Jury struggling to reach verdict in Bongiovanni retrial

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A jury hearing the retrial of ex-DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni is still struggling to reach a verdict on the charges against him, they told a U.S. Federal Court on Wednesday.

This is Bongiovanni’s second trial after Judge Lawrence Vilardo ordered the retrial in May. In April, Bongiovanni was found guilty on two charges, including obstruction of justice and making false statements, but a jury failed to reach a verdict on 12 of the 15 total counts against him, including the most serious charges of conspiracy, accepting bribes and drug-related offenses. In July, he was acquitted of one of the bribery charges.

The new trial has been going on for nine weeks and the jury has only been deliberating for three days. An Allen or “dynamite” charge was issued, meaning that Vilardo issued further instruction to the jury in order to encourage those in the minority to reconsider their position. It would not, however, require jurors to change their vote or reach a verdict.

The defense is pushing for a mistrial because they have already been down this road and this would be the second jury unable to reach a verdict. Vilardo said he would deny a request for a mistrial.

The court received a note from the jury within a half hour of beginning deliberations Wednesday, with the note reading “we cannot unanimously agree on every count.” The jury sent a similar note to the court on Tuesday and was sent home for the day. They were discharged for the day on Wednesday and will return at 9 a.m. Thursday.

Bongiovanni, 60, was originally charged with accepting over $250,000 in bribes from who the prosecution referred to as “Italian organized crime members,” who allegedly worked with the ex-DEA agent to derail investigations into themselves. He is accused of opening fake case files and encouraging colleagues to spend less time investigating Italians and more time on Black people and Hispanics. He is further accused of hastily retiring and wiping his cell phone clean when he was first accused by authorities in 2019.

Prosecutors also allege Bongiovanni worked closely with co-defendant Peter Gerace, the owner of Pharoah’s Gentleman’s Club in Cheektowaga, saying the site was used for drugs and sex trafficking. Prosecutors said that he helped childhood friends as well as assisting a connected high school English teacher in keeping a marijuana-growing side hustle.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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