BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — The case against a former DEA agent accused of taking bribes in exchange for protecting a suspected marijuana trafficker and a Cheektowaga strip club owner is drawing to an end.
WATCH RELATED: Bribery case against former DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni begins
On Tuesday, lawyers on both sides presented their closing arguments. U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Vilardo is expected to give instructions to the jurors Wednesday morning and after that, they'll have the case.
Joseph Bongiovanni is accused of taking $276,000 in bribes while working as a DEA agent.
In exchange, he's charged with providing information and protecting people associated with "Italian Organized Crime."
Vilardo banned lawyers from using the word "mafia" during the trial. But that's the implication.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi showed jurors during his nearly four-hour closing statement a card box marked "DEA Evidence." He said it was found when Bongiovanni's basement was searched.
He said inside investigators found a thick file folder containing documents from what Tripi said was a sham investigation into Robert Serio, a suspected marijuana trafficker. Using the fake investigation, Bongiovanni allegedly was able to keep tabs on who was looking into Serio and his associates.
Tripi said Bongiovanni was motivated by his respect for Italian Organized Crime members from his old neighborhood in North Buffalo and that he was also having financial trouble.
But Bongiovanni's lawyers in their closing statement said there's no evidence Bongiovanni took bribes and that investigators never found the money he allegedly took. They said Bongiovanni took the box with the old file home with him right before he retired because he knew there was a case being built against him and he wanted to protect himself.
Attorney Robert Singer in his two-hour statement told jurors that if Bongiovanni was trying to hide something, he would have burned the files instead.
