gerace, Jessica Leyland.
Leyland has been charged with witness tampering in connection to the unnamed person's assault.
Leyland told the unnamed person "I'm going to f****** kill you," according to the complaint.
"The [unnamed person] could not figure out how, and did know know, how Leyland was aware of the fact that [the unnamed person] spoke with federal agents," the complaint explains.
But according to the complaint, the relationship between Gerace and Trotter was exposed, during the FBI's investigation into how Leyland knew that unnamed person was cooperating with federal agents.
Trotter appeared in federal court on Tuesday. He was released because the government did not ask for detention. He was ordered to turn over his guns and surrender his passport.
Amherst police tell 7 News I-Team investigator Ed Drantch, Trotter has been suspended from duty with pay. It's unclear how long he'll be suspended.
"The Amherst Police Department is aware that a federal complaint has been filed in US District Court involving Gregory Trotter, an Amherst Police Detective. Subsequently, Gregory Trotter has been put on paid administrative leave."
Last year, Trotter was paid $128,157, according to SeeThroughNY.
Trotter is due back in court on December 20.
In 2016, Trotter was honored for his service as a School Resource Officer at Sweet Home Schools. In a Facebook post, Amherst Police write:
During his time as the SRO he provided support to the principals and school counselors as they work to promote a safe learning environment for students, and spent the majority of his day interacting with students to provide counsel and support on a variety of youth issues.
Feds allege ties to Buffalo Mob
Trotter's federal crime charge only points to a much larger ongoing federal investigation.
It began in 2019 with Joseph Bongiovanni, a federal agent with the DEA, who was supposed to stop the flow of drugs in Western New York.
Federal prosecutors said that did not happen and Bongiovanni was accused of taking at least $250,000 in bribes to protect drug traffickers.
The indictment states Bongiovanni's friends included "individuals he believed to be members of, connected to, or associated with Italian Organized Crime (IOC) in the Western District of New York and elsewhere.”
One of Bongiovanni's federal charges is tied to Gerace. In 2021, Gerace was indicted for paying bribes to protect his business from a federal narcotics investigation.
Gerace is also the nephew of Joseph Todaro who has been accused by federal agents of being the leader of the Buffalo Mob.
SEE ALSO: Federal investigation of Buffalo mob resurgence heats up with new indictment
In 2022, Michael Masecchia, a former Buffalo school teacher was sentenced following his guilty plea to drug and weapons charges. Bongiovanni is alleged to have taken a quarter of a million dollars in bribes from Masecchia.
Gerace's jury trial is set to begin next month.
