The New York Post - Friday, January 4, 2008
By PHILIP MESSING, IKIMULISA LIVINGSTON and JEANE MacINTOSH
January 4, 2008 -- A veteran Queens prosecutor is the target of a corruption probe after a mob-tied coke dealer said he was offered a sweetheart plea deal in exchange for hiring the official's purported boyfriend as a lawyer, sources told The Post.
Assistant District Attorney Barbara Wilkanowski allegedly offered reputed Genovese associate Joseph Bonelli a no-jail deal on two cases - including a drug-sale rap for which he faced up to 25 years in prison - if he hired her boyfriend, Manhattan lawyer Robert Kelly, to defend him.
"She approached Bonelli through a friend of a friend and offered her assistance," said a source familiar with the case. Bonelli, 26, had been arrested for selling cocaine in July 2006 and was arrested on a weapon charge two months later.
He did hire Kelly for his defense - but the lawyer recently pulled out of the case, citing illness.
Bonelli, who pleaded guilty to both sets of charges on Dec. 26 but hasn't been sentenced, recently went to Wilkanowski's bosses with his claim.
"The representation that the ADA made . . . obviously was not coming to fruition," a court source said. A rep for Queens DA Richard Brown said that Wilkanowski, 45, was put on leave Dec. 17 and that Bonelli's claims were "being investigated."
Wilkanowski could not be reached for comment yesterday. A source close to her insisted Wilkanowski "has no involvement in the Bonelli case at all." Neither Kelly nor his recently hired defense lawyer, Marvin Ruskin, returned calls.
Additional reporting by Lorena Mongelli - philip.messing@nypost.com
Posts
5 comments:
Since there are no ethics in the NY legal community, why is this a story? I don't get it.
BRING IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. NYC IS COMPLETELY CORRUPT !
I really lived in a bubble. New York City is a nightmare on Elm Street. What the hell is going on here. Bring in the Feds, and lock every corrupt Judge and Lawyer up. Leave the honest ones behind to resurrect and correct the whole dam system that has gone to the hell .
What a clown!
Nothing surprises me w the queens DA's office . I'm a criminal lawyer who's dealt w that shyster "ADA Wilkanowski" several times before she got fired a few years ago, due to this mess. Let's just say I could write a book on all the unethical and corrupt things I saw her and the rest of that bureau do in the past. However, they know I wouldn't because I can't afford to be "black balled" and alienated from the whole office where I would lose my business.
Post a Comment