Gerald "Jerry" Lawrence Shargel (October 5, 1944 – July 16, 2022) was an American defense attorney who was based in New York City and generally considered one of the best criminal defense lawyers in the country.
Early life and education
Shargel was born in
New Brunswick, New Jersey
New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. He attended Bound Brook High School and graduated in 1966 from
Rutgers University
Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...
, where his mother worked as one of its math department's secretaries, and in 1969 from
Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a Private university, private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and adjunct faculty.
...
, joining the New York bar shortly thereafter.
Career
Shargel was widely regarded as one of the best criminal defense attorneys in New York. A 1998 profile in ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' referred to him as "regarded on Centre Street as a brilliant tactician and a very good trial lawyer with a successful white-collar practice". In receiving the
Thurgood Marshall
Thoroughgood "Thurgood" Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme C ...
Award for Outstanding Criminal Law Practitioner by the
New York State
New York, also called New York State, is a state in the northeastern United States. Bordered by New England to the east, Canada to the north, and Pennsylvania and New Jersey to the south, its territory extends into both the Atlantic Ocean and ...
Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in 2006, he was referred to as "one of the most brilliant criminal defense attorneys in America… quite possibly the finest of his generation".
In a 1991 federal case against the
Gambino crime family
The Gambino crime family (pronounced ) is an Italian American Mafia crime family and one of the "Five Families" that dominate organized crime activities in New York City, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the American Mafia. ...
, Shargel was initially slated to represent
underboss
Underboss () is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian Mafia, Sicilian and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the Crime boss, boss. The un ...
Sammy Gravano. However, Judge I. Leo Glasser barred Shargel and Bruce Cutler from representing, respectively, Gravano and Gotti, agreeing with prosecutors' assertion that the lawyers were "in-house counsel" to the Gambinos. Prosecutors, including John Gleeson, contended that since Shargel and Cutler may have known about criminal activity, they were "part of the evidence" and liable to be called as witnesses.
Shargel's other high-profile clients included Daniel Pelosi, who was charged with and later convicted of the
second-degree murder
Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer, producer, and auto racing team owner. He hosted late-night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982, debut of ''Late N ...
. Shargel represented Halderman from October 2009 to March 9, 2010, when Halderman entered a plea-bargained guilty plea.
Shargel was well known for his courtroom style and dramatic presentations, which may have helped some of his clients to be found not guilty. For example, in 2005, Murder Inc. record label owners Irv and Chris Gotti (who are no relation to his aforementioned client
John
John is a common English name and surname:
* John (given name)
* John (surname)
John may also refer to:
New Testament
Works
* Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John
* First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John
* Second E ...
) were acquitted on all charges, possibly partially due to the effect of his courtroom demeanor on the jury—as there were a number of lively exchanges between him and
NYPD
The City of New York Police Department, also referred to as New York City Police Department (NYPD), is the primary law enforcement agency within New York City. Established on May 23, 1845, the NYPD is the largest, and one of the oldest, munic ...
detective Anthony Castiglia during testimony.
In 2012 Shargel defended
hip hop
Hip-hop or hip hop (originally disco rap) is a popular music genre that emerged in the early 1970s from the African-American community of New York City. The style is characterized by its synthesis of a wide range of musical techniques. Hip- ...
Brooklyn, New York
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, presided over by Judge Gleeson. Rosemond was convicted on all charges (including cocaine distribution, conspiracy, money laundering, firearms possession, and witness tampering), and on October 25, 2013, he was sentenced to life imprisonment.
Shargel also taught criminal law classes at his alma mater,
Brooklyn Law School
Brooklyn Law School (BLS) is a Private university, private law school in New York City. Founded in 1901, it has approximately 1,100 students. Brooklyn Law School's faculty includes 60 full-time faculty, 15 emeriti faculty, and adjunct faculty.
...
, where he held the position of Practitioner-In-Residence, teaching courses on evidence, criminal procedure, and trial advocacy. He was also a frequent writer and commentator on legal issues that arise during high-profile criminal cases, which generate sustained national and regional media focus.
In 2018, he retired from active law practice, citing burnout.
Personal life
Shargel died from complications of
Alzheimer's disease
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...
at his residence in
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
on July 16, 2022, at the age of 77.
Shargel is survived by his two children, David and Johanna, and six grandchildren, Casey, Miles, Tatum, Theo, Eli, and James.
Notable clients
*
Amanda Bynes
Amanda Laura Bynes (born April 3, 1986) is an American actress. Bynes began her career as a child actor, appearing on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series '' All That'' (1996–2000) and its spin-off series '' The Amanda Show'' (1999–2002). ...
Queens
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
*Texas oilman Oscar Wyatt who pleaded guilty to paying kickbacks to the Hussein administration to gain access to Iraqi oil contracts
*Restaurateur
Jeffrey Chodorow
Jeffrey R. Chodorow (born March 2, 1950) is an American restaurateur, lawyer and financier.
Early life and education
Jeffrey Chodorow was born in the Bronx. His father died the year he was born, and he and his mother moved to Miami, Florida in 1 ...
* James Coonan
* Gurmeet Singh Dhinsa, who was found guilty
*Christopher "Chris Gotti" Lorenzo, co-founder of Murder Inc. Records who was acquitted of all charges of money laundering and conspiracy to launder money against him
*
John Gotti
John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 ( , ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American '' mafioso'' and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambin ...
Joe Halderman
Robert Joel "Joe" Halderman (born October 1957) is a television news writer, director, former producer for CBS News, and convicted felon. Halderman was found guilty of attempted extortion of talk show host David Letterman.
Career
Born in Day ...
New York Newsday
''New York Newsday'' was an American daily newspaper that primarily served New York City and was sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The paper, established in 1985, was a New York City-specific offshoot of ''Newsday'', a Long Island- ...
Slate
Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...