ATLANTA – Gold Club owner Steve Kaplan bought protection
from the Gambino crime family during the 1980s and met with boss
John Gotti and Gotti's son at least once to talk about it, Kaplan's
cousin testified Wednesday.
Kaplan, on trial for racketeering charges related to the Atlanta
strip club, bought cars for a Gambino associate in exchange for the
mob's protection of nightclubs he owned, said the cousin, David
Alwais.
Alwais, whose prison sentence on an unrelated federal
racketeering conviction was reduced in exchange for his testimony,
said Kaplan would have done "pretty much anything" for protection
from the Gambinos.
Kaplan and six associates are on trial for racketeering, money
laundering and obstruction of justice. The government contends
Kaplan sold his dancers as prostitutes to professional athletes,
bilked customers through credit-card fraud and funneled money to
the Gambino syndicate in New York.
When Kaplan complained he was spending too much money buying
cars for Gambino associate Frank Morano, a meeting was called with
John Gotti and his son, who then told Morano to lay off Kaplan,
Alwais testified.
Earlier Wednesday, the judge chastised defense attorneys for
courtroom theatrics -- including a table dance by one lawyer -- and
the prosecutor apologized for an FBI agent throwing a videotape at
Kaplan's attorney.
U.S. District Judge Willis Hunt read into the court record a
description of Bruce Harvey's table dance during Tuesday's opening
statements. Harvey, who represents a Gold Club dancer accused of
selling sex to professional basketball players, jumped on a defense
table and peeled off his jacket to illustrate his argument that his
client is just a successful stripper.
"That conduct could be characterized as disrespectful, as
disruptive," Hunt told the defense team as the trial resumed
Wednesday. "You do have a situation that obviously goes beyond the
legitimate scope of an opening statement."
The judge also chastised defense attorneys for personal attacks
on Assistant U.S. Attorney Art Leach during opening statements.
Some of the attorneys attacked Leach for offering deals to
"scumbags" in exchange for their testimony.
Leach apologized to Hunt for a courtroom spat between FBI agent
Mark Sewell and Kaplan's lawyer, Steve Sadow, in which Sewell threw
a videotape at Sadow.
The confrontation during a recess Tuesday was not witnessed by
the jury, but fellow defense attorney Don Samuel complained about
it in open court, saying it occurred after Sadow asked Sewell about
videotape evidence that was supposed to have been turned over to
the defense.
Leach said he had talked with Sadow and "we have achieved an
understanding that we are going to try to improve our relations
among ourselves."
The government contends Kaplan took sold sex to celebrities and
cheated customers by overbilling credit cards.
The government says it will call NFL stars Terrell Davis and
Jamal Anderson and the NBA's Patrick Ewing as witnesses. The
defense acknowledges the Gold Club is a high-priced celebrity
hangout but denies anything illegal happens there.
Charges against the defendants include obstruction, credit card
fraud and loansharking. Kaplan also is accused of ordering the
beatings of about 20 people who did not repay high-interest loans.
The trial is expected to last well into summer.
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