Legal Commentary

Ex-Federal Prosecutor Indicted for Ordering Hit on Witness

By Jeralyn

This is quite a story. Paul Bergrin, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney in New Jersey (whose father was a police officer) has spent the past several years defending gang members and drug dealers. He pleaded guilty to running an escort service. Apparently, he was also under federal investigation.

Now he's got much bigger troubles. A federal grand jury in New Jersey has indicted him for racketeering and ordering the murders of two snitches who planned to testify against his clients. The charges also include witness tampering and mortgage fraud.

"The conduct alleged is simply shocking," said Ralph Marra, the acting New Jersey U.S. attorney. "A licensed lawyer, a former prosecutor, essentially became one of the criminals he represents."

Bergrin, a one-time lieutenant to self-proclaimed "King of All Pimps" Jason Itzler, had a government informant gunned down in an attempt to derail a federal case against one of his drug-dealer clients, prosecutors say.

In the second murder attempt, [More...]

Bergrin, who was an assistant New Jersey U.S. attorney from 1985 to 1990, also is accused of trying to hire a Chicago hitman last year to kill a "rat" known as Junior the Panamanian. "Paul Bergrin met with the hit man and instructed the hit man to make the murder of Junior the Panamanian appear as if it were part of a home invasion robbery rather than the execution of a witness," the indictment charged.

The "hit man" turned out to be a confidential informant.

It doesn't seem like Bergrin was expecting the indictment. He was arrested at home. He's got a great lawyer, New York's Gerald Shargel:

His lawyer, Gerald Shargel, said Bergrin planned to plead not guilty. "These are very serious charges, and we will mount a serious defense," he said.

Bergrin's had some famous clients along the way:

His clients have included Queen Latifah, rap mogul Lil' Kim and Javal Sean Davis, a soldier convicted of mistreating detainees at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison.

Shargel may have his work cut out for him, but it also seems like the government's case rests on informants who agreed to help snare Bergrin after being busted (and in one case convicted) for their own misdeeds. I assume they have Bergrin on tape ordering hits on witnesses, but perhaps he was role-playing for one misguided reason or another. Time will tell. The indictment contains merely charges, not evidence, and Bergrin is presumed innocent.

Update: From the New York Times:

Law enforcement officials said that unlike many of the cases Mr. Bergrin is accused of trying to tamper with, which hinged on the testimony of a single witness, the charges against Mr. Bergrin and his four co-defendants were pieced together using a wide assortment of documents, recorded conversations and testimony from numerous witnesses.

Testimony, if its from snitches and cooperators, and recorded conversations, if merely with snitches and cooperators, aren't impressive. The documents, on the other hand, depending on what they are, could be. I'll have more after I track down and read the indictment.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on May 21, 2009 (boomark / email).