Gregory Trotter, 49, of Buffalo, Erie County, New York, United States is a detective working in Amherst, Erie County. From 1996 to 1999, he worked for the U.S. Department of the Treasury as a customs inspector.
In 1999, Trotter joined the Amherst Police Department. He has been charged with lying to Federal Bureau of Investigation agents about his dealings with Peter G. Gerace Jr., 55, of Buffalo.
Who is Gregory Trotter?
Gerace is accused of conspiring to engage in drug trafficking and sex trafficking at his strip club Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club in Cheektowaga, Erie County. From 2005 to 2019, he allegedly bribed Joseph Bongiovanni, 59, of Tonawanda, Erie County.
Gerace’s former girlfriend Phlycia Kathleen Hunt, 32, of Buffalo is a former Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club dancer. His friend Jessica Leyland, 36, of Buffalo allegedly distributed cocaine at the strip club and elsewhere with the help of cocaine supplier Andrew Clements, 35, of Buffalo.
Gerace was married to Katrina Nigro, 35, for four years. Their wedding in September 2014 was officiated by his friend John L. Michalski, the New York State Supreme Court Judge who took his own life on April 5, 2022 in his Amherst residence at age 61.
Between 1998 and February 1, 2019, Bongiovanni served as a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent of the U.S. Department of Justice. He allegedly pocketed about $250,000 in bribes and shielded Gerace from being detected by law enforcement.
Who is Peter Gerace Jr?
On March 4, 2019, Gerace went to the Amherst Police Department to report that his Rolex watch had been stolen by Hunt. Hours after filing the report, he contacted Trotter via text message.
After Hunt’s arrest on April 9, 2019, a female supervisor at the department contacted an FBI agent and provided information that was relevant to the ongoing investigation into Gerace and his strip club. In July 2019, Leyland attacked the supervisor at a restaurant.
On October 31, 2019, law enforcement investigated Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club for drug and sex trafficking activities.
On November 5, 2019, Bongiovanni was charged with accepting a bribe, making false statements to an agency of the U.S., obstruction of justice, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. On November 19, 2019, Gerace allegedly sent intimidating and threatening Facebook messages to a government witness.
On October 12, 2020, Gerace filed a defamation lawsuit against Hunt and Nigro. On February 28, 2021, he was arrested in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA.
When FBI agents questioned Trotter on September 30, 2022 about the extent of his relationship with Gerace, the detective told the agents that his last interaction with the strip club owner was in January 2017. However, extraction data from Gerace’s cellphone revealed consistent communications between him and Trotter from December 2018 until April 2019.
Trotter was also asked about Hunt’s arrest on April 9, 2019. The Amherst Police Department detective told the FBI agents, “It wasn’t my case so I didn’t really have any involvement.”
On September 5, 2023, Gerace and Bongiovanni appeared in federal court and pleaded not guilty to all charges filed against them. On October 26, 2023, Leyland was charged with three counts of witness tampering and five counts of possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute while Clements was charged with four counts of possession of cocaine with the intent to distribute.
On November 28, 2023, a criminal complaint was filed in U.S. District court accusing Trotter of knowingly and willfully making materially false, fictitious or fraudulent statements. On December 5, 2023, he made his initial court appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy.
Trotter agreed to surrender his passport and his firearms. Prosecutors did not seek to put him into custody and the Amherst Police Department has put him on paid administrative leave.
On January 8, 2024, Gerace and Biongiovanni’s trial will start.
CONAN Daily 