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Who

One of the city's most prominent defense attorneys, Shargel has represented a string of Gottis—Gambino family boss John J. Gotti, his son John A. Gotti, and even the rap mogul who goes by the name Chris Gotti.

Backstory

Shargel got his first taste for the Mafia life as a busboy at the Lido Hotel on Long Island, a popular spot for Mob bosses in the '50s and '60s. The son of a paint and wallpaper store owner in New Jersey, Shargel attended Rutgers and Brooklyn Law before landing a job with criminal defense attorney (and onetime Mob fave), James "Jimmy" LaRossa. It was there that he met fellow attorney Ronald Fischetti, and the two left to start a firm of their own in the late '70s; when the partnership unraveled two years later, Shargel went off on his own. He's since repped some of New York's most unsavory characters, including dozens of members of the Italian Mob as well as the vicious Irish mobster Jimmy Coonan, who headed up the Westies gang. Other clients over the years have included notorious politicos like former Bronx democratic leader Stanley Friedman; real estate investor Norman Dansker; and restaurateur Jeffrey Chodorow, who was convicted on charges related to the bankruptcy of Braniff Airlines. In addition to maintaining a busy private practice, over the years Shargel has taught criminal defense at NYU and Brooklyn Law School.

Of note

Along with Bruce Cutler, Shargel was one of the most popular attorneys to New York-area mobsters in the '70s and '80s. He defended Gambino boss John Gotti on several occasions, and helped contribute to Gotti's reputation as the "Teflon Don," before he was thrown off Gotti's 1992 murder case along with Cutler after they were accused of serving as in-house counsel for the Gambino family. (It was that case that landed Gotti in jail for life. ) Shargel later represented Gotti's son, John A. Gotti, but in recent years he's also taken on a number of non-Mob cases that have landed his name in the paper, such as the defense of Daniel Pelosi, who was convicted in December 2004 of bludgeoning Ted Ammon to death. In 2005, Shargel successfully defended rap mogul Chris Gotti, the co-founder of Murder Inc., after he was accused of laundering drug money with his brother, Irv Gotti. More recently, Shargel was involved in the failed defense of Montessori school principal Lina Sinha, who was convicted of sexually abusing a student.

In person

Like any defense attorney worth his salt, Shargel is known for his courtroom flair. In his closing statement on behalf of gangster Jimmy Coonan, he managed to make members of the jury break into tears, which is saying a lot considering Coonan had a nasty habit of dismembering his enemies and dumping the bodies (minus the hands so they couldn't be identified) in the East River. You can see Shargel in action for yourself on his firm's website, Shargellaw.com, which features video highlights from his career.

Personal

He's married to his college sweetheart, Terry, who sells antique posters. They have two kids—a daughter named Johanna and a son named David—and live on the Upper East Side. They also have a home in Sag Harbor where Shargel keeps his 1957 antique Ford convertible. They've sold the boat they once owned, "Defense Rests."

True story

Repping the Mob might bring in the big bucks, but it has its risks, too. Frustrated with Shargel's high fees and lack of progress in one case, John Gotti was once recorded by the FBI telling an associate at the Ravenite Social Club that he had "a better way than an elevator" to show Shargel out of his office. Shargel's office happened to be on the 32nd floor.