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Monday, January 08, 2018

TV private eye Vincent Parco claims Brooklyn DA arrested him as favor to Hasidic voters 

Vincent Parco's lawyer claims that the "Parco, P.I." star's arrest was "timed as a thank-you gift to the Orthodox/Hasidic community."

Ex-reality TV private eye Vincent Parco says Brooklyn's district attorney used him to "thank" a major voter base by arresting him in September.

Parco's bust in an alleged blackmail scheme involving a hotel tryst came a week after Acting District Attorney Eric Gonzalez won the Democratic primary — all but securing his coveted job.

"Mr. Parco is a seasoned investigator who upon information and belief is being targeted to curry favor with the Satmar/Orthodox Community, and among other things in retribution for his many previous investigations regarding the Satmar/Orthodox Community," Parco's lawyer, Peter Gleason, charged in a recent court filing.

Gleason argued the "Parco, P.I." star's first court appearance on the salacious charges and a Sept. 19 press release trumpeting the case was "timed as a thank-you gift to the Orthodox/Hasidic community for Mr. Gonzalez's vote tally from their community."

He said Parco, 67, has a history of poking around in matters involving the religious groups and once checked out a "firetrap" community center in Williamsburg that was built by members of the Satmar sect.

Gleason hurled the accusations in response to the DA's bid to block Parco, his former client Samuel Israel, 45, and Parco's ex-associate Tanya Freudenthaler, 41, from disseminating evidence. The three are charged with scheming to try to silence a woman who previously accused Israel of sexually assaulting her when she was 12. Israel was arrested on those allegations in 2016.

Prosecutors say the scheme involved Israel hiring Parco for $17,000 to record the dirty deeds a relative of the accuser was set up to commit. The goal was to pressure the victim to stop cooperating.

But the victim's family became angry instead of ashamed and reported the alleged shakedown efforts and the footage to the DA's office, prosecutors said.

Parco faces allegations of promoting prostitution, unlawful surveillance and other counts. The DA's office says the aim of the setup was to derail the sex crimes investigation against Israel.

Prosecutors hope to convince a judge to block the defense from publicly discussing or disclosing footage of the victim's relative's December 2016 romp, "which is entirely reasonable given the charges at issue here," Assistant District Attorney Gwen Barnes wrote in November.

Gleason says restrictions of any kind should not stand and denies that Parco knew about the alleged frame job.

Parco "needs all the discovery, without any encumbrances, in order to put on his defense as well as to clear his good name," the lawyer wrote.


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