Ex-NYPD Boss Pleads Not Guilty In Federal Court

[maddezmom]

Source: CBS

Bernard Kerik Faces 16 Counts Including Conspiracy, Fraud And Lying To The IRS
NEW YORK (CBS) ― Former New York City police commissioner Bernard Kerik pleaded not guilty Friday to federal corruption charges.

Kerik, the police commissioner under then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani and a failed nominee for homeland security secretary, was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday on 16 counts including conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud and lying to the IRS. Authorities say that over a six-year period, from 1999 through 2004, Kerik failed to report more than $500,000 in income.

He surrendered earlier Friday to the FBI in suburban White Plains, where he was fingerprinted and processed before his court appearance.

Kerik's case could prove to be an ongoing embarrassment for Giuliani, a Republican presidential candidate.

"It's a sad day when this office returns an indictment against a former law enforcement officer," U.S. Attorney Michael J. Garcia said at a news conference.

~snip~

During a campaign stop Thursday in Dubuque, Iowa, Giuliani was asked whether he still stood by Kerik. He sidestepped that question and said the issue had to be decided by the courts.

"A lot of public comment about it is inconsistent with its getting resolved in the right way in the courts," Giuliani said.


Read more: http://cbs3.com/national/bernard.kerik.arraignment.2.564298.html

[maddezmom]

1. "I'm disappointed that the government has brought forward this case," Kerik said

WHITE PLAINS, New York (CNN) -- Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik said Friday that he's ready to fight federal charges of conspiracy, tax fraud and making false statements.


Former New York Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

1 of 2 "I'm disappointed that the government has brought forward this case," Kerik said on the steps of federal court in White Plains after pleading not guilty to a 16-count indictment against him.

"My life has been marked by challenge," Kerik said, citing adversity he said he overcame as a New York police officer and during the September 11, 2001, attacks.

"This is a battle I am going to fight."

more:http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/11/09/kerik.indictment/index.html

[goclark]

2. Mobster!

[tomg]

3. This is great news for Giuliani.

If he can just get Kerik's secular endorsement, and couple that to Pat Robertson's religious right endorsement, he will have entire fraud, tax evasion, and corruption demographic - in other words, the entire GOP - covered. Maybe he can even run on Bush's old "Uniter Not a Divider" platform.