Joseph Bongiovanni, a retired Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent, has been sentenced to serve 5 years or 60 months in prison after he was convicted on counts related to his role in aiding a local drug trafficking operation, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday in a press release issued by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Bongiovanni, 61, was found guilty of one count of conspiracy to defraud the United States, one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, four counts of obstruction of justice, and one count of false statement to law enforcement.
According to prosecutors, Bongiovanni used his position within the DEA to defraud the agency, providing information that aided and protected friends and associates, some of whom are alleged to have connections to Italian organized crime in Buffalo, and some of whom were involved in the distribution of large amounts of drugs including marijuana, cocaine, and fentanyl pills.
He was accused of writing false DEA reports, misleading colleagues, stealing sensitive files, exposing confidential informants, helping cover sex trafficking crimes at a Cheektowaga-based strip club, and even helped a high school English teacher keep his marijuana-growing side hustle. Prosecutors said he brazenly urged colleagues to spend less time investigating Italians and focus instead on Black and Hispanic people.
He is also accused of making false statements to fellow federal agents investigating him, in order to hide his relationship with Peter Gerace, Jr., who was also under investigation for drug trafficking and other crimes.
Gerace was convicted by a federal jury of multiple counts, including drug trafficking, sex trafficking, witness tampering and other crimes. He still awaits sentencing. Another of Bongiovanni's associates, Michael Masecchia, was previously convicted and sentenced to seven years in prison.
