Gerald "Jerry" Lawrence Shargel (October 5, 1944 – July 16, 2022) was an American

defense attorney A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the defense of individuals and companies charged with criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while others are employed by the various j ...

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, to Leo Shargel, a paint-and-wallpaper store proprietor, and Lillian Edenzon Shargel on October 5, 1944. He attended Bound Brook High School and graduated in 1966 from

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and wa ...

, 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 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 a number of adjunct faculty. Brookly ...

, 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'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' 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 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 Court's first African- ...

Award for Outstanding Criminal Law Practitioner by the

New York State New York, officially the State of New York, is a U.S. state, state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the List of U.S. ...

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, United States, within the nationwide criminal phenomenon known as the A ...

, Shargel was initially slated to represent

underboss Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The under ...

Sammy Gravano Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano (born March 12, 1945) is an American former mobster who became underboss of the Gambino crime family. Gravano played a major role in prosecuting John Gotti, the crime family's boss, by agreeing to testify as a ...

. However, Judge I. Leo Glasser barred Shargel and

Bruce Cutler Bruce Cutler (born April 29, 1948) is an American criminal defense lawyer best known for having defended John Gotti, and for media appearances as a legal commentator. Life and career Cutler's father, Murray Cutler, was a New York City detective ...

from representing, respectively, Gravano and Gotti, agreeing with prosecutors' assertion that the lawyers were "in-house counsel" to the Gambinos. Prosecutors, including

John Gleeson John Gleeson may refer to: *John Gleeson (cricketer) (1938–2016), Australian cricketer *John Gleeson (hurler) (born 1941), former Irish hurler *John Gleeson (judge) (born 1953), American judge *John Gleeson (rugby league) (1938–2021), Australian ...

, 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 of East Hampton millionaire

Ted Ammon Robert Theodore Ammon (August 30, 1949 – October 20, 2001) was an American financier and investment banker. Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he was murdered in his home in 2001 by electrician Daniel Pelosi, who was convicted in 2004. Ammon ...

, and Robert "Joe" Halderman in the matter of Halderman's extortion of television personality

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of '' Late Night with David Letterma ...

. 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) 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 New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...

detective Anthony Castiglia during testimony. In 2012 Shargel defended hip hop mogul James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond, CEO of Czar Entertainment, in a federal trial in

Brooklyn, New York Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, behi ...

, 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,

, 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 that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

at his residence in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the List of co ...

on July 16, 2022, at the age of 77.

Notable clients

Amanda Bynes Amanda Laura Bynes (born April 3, 1986) is an American actress, known for her work in television and film throughout the 1990s and 2000s. Bynes began her career as a child actress, working on the Nickelodeon sketch comedy series '' All That'' ...

*New York State Senator Malcolm A. Smith of

Queens Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...

*Texas oilman Oscar S. Wyatt, Jr. who pleaded guilty to paying kickbacks to the

Hussein Hussein, Hussain, Hossein, Hossain, Huseyn, Husayn, Husein or Husain (; ar, حُسَيْن ), coming from the triconsonantal root Ḥ-S-i-N ( ar, ح س ی ن, link=no), is an Arabic name which is the diminutive of Hassan, meaning "good", " ...

administration to gain access to Iraqi oil contracts *Restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow * James Coonan *

Gurmeet Singh Dhinsa Gurmeet Singh Dhinsa (born c. 1962) is an Indian-American Sikh former gas station magnate, who was convicted of racketeering and multiple murders. In an attempt to corner the local market on gas stations, Dhinsa defrauded customers, evaded taxes, c ...

, who was found guilty *Christopher "Chris Gotti" Lorenzo, co-founder of Murder Inc. who was acquitted of all charges against him *

John Gotti John Joseph Gotti Jr.Capeci, Mustain (1996), pp. 25–26 (, ; October 27, 1940 – June 10, 2002) was an American gangster and boss of the Gambino crime family in New York City. He ordered and helped to orchestrate the murder of Gambino bos ...

*John Gotti's son,

John A. Gotti John Angelo Gotti (born February 14, 1964) is an American former mobster who was the acting boss of the Gambino crime family from 1991 to 1999. Gotti became acting boss when the boss of the family, his father John Gotti, was sent to prison. The ...

* Joe Halderman * Daniel Pelosi * Marc Dreier, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison *

Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano Salvatore "Sammy the Bull" Gravano (born March 12, 1945) is an American former mobster who became underboss of the Gambino crime family. Gravano played a major role in prosecuting John Gotti, the crime family's boss, by agreeing to testify as a g ...

* James "Jimmy Henchman" Rosemond * Johnny "Machinegun Johnny" Eng

References

External links

The Law Offices of Gerald L. Shargel

Pelosi Trial: Profile of Gerald Shargel
from ''

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 ...

''
"No Mercy: Ronald Reagan's tough legal legacy"
��Critical assessment of President Reagan's legacy by Gerald Shargel on ''

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 ...

Gerald Shargel Quotes

on '' CNN Live Sunday'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Shargel, Gerald 1944 births 2022 deaths Bound Brook High School alumni Brooklyn Law School alumni Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Deaths from dementia in New York (state) New York (state) lawyers People from New Brunswick, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni