Man Pleads Guilty to Paying Fixer To Bribe Judge
Prosecutors Say Judge Was Surrounded by Web of Corruption
By DAVID HAFETZ Staff Reporter of the Sun, June 22, 2004

A Brooklyn man pleaded guilty yesterday to paying $10,000 to a fixer he thought would bribe a state Supreme Court judge who is at the center of an alleged web of judicial corruption.

The guilty plea does not give Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes direct evidence of money being passed to Judge Gerald Garson.

But prosecutors say the plea supports their contention that the suspended judge, who faces charges that include felony bribe receiving, was surrounded by a swirl of illicit activity and dealt with unsavory figures who offered to sell access to the judge in return for favorable treatment.

Avraham Levi, a 49-year-old Brooklyn businessman, pleaded guilt to a felony conspiracy charge that stems from a plan he hatched with the fixer in late 2002 to influence Mr. Levi's pending divorce and child custody case before Mr. Garson.

Mr. Levi said he gave $10,000 to Nissim Elmann,a Brooklyn electronics dealer who planned to pay off the judge in order to get a favorable ruling. Mr. Levi said he subsequently told his lawyer, Paul Siminovsky,not to settle the divorce and custody case so it would go to trial.

Mr. Levi is required to testify against Mr. Elmann as part of a plea agreement that will give him a maximum sentence of six months in jail. Mr. Elmann is charged with felony bribery and bribe receiving.

Prosecutors said Mr. Levi also could testify against Mr. Garson about his plan to bribe the judge. Michael Vecchione, chief of the rackets division for the district attorney's office, said Mr. Levi "ultimately can provide significant evidence" against Mr. Garson.

A lawyer for Mr. Garson said Mr. Levi's plea deal does not hurt his client. The lawyer,Ronald Fischetti,said there is no evidence Mr. Elmann passed money to Mr. Garson.

"This is a conspiracy between Elmann and Siminovsky to rip off clients," Mr. Fischetti said. "We know and the DA knows that Judge Garson was not in any bribery scheme to fix cases."

Mr. Garson is accused of accepting meals, cash, and an expensive box of cigars from Mr. Siminovsky, who had cases before the judge.

He is not charged with taking money to fix a specific case. If convicted of the bribe receiving charge, he faces up to seven years in prison.

While he was under investigation, Mr. Garson allegedly told prosecutors judgeships in Brooklyn could be bought from Brooklyn Democratic leaders.

Mr. Levi is the third low-level defendant to enter a guilty plea in the case against Mr. Garson.

In a similar development in February, a Brooklyn rabbi and his daughter pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor conspiracy charge after admitting that they paid $5,000 to Mr. Elmann to influence a custody case before Mr. Garson.

Both said they did not know if the judge received any money. Each was sentenced to community service and probation.

Mr. Levi will be sentenced after he testifies at Mr. Elmann's trial, which is set for August. Without his plea agreement, Mr. Levi had faced up to four years in jail. Under the agreement, he could get off with probation.