BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A federal jury heard opening statements Wednesday in the trial of strip club owner Peter Gerace Jr.
Gerace, the owner of Pharaoh’s Gentleman’s Club in Cheektowaga, is facing charges of sex and cocaine trafficking, bribing a public official and tampering with a witness.
His case is intertwined with that of former DEA Agent Joseph Bongiovanni who was found guilty of multiple federal felonies.
In October, Bongiovanni was found guilty on seven of the 11 counts brought against him. The verdict came after Bongiovanni was found guilty in April on two of the 15 counts brought against him in the first trial. You can watch our previous report below and read more here.
Gerace’s case has drawn wide attention, in part because he is the grandson of the late Joseph Todaro who was the owner of La Nova Pizzeria.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi told jurors in his opening statement that Todaro was the reputed head of an Italian Organized Crime Organization in Buffalo. U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Vilardo banned prosecutors from using the word “Mafia” during both Gerace and Bongiovanni’s cases. Todaro was never convicted of any crime.
Tripi outlined the government’s case against Gerace in a nearly two-hour opening statement Wednesday.
He said Gerace got rich by coercing young vulnerable women who were dancers at Pharaoh’s to have sex with powerful and high-paying customers by giving them cocaine and pills, which fueled their addiction.
Tripi also said Gerace and Bongiovanni were childhood friends and that Bongiovanni shielded him and his club from investigations by law enforcement in exchange for bribes.
And after Bongiovanni was arrested and couldn’t protect him anymore, Tripi said, Gerace tried to intimidate a witness against him.
The defense laid out a very different picture of Gerace.
They acknowledged that strip clubs aren’t exactly the most family-friendly places.
“It’s not a middle school dance,” attorney Eric Soehnlein told jurors during his statement which was a little over a half hour.
They said Pharaoh’s is no different than any other strip club in America and that Gerace made money through cover charges and liquor – not cocaine and sex.
Defense attorneys also scoffed at the reference to the Mafia.
“That belongs on the History Channel,” Soehnlein said.
The trial is expected to take as long as two months.
