Last week a federal judge declared a mistrial in the murder case against criminal defense lawyer Paul Bergrin after the jury couldn't agree on whether the attorney whacked a witness against one of his clients, and yesterday prosecutors announced their intent to try Bergin "on a litany of other charges" as reported by Jason Grant for The Star-Ledger: "those 31 counts include charges of witness tampering, murder-for-hire, cocaine trafficking, the filing of false tax returns and running a high-end prostitution ring."
Bergrin was convicted in May 2009 in another case involving a Manhattan brothel as reported by The Associated Press: "He was accused of taking over an escort service after the 2005 arrest of its founder – one of his law clients." The Manhattan District Attorney had accused Bergrin of using the whore house "to offer sexual favors to unnamed New Jersey law enforcement officers and jail guards – people who were in a position to keep him informed about what inmates might be planning to cooperate against his clients" as reported by David Kocieniewski for The New York Times.
IIn November 2010 Michael Catapano, the nephew of reputed Colombo underboss John "Sonny" Franzese, got 6 1/2 years in prison on an extortion conviction, and in sentencing him Brooklyn federal judge Brian Cogan also found that the gangster "had participated in a plot to influence a witness suspected of cooperating against mobbed-up lawyer Paul Bergrin in a prostitution and money laundering case" as reported by John Marzulli for the Daily News.
Further coverage: "The Baddest Lawyer in the History of Jersey" by Mark Jacobson for New York Magazine
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