Federal prosecutors have raised the specter of witness intimidation, tampering and even an assassination of a judge as they seek limits on how defense attorneys can access and use evidence collected during the investigation into the death of a witness in the Pharaoh’s strip club case.
A 28-count superseding indictment unsealed Tuesday names six people – including Pharaoh's Gentlemen's Club owner Peter Gerace Jr. and Outlaws Motorcycle Club national leader John Ermin – as part of a conspiracy to obstruct justice by targeting a federal witness for retaliation.
A member of the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club and known associate of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club recently expressed his desire to see Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi and Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth Wolford executed during the trial of Pharaoh’s owner Peter Gerace Jr., according to a recent court filing by the government.
“The individual stated, while in Bureau of Prisons custody, he made connections with high-ranking members of organized crime, including ‘mafiosos’ and members of the Outlaws MC,” according to Cooper’s affidavit. “The individual stated that he felt like someone could engage in violence toward the prosecutor and/or Chief Judge Wolford, and specifically stated members of the Outlaws MC would attend the trial of Gerace.”
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As part of an investigation that led to a grand jury indictment of nine people, federal prosecutors are building a case against Gerace and three others they allege played a role in the drug overdose death of witness Crystal Quinn before she could testify at trial in Gerace’s separate bribery, sex- and drug-trafficking case.
The government now wants a “robust and nuanced protective order” to protect prospective witnesses.
“The government has legitimate fears of witness tampering and retaliation in this case,” according to an affidavit from Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Cooper, adding that defendants in the case include members or associates of international criminal organizations.
Prosecutors last month disclosed material to defense lawyers under an “attorneys’ eyes only” condition.
"It's the government's position that Crystal Quinn was murdered, and it was staged to look like an overdose," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Cooper said in court Thursday.
The material that would be covered by the protective order includes FBI and Homeland Security Investigations reports related to arrests, search warrants and surveillance as well as extractions from cellphones and electronic devices seized from the defendants. The material also includes DNA laboratory reports; jail calls between defendants and others; Quinn’s autopsy report and toxicology report; phone records of incoming and outgoing calls and text messages to and from defendants and witnesses; post-arrest interviews of certain defendants; video surveillance; and photos from search warrants.
The government’s proposed order would permit the defense lawyers to share the materials with their investigators and support staff as well as with the defendants. But the defense lawyers would not be allowed to provide the material to third parties, such as members or associates of the Outlaws or the Rare Breed Motorcycle Club, or use the members and associates “as agents” for the defendants.
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Police raided Peter Gerace Jr.’s Pharaoh’s Gentlemen's Club on Aero Drive in Cheektowaga in 2019 as part of an investigation into alleged sex- and drug-trafficking.
A 28-count superseding indictment unsealed earlier this year named six people as part of a conspiracy to obstruct justice, with four accused of retaliating against Quinn: Gerace; Outlaws national leader John Ermin, a manager of Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club in Cheektowaga; Simon Gogolack, who called 911 to report Quinn’s death in his home; and Wellsville resident Howard Hinkle Jr., among the last to be seen with Quinn. Three others named in the indictment face other charges – but not the obstruction or retaliation counts.
Attorney George V.C. Muscato, who represents Ermin, called the government’s proposal so overly broad that it would keep him from adequately preparing to defend Ermin at trial.
With 441 chapters in 43 countries all over the world – from Peru to Siberia to Australia to the United States – the Outlaws are widely considered one of the world’s largest and most dangerous motorcycle clubs.
“They repeatedly refer to the Outlaw Motorcycle Club as an organized criminal organization,” Muscato said of prosecutors in his court filing. “They do not get to walk into court and simply state as a matter of fact such to be same. How do I defend such a nefarious claim without engaging members of the club to respond to specific allegations as to the nature of the organization, nature of the allegations, those parties that may have participated in prior conduct?”
Muscato asked if a club member would become “my agent” by providing the names and addresses of those involved in any incident he’s investigating.
“I certainly should be entitled to review with members of the organization any allegations dealing with whether or not the Outlaw Motorcycle Club constitutes a criminal organization,” Muscato said in his filing. “This may very well involve this attorney or my investigator engaged in reviewing documents with club members.”
U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy has scheduled an oral argument for later this month on the protective order request.
Attorney Mark Foti, who with Eric Soehnlein represents Gerace, said in a court filing that if the government were truly concerned that disclosures would threaten witness safety, it would not have waited 157 days after the indictment to seek a protective order.
“Despite its claims to the contrary, the government is not proposing or advocating for a protective order that is primarily intended to protect witnesses,” Foti said in his court filing. “The government is seeking an order that attempts to improperly secure a strategic advantage over the defense.”
Prosecutors are not seeking to limit access of discovery to the defendants but instead want to limit information from being provided to the public, akin to a gag order, Foti said.
Rather than seek a blanket restriction on any and all discovery, the government could propose a list of specific items that it believes should be subject to a protective order, and the defense would likely agree as long as the list is reasonable, Foti said.
Foti said the government is trying to position itself as “the sole gatekeeper” as to what information is available to the public, noting prosecutors have been “clearly concerned” about public perception since Quinn’s death.
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Crystal Quinn had agreed to testify for the prosecution at the trial of Peter Gerace Jr. before she was found dead Aug. 1, 2023. Prosecutors believe she was murdered and her death was staged to look like an accidental overdose or suicide.
“After Crystal Quinn died, the government faced a number of bad headlines,” Foti said, particularly the mother of Quinn initially placing the blame for her daughter’s death on the government’s “extreme pressure” to get her to testify.
The overdose death of Quinn last summer sparked an investigation by the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office. And that investigation led to the January 2024 indictment against Gerace, Ermin, Gogolack and Hinkle on serious allegations of witness retaliation, witness tampering, obstruction of justice and drug charges among other offenses.
Gogolack faces a charge of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death. He’s the only defendant in the indictment to face that charge. On July 31 or Aug. 1, Gogolack intentionally gave Quinn fentanyl, which resulted in her death, according to the grand jury charge. Prosecutors have said she was found to have 400 times a lethal dose of the potent opioid drug.
Prosecutors anticipate calling about 75 witnesses during the trial, which has not yet been scheduled.
The government is concerned that disclosure of witness names, identities of victims and material extracted from seized electronic devices to the media or other third parties will create a dangerous and stressful situation for potential government witnesses.
“A potential witness may be labeled a ‘snitch,’ which, as the court knows, makes it inherently more difficult for the authorities to ensure witness safety, to ensure that witnesses appear at trial and do not attempt to avoid law enforcement efforts to serve them with a trial subpoena, and for witnesses and victims to live their life without fear or duress,” Cooper said in the government’s court filing.
The proposed protective order, Cooper said, includes “appropriately tailored provisions” to ensure that materials will not be inappropriately disseminated and used to expose, coerce, intimidate, threaten or retaliate against government witnesses.
The risks of disseminating the material at their worst would result in dead witnesses, far outweighing the “minimal restrictions” placed upon the defendants and their attorneys, Cooper said.
Cooper said law enforcement agencies consider the Outlaws to be a dangerous and violent criminal organization.
Several employees of Pharaoh’s, the strip club owned by Gerace, are members of the Outlaws, Cooper said.
Aside from Ermin, other defendants have ties to motorcycle clubs. Michael Roncone – facing obstruction of justice, firearms and false statement charges – was the Buffalo chapter vice president of the Rare Breed Motorcycle Club, an Outlaws support club, Cooper said.
Hinkle is a Rare Breed associate, he added.
Simon Gogolack, Howard Hinkle Jr. and John T. “Tommy O” Ermin each face witness tampering, retaliation and obstruction of justice conspiracy charges. All have pleaded not guilty. And all will remain jailed for now.
“I am especially concerned that at least some of the defendants will seek to employ a member of the Outlaws, Rare Breed Motorcycle Club, or an Outlaws support club as an agent of the defense team to circumvent provisions of the protective order,” Cooper said in the court filing.
What’s more, prosecutors say Gerace has been identified by law enforcement as a member or associate of Italian organized crime.
“The mafia has a well-documented history of intimidating and otherwise attempting to silence witnesses through violence and acts of violence, and/or retaliating against witnesses who have provided information to law enforcement, Cooper said.
During a detention hearing before Wolford last year, Tripi cited connections among the defendants in trying to keep Ermin in pretrial custody. Tripi sought to tie together Quinn’s March 9, 2023, grand jury appearance with Gerace’s eventual detention in the Pharaoh’s bribery and drug- and sex-trafficking case, and he also cited Gerace’s ties to Ermin and the motorcycle clubs, and the Rare Breed club’s links to Gogolack.
“We look back and say, standing here today, that she cooperated. She flipped,” Tripi said of Quinn at the Dec. 19 hearing. “She testified in grand jury. Gerace got detained. Gerace got mad. Gerace made statements that he could have people killed and had a long reach. And the manager of his club is the national president of the Outlaws, who controls legions of people, who has support clubs and puppet clubs under him, which includes the Rare Breed. And then someone who wants to be a hit man and hangs out with the Rare Breed in Wellsville injects himself back into her life and lures her and she overdoses and it is staged to look like (an accidental or suicidal) death.”
Patrick Lakamp can be reached at [email protected]
In this Series
Complete coverage: The death of federal witness Crystal Quinn
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Judge cites US Attorney's Office for 'willful violation of my order' in Pharaoh's witness retaliation case
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Fear of assassinations, witness retaliation sparks dispute over evidence in Gerace, Outlaws Motorcycle Club case
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In letter from jail, Gerace accuses feds of causing two witnesses to kill themselves
- 24 updates