Bernard Kerik

Kerik was close friends with Lawrence V. "Larry" Ray, who was later accused of running a sex cult at Sarah Lawrence College.[50] In 2022, Ray was convicted of extortion, forced prostitution and forced labor.[51] Ray was the best man at Kerik's wedding before the two had a falling out in 2000 when Ray cooperated with the prosecution against his former friend. Kerik has since called Ray "a psychotic con man Kerik's first child, a girl, was born in October 1975 when he was 20 and serving in South Korea as a military policeman. In February 1976, Kerik completed his tour of duty in South Korea and abandoned his daughter and her mother. Her mother emigrated to the U.S. and married an American. She learned of Kerik's life decades later when she saw him on television and notified their daughter of his location. On November 8, 2007, Kerik was indicted by a federal grand jury in White Plains, New York on charges of tax fraud, and making false statements to the federal government about the $250,000 he received from Wertheimer. Prosecutors further accused Kerik of receiving about $236,000 from New York real estate mogul Steven C. Witkoff between 2001 and 2003.[29][32] Some of the New York charges were dropped in December 2008, but Kerik was then re-indicted on the same charges in Washington, D.C.[33] On November 5, 2009, Kerik pleaded guilty to eight felony tax and false statement charges,[34] specifically two counts of tax fraud, one count of making a false statement on a loan application, and five counts of making false statements.[3] He was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison and three years' supervised release (probation). Kerik was represented by criminal defense attorney Michael F. Bachner.[35] He surrendered to the U.S. minimum security prison camp in Cumberland, Maryland, on May 17, 2010. He was discharged from federal custody on October 15, 2013, and after serving five months' home confinement, his supervised release concluded in October 2016. Kerik was granted a presidential pardon for his federal convictions by President Donald Trump on February 18, 2020. During his tenure as Interior Minister of Iraq, Kerik secretly accepted and failed to report a $250,000 interest-free "loan" from Israeli billionaire Eitan Wertheimer, a gift later determined to be a bribe, for which he was indicted by the US government and sentenced to prison. Mr. Kerik ruled like a feudal lord, many former employees have said. He had taken up with a woman who was a correction officer; he was accused of directing officers to staff his wedding. He befriended the agency's inspector general, whose watchdog responsibilities require keeping an arms-length relationship, and the investigator attended his wedding." In July 1974, he enlisted in the United States Army and received a General Educational Development (GED) certificate from the State of North Carolina while assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina.