Gallagher Cops A Plea

Councilmember Dennis Gallagher took a plea deal for assaulting a woman in his Middle Village office last summer - admitting to sex abuse, promising to step down and thereby avoiding jail time.
Gallagher, who must enroll in and successfully complete alcohol treatment, had to read a formal statement in Queens Supreme Court on Monday, March 17.
Gallagher, red-faced and appearing embarrassed, told the audience packed into the arraignment room, “While I was intoxicated, I intentionally and forcibly touched intimate parts of the complainant and subjected her to sexual contact without her consent. My conduct was wrong and I apologize to the complainant.”
His 52-year-old victim also had her side heard when a prosecutor read a statement she had written, saying that the incident “scarred [her] for life.”
“I will never recover from the pain, anguish and humiliation I suffered as a result of this man’s vicious assault and attack on me … He took away my dignity and self-esteem. He is a sexual abuser,” the victim said in her statement.
Gallagher’s resignation from the City Council will become official on Friday, April 18, officials said.
In a statement, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said that the charges, which were dropped down to forcible touching and third-degree sexual abuse, were “particularly troubling” because Gallagher is a politician.
“His behavior constituted not only a serious violation of law, but a breach of the trust that we have placed in, and have a right to expect of, our elected public officials,” Brown said.
Brown had pledged to re-indict Gallagher, who was initially charged with rape, after the case was tossed in January when a judge ruled that prosecutors’ tactics had poisoned the grand jury.
According to a police source, Gallagher turned himself in to police hours before appearing in Queens Supreme Court the morning of Monday, March 17 - St. Patrick’s Day.
Outside of the courtroom after the proceedings, Gallagher’s counsel Benjamin Brafman told reporters that the initial charges were “hateful and false.”
“[Gallagher] is a fundamentally good man who made a terrible mistake as a result of having too much too drink … He has lost a very good career and is publicly humiliated, so he is not happy about the incident, he regrets it. He is deeply remorseful.”
Brafman speculated that the victim, with her statement, laid ground for a later civil suit against the 43-year-old Republican councilmember. During the court session, the legal eagle, who once represented Michael Jackson, made a point to say that the case was the first time in Queens history where a rape charge was dropped down to a misdemeanor for a plea.
“For a judge to give someone a conditional discharge with no further punishment, no probation, no reporting requirements, means that everybody involved recognizes that these were flawed charges to begin with and that unfortunately it happened,” Brafman said. “At least the result was, in my judgment, fair under the circumstances.”
After the proceedings, Gallagher was brought upstairs for a DNA swab, a source said.
One would-be politician along with a council veteran have already expressed interest in Gallagher’s seat, for which Mayor Michael Bloomberg will call a special election in the coming weeks. Republican Tom Ognibene, who held the seat before Gallagher from 1991 until 2001, and Democrat Elizabeth Crowley, who ran against and lost to Gallagher in 2001, have both thrown their hats into the ring.