The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
https://nypost.com/2019/01/02/james...-reichberg-guilty-in-nypd-corruption-scandal/
James Grant cleared, Jeremy Reichberg guilty in NYPD corruption scandal
By Kaja Whitehouse and Bruce Golding
January 2, 2019 | 11:12am | Updated January 2, 2019 | 12:09pm
A former NYPD cop was cleared of all charges Wednesday in a hooker-fueled corruption scheme, but his co-defendant — a former fundraiser for Mayor Bill de Blasio — was convicted on four of five counts.
A Manhattan federal jury sided with defense arguments that the evidence against ex-Deputy Inspector James Grant was too thin to find him guilty of accepting bribes in exchange for performing official favors.
But the seven-woman, five-man panel largely sided with prosecutors regarding Jeremy Reichberg, whose onetime pal Jona Rechnitz — also a former de Blasio donor — cooperated with the feds and spent nine days on the witness stand.
The verdicts capped a two-month trial that featured damning evidence of the lavish gifts Reichberg and Rechnitz showered on Grant and around a dozen other cops who weren’t indicted, including former Chief of Department Philip Banks.
Prosecutors alleged that the freebies — including a 2013 trip that Grant, Rechnitz, Reichberg and others took to Las Vegas on a private plane with a hooker dressed as a flight attendant — were payoffs for help obtaining pistol permits, parking placards and other official actions.
The defense maintained that the gifts were merely expressions of friendship that didn’t involve any illegal quid pro quo.
Both defendants were stone-faced as the verdicts were announced, after which Grant tried to console Reichberg by patting him on the back and telling him, “You’re going to be all right.”
Judge Gregory Woods set Reichberg’s sentencing for April 4.
Moments later, Grant and his lawyer emerged from the courtroom with tears in their eyes.
“No one knows. Not even my wife,” Grant said as he headed to the men’s room.
Defense lawyer John Meringolo — whose impassioned closing arguments prompted one juror to respond by repeatedly saying, “Bravo” — expressed gratitude while also blasting prosecutors for bringing the case.
“I want to thank the jury for their service and I’m happy that Jimmy gets to rebuild his life,” Meringolo said.
“I’m just happy for Jimmy and his family. What they put his family through was not nice.“
During closing arguments last month, prosecutor Kimberly Ravener said Reichberg and Rechnitz “paid their way into the center of power at 1 Police Plaza” and “had Jimmy Grant on retainer.”
Prosecutor Martin Bell also mocked Grant and Reichberg’s “friendship” defense by singing the 1978 tune, “Thank You for Being a Friend,” which later served as the theme song for the NBC sitcom “The Golden Girls.”
“This wasn’t a ‘Golden Girls’ friendship. This was bribery, plain and simple,” he insisted.
But Meringolo swayed the panel on Grant, at point gesturing toward his client and telling the jury, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re from here. We know bad cops. That’s not a bad cop!”
The verdicts came shortly after the start of the third day of deliberations and followed complaints last week from two female jurors who said the case had dragged on longer than they were told it would.
One woman said that “the anxiety is really getting to me,” while the other said she couldn’t continue deliberating past Friday because it would interfere with her vacation plans.
James Grant cleared, Jeremy Reichberg guilty in NYPD corruption scandal
By Kaja Whitehouse and Bruce Golding
January 2, 2019 | 11:12am | Updated January 2, 2019 | 12:09pm
A former NYPD cop was cleared of all charges Wednesday in a hooker-fueled corruption scheme, but his co-defendant — a former fundraiser for Mayor Bill de Blasio — was convicted on four of five counts.
A Manhattan federal jury sided with defense arguments that the evidence against ex-Deputy Inspector James Grant was too thin to find him guilty of accepting bribes in exchange for performing official favors.
But the seven-woman, five-man panel largely sided with prosecutors regarding Jeremy Reichberg, whose onetime pal Jona Rechnitz — also a former de Blasio donor — cooperated with the feds and spent nine days on the witness stand.
The verdicts capped a two-month trial that featured damning evidence of the lavish gifts Reichberg and Rechnitz showered on Grant and around a dozen other cops who weren’t indicted, including former Chief of Department Philip Banks.
Prosecutors alleged that the freebies — including a 2013 trip that Grant, Rechnitz, Reichberg and others took to Las Vegas on a private plane with a hooker dressed as a flight attendant — were payoffs for help obtaining pistol permits, parking placards and other official actions.
The defense maintained that the gifts were merely expressions of friendship that didn’t involve any illegal quid pro quo.
Both defendants were stone-faced as the verdicts were announced, after which Grant tried to console Reichberg by patting him on the back and telling him, “You’re going to be all right.”
Judge Gregory Woods set Reichberg’s sentencing for April 4.
Moments later, Grant and his lawyer emerged from the courtroom with tears in their eyes.
“No one knows. Not even my wife,” Grant said as he headed to the men’s room.
Defense lawyer John Meringolo — whose impassioned closing arguments prompted one juror to respond by repeatedly saying, “Bravo” — expressed gratitude while also blasting prosecutors for bringing the case.
“I want to thank the jury for their service and I’m happy that Jimmy gets to rebuild his life,” Meringolo said.
“I’m just happy for Jimmy and his family. What they put his family through was not nice.“
During closing arguments last month, prosecutor Kimberly Ravener said Reichberg and Rechnitz “paid their way into the center of power at 1 Police Plaza” and “had Jimmy Grant on retainer.”
Prosecutor Martin Bell also mocked Grant and Reichberg’s “friendship” defense by singing the 1978 tune, “Thank You for Being a Friend,” which later served as the theme song for the NBC sitcom “The Golden Girls.”
“This wasn’t a ‘Golden Girls’ friendship. This was bribery, plain and simple,” he insisted.
But Meringolo swayed the panel on Grant, at point gesturing toward his client and telling the jury, “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re from here. We know bad cops. That’s not a bad cop!”
The verdicts came shortly after the start of the third day of deliberations and followed complaints last week from two female jurors who said the case had dragged on longer than they were told it would.
One woman said that “the anxiety is really getting to me,” while the other said she couldn’t continue deliberating past Friday because it would interfere with her vacation plans.