In a blow to the defense, U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. ruled Tuesday that he would not suppress evidence seized during the 2019 searches of Peter Gerace Jr.’s home and his business, Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club in Cheektowaga.
Gerace’s defense counsel contended the judge should suppress the evidence because of misrepresentations and omissions in the search warrant application.
But Sinatra denied the defense motion in full.
The Constitution protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. But Sinatra said that after examining the search warrant application and considering Gerace’s arguments, he could not conclude that the search warrant “exhibited deliberate, reckless or grossly negligent disregard for Gerace’s Fourth Amendment rights.”
“Gerace presents no credible and probative evidence that any omission or misstatement was designed to mislead or was made in reckless disregard of whether it would mislead,” Sinatra said in his ruling.
Gerace’s lawyers could not be reached for comment.
Federal authorities have charged Gerace with bribing a federal agent and conspiring to engage in drug trafficking and human trafficking at Pharaoh’s. Gerace’s co-defendant, Joseph Bongiovanni, a former Drug Enforcement Administration agent, faces charges that he accepted $250,000 in bribes from drug dealers and provided them with information about investigations and cooperating sources.
Gerace and Bongiovanni are scheduled to stand trial together beginning Aug. 14.
Most court documents from the prosecution and defense in this case are filed under seal, and even Gerace’s lawyers have seen only a redacted version of the search warrant application for the November 2019 searches of his home and business.
So Sinatra’s written ruling offered a pretrial glimpse of the breadth of the federal government’s witnesses against Gerace.
The application to search Gerace’s home and Pharaoh’s consisted of a 41-page affidavit containing…
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