Kerik Pleads Guilty
in Case
Involving Gifts and a
Loan
By JOHN HOLUSHA and
WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM, NYTimes on the Web, June 30, 2006
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Louis Lanzano/Associated Press
Kerik Pleads Guilty for Accepting Gifts and a Loan
The former
New York City police commissioner entered the pleas in a Bronx
courtroom and was sentenced to a total of $221,000 in fines |
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New York City -- Bernard B. Kerik,
the former New York City police commissioner, pleaded guilty today to two
misdemeanor charges as the result of accepting tens of thousands of dollars of
gifts and a loan while a city official in the late 1990's.
He entered the pleas in a Bronx courtroom and was sentenced to a total of
$221,000 in fines. He was accompanied by three lawyers and three
supporters for the proceeding, which lasted about 10 minutes.
The plea completed a stunning fall from grace for a public official who rose in
a decade's time from a third-grade police detective to police commissioner and a
nomination as secretary of the federal Department of Homeland Security.
Mr. Kerik accepted the subsidized work on his Bronx apartment in the late
1990's, while he was correction commissioner under Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani,
according to investigators.
Investigators said Mr. Kerik paid about $30,000 for renovations worth about
$200,000, a violation of the city's administrative code. The work was
performed by an affiliate of a construction company that the city has accused of
having ties to organized crime.
The company, Interstate Industrial Corporation, had sought Mr. Kerik's
assistance in obtaining a license from the city to operate a construction debris
transfer station and held meetings in Mr. Kerik's office. The license was
ultimately not granted.
One of Mr. Kerik's pleas was for accepting the gift of the subsidized
remodeling. The other was for failing to report a loan of $29,000 from a
friend for a down payment on the apartment.
Mr. Kerik, a former driver and bodyguard for Mr. Giuliani while he was
campaigning for mayor, was named police commissioner in 2000 and was in that
post on Sept. 11, 2001, when the World Trade Center was attacked.
On the basis of his performance then, President Bush nominated him to be the
head of the Homeland Security Department in December 2004. But he withdrew
a week later, citing possible tax problems related to the family's nanny.
Mr. Kerik also left Mr. Giuliani's private consulting firm within days of his
failed federal nomination. He has been doing independent security
consulting work since then, most recently in Jordan.
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