U.S. Asks Kerik’s Judge to Send a Stern Message
By SAM DOLNICK
Federal prosecutors on Monday painted a damning portrait of Bernard B. Kerik, the former New York City police commissioner, as a corrupt official whose “egotism and hubris” led him to commit crimes that would upgrade his lifestyle.
The allegations were laid out in a 61-page memo sent to Judge Stephen C. Robinson of Federal District Court in White Plains recommending that he sentence Mr. Kerik to a term that “sends an unmistakable message” about public officials who break the law.
In November, Mr. Kerik pleaded guilty to eight felony charges, including tax fraud and lying to White House officials. Under a plea agreement, both sides recommended that he serve 27 to 33 months in prison. Judge Robinson is scheduled to sentence Mr. Kerik on Feb. 18.
Mr. Kerik’s defense team filed a memo on Monday requesting leniency, and asked the judge to consider Mr. Kerik’s “extraordinary and meteoric rise from truly humble origins wrought with hardship.”
Mr. Kerik’s lawyer, Michael F. Bachner, filed dozens of letters attesting to Mr. Kerik’s character, many of them from retired police officials who worked alongside him.
Former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, who launched Mr. Kerik’s career by naming him police commissioner and recommended him as the Bush administration’s nominee to lead the Department of Homeland Security, did not submit a letter on his behalf.
The defense memo described a strikingly different man from the unscrupulous figure outlined by prosecutors. Mr. Kerik’s lawyers praised his “extraordinary public service,” and said his legal troubles had left him “tormented by daily guilt and remorse” and “plagued by enormous debt and mounting legal fees.”
Hector J. Santiago, a retired police detective who worked with Mr. Kerik in the late 1980s, wrote that Mr. Kerik had taught him “discipline, honor and integrity,” and was “one of the toughest guys on the team, yet he always treated people with compassion and respect.”
While the defense memo focused on Mr. Kerik’s dramatic biography — he has written that his mother was a prostitute who abandoned him — the prosecutors’ memo reviews in detail Mr. Kerik’s crimes.
Besides tax fraud and lying to White House officials, Mr. Kerik sent city police officers to Ohio to conduct research for his 2001 memoir, “The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit of Justice.” The prosecutors pointedly quote a passage from the book that describes Mr. Kerik’s pride in receiving the commissioner’s gold shield.
Much of the case against Mr. Kerik is connected to the $250,000 in renovations to his home in Riverdale, in the Bronx, which included a Jacuzzi in the master bathroom, a designer kitchen and a marble-tiled entry rotunda.
Their memo also discussed the character and personality of Mr. Kerik, a brash and commanding man who led the Police Department through the 9/11 attacks with a tough-guy charm that won him admirers and critics alike.
“The defendant’s egotism and hubris were the tragic flaws that led him to commit the considerable number of crimes to which he ultimately pleaded guilty,” the memo said. Mr. Kerik “became a wealthy man by shamelessly exploiting the most horrific civilian tragedy in this nation’s history.”
6 comments:
As Hector J. Santiago a retired detective declared Bernard Kerick was a good person. He used to work with him and Kerick treated his team works respectful. Based on the Biography of Kerick, his defense project a good view of Herick as a good person.This is difference between white collar crimes and other crimes as murders, arson rape and so one. The persons who committed white color crimes always have a different view in the society. All of them have deserved their sentence for any kind of crimes they are committed.J.E 9722.
It is just a shame. I cannot fathom as to why he would abuse his power for his own gain. It was once said - With great power comes great responsibility - We can only imagine what Kerik would have done if he focused more on the people he served rather than fulfill his own agenda. cg7304
Mr. Kerik deserved whatever time the Judge sentence him to. So what, his mother was a prostitute who alledgedly abandoned him. That didn't stop him from being a decorated police officer. Thus, Mr. Kerik decided to allowed greed to steer him in the direction of corruption. And now, it's steering him to the BIG house. Bye, Bye Bernie. SJS- 5514
Ok...what about all those other people, especially people of color, who are indicted for their greed and corrupt behavior? Should they be pardoned, given leniency and/or their behavior ignored? Does their social standing give justifiable reason for their actions? I don't think so!!!!
Anonymous5223
It doesn't matter the type of authority an individual has-If you do the crime,you definitely have to do the time-point blank simple.
Another article about people in higher grounds doing corrupt things and getting caught. It will never end. SJC 1687
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