Thomas Phillip Puccio (September 12, 1944 – March 11, 2012) was an American trial attorney who served in the

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a United States federal executive departments, federal executive department of the U.S. government that oversees the domestic enforcement of Law of the Unite ...

, including as an investigator and prosecutor in the

Abscam Abscam, sometimes written ABSCAM, was a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to the convictions of seven members from both chambers of the United States Congress and others for bribery and co ...

case, before working as a

criminal defense lawyer A criminal defense lawyer is a lawyer (mostly barristers) specializing in the Defense (legal), defense of individuals and companies charged with Criminal law, criminal activity. Some criminal defense lawyers are privately retained, while other ...

representing high-profile clients such as

Claus von Bülow Claus von Bülow (born Claus Cecil Borberg; 11 August 1926 – 25 May 2019) was a British lawyer, consultant and socialite. In 1982, he was convicted of both the attempted murder of his wife Sunny von Bülow (born Martha Sharp Crawford; 1 ...

Early life

Puccio was born in 1944 in

Brooklyn 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 ...

, New York, to Matthew and Jeanette Puccio. He attended

Brooklyn Preparatory School Brooklyn Preparatory School, commonly referred to as Brooklyn Prep, was a highly selective Jesuit preparatory school founded by the Society of Jesus in 1908 in Brooklyn, New York. The school educated generations of young men from throughout New ...

before going on to

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

(graduating in 1966) and

Fordham University School of Law Fordham University School of Law is the law school of Fordham University. The school is located in Manhattan in New York City, and is one of eight ABA-approved law schools in that city. According to Fordham University School of Law's ABA- ...

(graduating in 1969).

Career

After law school he joined the Brooklyn office of the

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York The United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York is the chief federal law enforcement officer in five New York counties: Kings (Brooklyn), Queens, Richmond (Staten Island), Nassau and Suffolk. , the acting U.S. attorney is Jo ...

as an assistant prosecutor. He became the office's chief of criminal division in 1973 and two years later became executive assistant to the

United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...

, David G. Trager. In 1976, he became the head of the Organized Crime Strike Force for the Eastern District of New York.

Abscam

Puccio supervised the two-year

undercover investigation, along with Assistant Director

Neil Welch Neil J. Welch (August 9, 1926 – June 29, 2017), nicknamed "Jaws", was an American FBI agent. He was perhaps best known for masterminding in the Abscam sting operation. Life and career Welch was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He attended Nor ...

, who headed the

Federal Bureau of Investigation The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

's New York division. In 1980 and 1981, he was the chief prosecutor in four of the eight trials resulting from the investigation. He secured the convictions of several elected officials, including U.S. senator Harrison A. Williams, U.S. Rep. Michael J. Myers, and

Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...

mayor

Angelo Errichetti Angelo Joseph Errichetti (September 29, 1928 – May 16, 2013) was an American Democratic Party politician who served as Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, and in the New Jersey Senate before being indicted during Abscam. Early life Angelo Joseph Err ...

Private practice

In 1982, after 13 years as a

Justice Department A justice ministry, ministry of justice, or department of justice, is a ministry or other government agency in charge of the administration of justice. The ministry or department is often headed by a minister of justice (minister for justice in a ...

attorney, Puccio went into private practice, joining the

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 ...

law firm of Booth, Lipton & Lipton. He joined Stroock & Stroock & Lavan in 1985, and then Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy in 1987. He established his own firm in 1992. In 1985, Puccio secured the acquittal of the British-Danish socialite

after von Bülow was tried a second time on charges of attempting to murder his wife Martha by means of insulin injections. The second trial was held after a 1982 conviction was successfully appealed by

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...

professor

Alan Dershowitz Alan Morton Dershowitz ( ; born September 1, 1938) is an American lawyer and law professor known for his work in U.S. constitutional law, U.S. constitutional and American criminal law, criminal law. From 1964 to 2013, he taught at Harvard Law Sc ...

. Puccio defended Bronx Democratic leader Stanley M. Friedman in 1986 on corruption charges. Friedman was convicted and sentenced to 12 years in a racketeering trial prosecuted by then-U.S. Attorney

Rudy Giuliani Rudolph William Louis Giuliani ( , ; born May 28, 1944) is an American politician and Disbarment, disbarred lawyer who served as the 107th mayor of New York City from 1994 to 2001. He previously served as the United States Associate Attorney ...

. The same year, he represented John J. McLaughlin, former president of

New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation NYC Health + Hospitals, officially the New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation (HHC), operates the public hospitals and clinics in New York City as a public benefit corporation. NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest municipal health syst ...

, charged with bribery and stealing $250,000 from

Maytag The Maytag Corporation is an American Home appliance, home and commercial appliance company. The company has been owned by Whirlpool Corporation since April 2006. History The Maytag Washing Machine Company was founded in 1893 by businessm ...

heiress Ann L. Maytag. McLaughlin was found guilty of forgery and larceny but acquitted of more serious charges. In 1997, Puccio defended Alex Kelly, who was charged with committing two rapes in

Darien, Connecticut Darien ( ) is a coastal town in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. With a population of 21,499 and a land area of just under , it is the smallest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Connecticut), Gold Coast. Situated on the Long Island ...

, ten years earlier. Kelly was convicted for one of the rapes and sentenced to 16 years in prison. In the second trial, Kelly pleaded

no contest ''Nolo contendere'' () is a type of legal plea used in some jurisdictions in the United States. It is also referred to as a plea of no contest or no defense. It is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an ...

, with a sentence of 10 years running concurrently with the sentence in the first trial.

Death

Puccio died of leukemia in 2012 at the age of 67.

In popular culture

The 1981 film ''

Prince of the City ''Prince of the City'' is a 1981 American epic neo-noir crime drama film directed by Sidney Lumet. It is based on the life of Robert Leuci, called ‘Daniel Ciello’ in the film, an officer of the New York Police Department who chooses, for id ...

'' features a character loosely based on Puccio: Assistant U.S. Attorney George Polito, played by

James Tolkan James Stewart Tolkan (born June 20, 1931) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as high school vice-principal in charge of discipline Mr. Strickland in ''Back to the Future'' (1985) and ''Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), and as ...

. In the 2013 film ''

American Hustle ''American Hustle'' is a 2013 American black comedy crime film directed by David O. Russell. It was written by Eric Warren Singer and Russell and inspired by the FBI Abscam operation of the late 1970s and early 1980s. It stars Christian Ba ...

'', which dramatized the Abscam

sting operation In law enforcement, a sting operation is a deceptive operation designed to catch a person attempting to commit a crime. A typical sting will have an undercover law enforcement officer, detective, or co-operative member of the public play a rol ...

Alessandro Nivola Alessandro Antine Nivola (born June 28, 1972) is an American actor. His work includes both screen and stage, and his accolades include a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for a Tony Award and an Independent Spirit Award. Ni ...

played Anthony Amado, a fictionalized version of Puccio.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puccio, Thomas 1944 births 2012 deaths Lawyers from Brooklyn Fordham University alumni Fordham University School of Law alumni Abscam United States Department of Justice lawyers American criminal defense lawyers 20th-century American lawyers American people of Italian descent People associated with Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy Brooklyn Preparatory School alumni