VIGILANT PROSECUTION OF

OFFICIAL CORRUPTION 

The primary role of a prosecutor is to ensure the public safety of the people he or she represents and uphold the integrity of politics and the judiciary. The vast majority of the men and women who sit on Brooklyn’s courts are judges of unquestionable integrity, as are those who are active in the political system. Then there are those who are not.

Clarence Norman, former County Democratic Chairman, is doing two to six years in an Upstate prison for Grand Larceny. In addition, he has been convicted of Coercion and Extortion of judicial candidates and is awaiting the outcome of his appeal.

Victor Barron violated the public’s trust and received what was then the longest sentence ever handed down to a sitting judge.

However outrageous Victor Barron’s criminal conduct was, it pales in comparison to the evil Gerald Garson did to women and children in his Matrimonial Court part. In violating the rights of these women and children he violated the rights of all of us. His recently imposed sentence of three to 10 years in prison, for taking bribes and gifts from a corrupt attorney who often appeared in his courtroom, was justly deserved and, one year longer than Barron’s, is now the longest sentence ever imposed on a sitting judge.

This is an important time for the people of Brooklyn and ordinary people everywhere, who deserve protection from corrupt officials. The message should be that those who take an oath to represent the people and ultimately violate that oath will pay a serious price. 

 
And today the political and judicial landscape in Brooklyn has changed. As a direct result of attention brought by these cases, the State Legislature has been ordered to change the way judges are selected in New York. 
Unfortunately the fight is not over with these convictions. Only by diligent policing of the political and judicial systems can we be sure that elected officials live up to the standards of their oaths of office. But because of the continuing work of my office’s Rackets Division it is fair to say that those who seek to make corrupt deals are constantly looking over their shoulders and will eventually be caught.

MIKE VECCHIONE:  CHIEF OF THE RACKETS DIVISION

Brooklyn native Mike Vecchione is Chief of the Rackets Division at the Kings County District Attorney’s Office. As such he has prosecuted some of the most high-profile cases in the DA’s Office including the trials of Clarence Norman and former Supreme Court Judges Gerald Garson and Victor Barron. He is known nation wide as a crime expert and valuable resource in prosecuting white-collar crimes, racketeering, corruption and fraud. 

In his current role as Rackets Chief, Mike supervises investigations and helps prosecutors in his office prepare for trials, in addition to prosecuting many felony cases himself. He also oversees numerous bureaus, including the Organized Crime, Gangs, Civil Rights and Police Integrity, Money Laundering and Revenue Crimes, and the Official Corruption Unit.

A graduate of St. Johns University and Hofstra University School of Law, Mike’s first job as an attorney, in 1973, was as an Assistant District Attorney in Brooklyn. Since then, he has been the Director of the NYPD’s Advocate Office, where he worked on Police disciplinary matters; taught courtroom protocols at the Police Academy, served on the NYPD’s Civilian Complaint Review Board and was a partner in a private law firm. 

Mike’s work at the District Attorney’s Office over the years has included roles as Chief of the Homicide Bureau and Trial Cadre and Chief of the Trial Division.  He has been charged with overseeing all investigations and presentations to the Grand Jury in homicide cases.

He has also been responsible for supervising the investigation of police-involved shooting deaths in Kings County, and he was once put in charge of the DA’s Community Prosecution Program, where he was responsible for the supervision of the five trial bureaus that handle cases in State Supreme Court and in Criminal Court.