Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - A jury has found Peter Gerace, owner of Pharaoh's Gentlemen's Club in Cheektowaga, guilty on 8-of-9 counts he faced in a federal trial against him for drug trafficking, sex trafficking and bribery, among other charges.
Gerace was officially found guilty of two counts of bribery - conspiracy to bribe a public official and bribery of a public official - maintaining a drug premise, conspiracy to distribute a multitude of drugs - meth, cocaine, Adderall, heroin and marijuana - conspiracy to commit sex trafficking, two counts of witness tampering and distribution of cocaine.
The most serious charges against Gerace are the conspiracies to commit sex and drug trafficking, and maintaining a drug-involved business at his club.
The two bribery counts against Gerace are related to former DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni, who was convicted by the same trial team of crimes that he committed also in connection with this case.
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The only count that Gerace was acquitted of was witness tampering.
"FBI and HSI agents, specifically, spent many years of their lives investigating this case and putting the proof together, along with the trial team, especially with lead prosecutor Joseph Tripi," said U.S. Attorney Trini Ross on Friday. "This was a lot of evidence to marshal and to pull together, because Peter Gerace did not want to be caught. He plans in place, including bribing a federal agent, to ensure that his scheme to distribute drugs, to commit sex trafficking would not be found. But he was wrong, because this dedicated trial team was able to marshal the evidence, connect the dots and prove the case."
"This case involved, essentially, the exploitation of women using drugs, other methods of coercion, to make it look like they were the ones who were choosing that lifestyle. But the defendant knew what he was doing. He knew the methods he was implementing to profit off of their trauma, and he did it over-and-over again for many, many years," added Tripi on Friday.
The jury in this case deliberated for nearly a week after more than seven weeks of testimony that included more than 40 witnesses, some of which were former exotic dancers of the club.
"Peter Gerace preyed upon some of the most vulnerable victims we have in this society. Those are people who are addicted to drugs, young women who were addicted to drugs. He used that to grow his business, he used that to make profits for his business. And today, he will no longer be able to do that. The truth is out, the verdict is in," Ross said.
Tripi adds it is the victims of this case who were brave, and deserve most of the credit when bringing Gerace to justice.
"While those women were being exploited year-after-year-after-year, some of whom we still don't even know the names of - the true names of - the defendant, was being protected by a corrupt federal agent. And he had other corrupt connections, to include a New York State Supreme Court judge who was also involved in the sex acts that were occurring at Pharaoh's," Tripi said. "I think this case strikes at the heart of everything that we're supposed to be investigating and prosecuting to the fullest extent, and we intend to continue to do that in cases like this."
Gerace faces the maximum sentence of life in prison for the sex trafficking conspiracy charge, while several of the other counts he's been found guilty of have a 20-year maximum sentence.
Sentencing for Gerace is scheduled for Aug. 15, 2025.