The United States Attorney's Office

Benton J. Campbell, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, announced that David A. Gross, a former Nassau County District Court Judge, was sentenced today to thirty-three month’s imprisonment for conspiring to launder nearly $400,000 obtained through the sale of purportedly stolen diamonds and watches. The sentencing proceeding was held before Senior United States District Judge Arthur D. Spatt at the U.S. Courthouse in Central Islip, New York.

Gross was first elected to the Nassau County District Court bench in November 1999. In January 2005, while Gross was running for re-election, a member of the Genovese crime family introduced Gross to an undercover FBI agent posing as a trafficker in stolen jewelry. Following a series of meetings, Gross agreed to sell stolen jewelry provided by the undercover agent and launder the proceeds. Gross subsequently introduced the undercover agent to a Freeport restauranteur who joined the scheme and agreed to launder the stolen jewelry profits through his restaurant, Café by the Sea, in Freeport. Between January and August 2005, Gross and his co-conspirators laundered approximately $130,000 in cash for the undercover agent, keeping between fifteen and twenty percent for themselves. In addition, Gross and his co-conspirators sold, or agreed to sell, more than $250,000 worth of purportedly stolen jewelry provided by the undercover agent.

Gross was arrested on money laundering conspiracy and related charges in August 2005 and was suspended from the bench in September 2005. Gross was not re-elected to the bench in November 2005. On July 13, 2007, Gross pleaded guilty to money laundering conspiracy.

Mr. Campbell extended his grateful appreciation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York field Office, the agency responsible for leading the government’s investigation, and thanked the Nassau County Police Department and the Suffolk County Police Department for their assistance in the case.

The government’s case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys James Miskiewicz, Cynthia M. Monaco, and Richard Lunger.

The Defendant:

DAVID A. GROSS
Age: 45