Ex-judge weary of process as retrial begins on federal corruption charges

Bill Gang

Wednesday, Oct. 14, 1998 | 4:01 a.m.

Former District Judge Gerard Bongiovanni sighed heavily as he pondered today's beginning of his retrial on federal corruption charges, knowing that even if he wins, it will heap further devastation on his life.

His first trial nearly a year ago ended in a hung jury that reportedly was leaning toward acquittal, and Bongiovanni said Tuesday he had hoped that federal prosecutors "would see by now that there was nothing there."

The case was based to a great extent on the testimony of Bongiovanni's one-time buddy Paul Dottore, who claimed he repeatedly paid off the judge on behalf of friends for judicial favors, and on nearly two years of FBI wiretaps.

But there were no smoking guns in the wiretaps connecting Bongiovanni to bribes, and jurors haven't found Dottore, a federal felon, to be believable.

Even if he is acquitted -- and he believes he will be -- Bongiovanni said he knows he will have to struggle to rebuild a law practice that he had to set aside when his trial took precedence. There also will be a pile of legal fees to pay.

"My life has been on hold for three years," he said.

When charges were filed in April 1996, Bongiovanni, 52, was automatically suspended from his judicial position. He lost his bid for re-election the following year with the taint of the criminal allegations hanging over his head.

Once an gregarious judge, Bongiovanni lamented, "My family life is so different now. I'm obsessed with working on this, and I don't spend time talking to my (two) kids. They've become like me, more withdrawn, but we do the best we can."

He said he is up against prosecutors he believes are "overzealous" and motivated by the need to preserve their careers in light of the hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars spent to investigate and prosecute him.

"I think they know deep down there is no case there," Bongiovanni said. "But I think that now they are so far into it that a lot of careers are on the line, and they are doing it for personal reasons. God knows how much money they spent on the investigation."

First Assistant U.S. Attorney Howard Zlotnick, however, has said his office believes in the evidence against Bongiovanni and feels an obligation to present it to a second jury. He said that often a jury at a retrial will see the facts differently and convict.

Prosecutors also have evidence that $500 in marked money -- passed to Dottore through a friend who was an FBI informant in October 1995 -- was found in Bongiovanni's pocket when agents searched his home.

Bongiovanni said it appears the approach of prosecutors at the retrial will be to pare down the evidence and "present a skeleton case that leaves everything to the jurors' imaginations and hope they believe the worst."

Dottore had befriended Bongiovanni -- becoming one of his closest friends and bowling buddies -- and according to wiretap evidence, then used that friendship to obtain minor favors for friends, such as reductions in traffic tickets.

Dottore was caught on wiretaps soliciting money for the favors, and he testified that he passed portions of the money to Bongiovanni. But the wiretaps didn't support that portion of Dottore's story, and the jury at Bongiovanni's trial did not vote to convict.

Defense attorney Thomas Pitaro said the jury was deadlocked at 10-2 in favor of acquittal.

Bongiovanni said that makes 34 of 36 jurors who couldn't believe Dottore: 12 who convicted Dottore at his trial for bank fraud for stealing $100,000 from a dead man's bank account, 12 who acquitted Las Vegas Strip show producer Jeff Kutash a year ago of bribing Bongiovanni and 10 of the 12 at Bongiovanni's own trial.

"I don't know of anything that is going to change," Bongiovanni said.

Although Bongiovanni testified at his trial that Dottore lied about the bribes being funneled to the judge, he said Tuesday that he believes Dottore won't and can't change his tune even if he wanted to.

"He has no choice but to continue his story," Bongiovanni said. "He couldn't tell the truth if he wanted to because if he tells the truth he will be charged with perjury."

Dottore testified at Kutash's trial that he collected $5,000 from the producer of the "Splash" show at the Riviera hotel-casino to pass to Bongiovanni for a favorable ruling.

Kutash adamantly denied it at his trial, which had been billed by prosecutors as a preview of the Bongiovanni trial.

The jury, however, didn't buy the package and acquitted Kutash of all charges.

Kutash didn't testify at Bongiovanni's first trial because of a stress-related ailment, and he won't testify at the retrial, which is expected to last about two weeks in U.S. District Judge Lloyd George's courtroom.

Although both sides say they want him to testify, the producer left the United States for Europe before being served with a subpoena and is not expected to return until after the trial has ended.

While Bongiovanni said he hopes he will be acquitted, he knows another hung jury is possible.

If that occurs, he said he expects there will be a third trial.

"I think they are obsessed with my case," he said.