Judge extends halt on media interviews for convicted strip club owner Peter Gerace Jr.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) – Convicted strip club owner Peter Gerace Jr. will have the final say on whether he will commit to an in-person interview with News 4 Investigates.

But the answer may be at least a month away.

On Tuesday morning, U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Vilardo extended a temporary stay at the behest of the government to prohibit Gerace from conducting in-person interviews at the Chautauqua County jail.

Vilardo said the extention allows for both the U.S. Attorney's Office and Gerace's defense duo of Eric Soehnlein and Mark Foti to file motions on the issue. Once completed, oral arguments may be necessary, Vilardo said.

On Dec. 27, a jury convicted Gerace on eight of nine counts, including drug and sex trafficking conspiracies, maintaining a drug-involved business at Pharaoh's Gentlemen's Club, witness tampering, and distributing cocaine.

His sentencing is set for Aug. 15, with a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Cooper requested the temporary halt to in-person interviews almost two weeks ago. He argued that Gerace's "First Amendment rights should be analyzed under the reasonableness standard …” and that the Supreme Court has “upheld prison regulations that prevented the media from conducting interviews with inmates.”

Gerace's attorneys did not oppose the the government's request for the temporary stay.

Both Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Kruly and Gerace's attorney Soehnlein appeared to be on the same page regarding whether Gerace should move forward with interviews.

They had concerns about an active protective order that limits what Gerace can disclose about protected witnesses and other related matters to maintain the integrity of the judicial process.

Soehnlein said he had preliminary discussions with Gerace and would want to counsel him on the protective order.

"He's had acess to things that are covered by the protective order, but he's not an attorney," Soehnlein said.

Kruly said Gerace is convicted of two counts of witness tampering, which raises concerns about the protected witnesses who testified against him at his trial.

Vilardo said he would be hesitant to interfere with Gerace' constitutional right to speak to the media and that the decision ultimately lies with Gerace.

"I don't want to gag Mr. Gerace if he wants to speak to the media," Vilardo said.

Gerace, through a third party, requested an interview with three media entities, including News 4 Investigates. Those familiar with Gerace's request said he was prepared to be interviewed by News 4 Investigates until the government intervened.

The same week of Gerace's conviction, a third party emailed News 4 Investigates to relay Gerace's request for an interview at the jail, and "made it abundantly clear that he wants cameras for this ...".

Gerace made official requests to schedule the interview with News 4 Investigates, and Chautauqua County jail staff did not immediately object. In fact, Cooper's letter to the judge stated jail staff were prepared to move forward absent of a court order.

News 4 Investigates also requested an interview with Gerace prior to his trial to address letters he mailed to WIVB-TV. His hand-written letters are critical of the U.S. Attorney's Office for making what he called "ridiculous accusations" that he is associated with Italian Organized Crime and the leader of the Buffalo La Casa Nostra, among other allegations.

Gerace said his attorneys instructed him not to do any interviews prior to his jury trial.

Whether to allow the most-recent interview request to move forward may not be decided until the end of February.

Vilardo said he wanted motion arguments to be completed by the end of February, and if necessary, he would schedule oral arguments.

But the judge repeated that if the temporary stay is removed, Gerace will make the final decision on any interviews.

"It's not my job to prevent him from speaking to the media if he wants to speak to the media," Vilardo said.