Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Peter Gerace, Jr. is suing two south Florida newspapers for reporting he was part of a crime family in connection with his arrest in Florida. Gerace is the owner of Pharaoh's Gentlemen's Club in Cheektowaga.
Gerace's attorney says when Peter was arrested in Fort Lauderdale in 2021, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel and Miami Herald continually referred to him as a leader of an organized crime family. There is no proof of this. "The notion that Peter Gerace is a member of "Italian Organized Crime", otherwise known as "The Mafia" or "La Cosa Nostra" is repugnant to my client, and to me, and should be to all of us," said Steven M. Cohen. "Peter runs his business in strict accordance with the law, and in complete transparency. When these newspapers used false, sensational and derogatory terms to describe my client, it not only damaged Peter and his family, but it damaged the integrity of journalists as professionals."
Cohen says on March 1, 2021, the South Florida Sun Sentinel article described Gerace as being "a top figure in one of the nation's most notorious crime families". The next day, a headline in the Miami Herald article accused Gerace of being an "alleged New York crime family leader". He notes there are three separate references describing Gerace as "a top member of an alleged New York crime family".
Cohen says the articles have led to lost revenue for Gerace's nightclub "due to the loss of customers who no longer frequent (it) and the loss of employees, who will no longer work for (Gerace's) business." The suit also claims Gerace's son has been forced to see a psychologist because he's been subjected to harassment and ridicule at school.
