BUFFALO, N.Y. — The trial date for Peter Gerace and Joseph Bongiovanni is now set for January 8 of next year after the two appeared in federal court Wednesday afternoon.
The owner of Pharaoh's Gentlemen's Club and the former DEA agent are both facing several charges and have pleaded not guilty.
In federal court Wednesday afternoon, where cameras are not allowed, Judge Lawrence Vilardo agreed to allow Gerace to fire attorney Steven Cohen and hire attorneys Eric Soehnlein and Mark Foti. Gerace's new legal team asked for more time to prepare for the trial and for it to be moved from October to sometime next year.
Prosecutors opposed that request, but the judge agreed to a new trial date for both defendants of January 8, 2024.
Gerace, who owns Pharaoh's Gentlemen's Club, has been in custody since March when he was charged with witness tampering. In 2021, he was charged with drug and sex trafficking and bribing an undercover DEA agent.
Meanwhile, Bongiovanni, that former DEA agent, is accused of taking bribes in exchange for information that would protect and conceal illegal drug trafficking activities of his friends, associates, and co-conspirators.
Bongiovanni's attorneys requested Wednesday that he be able to remove his ankle monitor and use an app on his phone to check in using GPS instead because of an injury. Prosecutors requested that he just wear the monitor on his other ankle. The judge decided he needed more information before making a decision.
This case also involves two people who have passed away. The FBI raided a house in Allegany County last month in connection to the death of a witness who was supposed to testify in the case against Gerace. Crystal Quinn, 37, was found dead in Wellsville in August.
And in 2022, State Supreme Court Judge John Michalski died by suicide in his Amherst home two weeks after FBI agents raided it. The judge had been questioned before that about his relationship with Gerace and was never charged in connection with this case.
The defense attorneys did not want to be interviewed on camera, but confirmed with 2 On Your Side that there could be as many as four-hundred witnesses in this case.
In court on Wednesday there was also talk of potentially moving the trial to Rochester at the request of prosecutors. There is another court date set for September 15 to work out a number of issues.