On Thursday, a federal judge ruled that indicted Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club owner Peter G. Gerace Jr. can return to work at his nightclub, over the objections of the prosecutor.

Gerace had been barred from entering the club since his arrest Feb. 28 on charges of bribing a DEA agent, drug trafficking and sex trafficking.

Gerace’s general manager at the club is John Ermin, the international president of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, which law enforcement has linked for decades to crimes throughout North America, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi said in court papers filed in Gerace's case. He added that “several Outlaws MC members are employed at Pharaoh’s.”

“Law enforcement considers the Outlaws MC to be a dangerous and violent criminal organization, and there have historically been a myriad of Outlaws MC prosecutions nationally … including a murder at a strip club,” Tripi wrote.

Tripi’s court filings did not provide further details about the Outlaws’ role at Pharaoh’s, and the prosecutor declined to discuss Pharaoh’s or the biker club with a Buffalo News reporter.

Ermin, 51, of Lancaster, declined to comment on Pharaoh’s or the Outlaws during two brief telephone conversations with The News.

Ermin and “one or two other” Outlaws do work at Pharaoh’s, but they are not involved in criminal activity, Gerace’s attorney, Joel L. Daniels, told The News.

“John Ermin is the day manager at Pharaoh’s. He’s been there about eight years and is a solid, trusted employee. He’s a hard worker who is not making any kind of trouble,” Daniels said.

When asked about government allegations of drug dealing and sex trafficking in the club, Daniels said, “Zero. You can file that in the federal government’s rumor mill.”

Organized crime investigation

Gerace, 53, of Clarence, was arrested while on a Florida vacation. He pleaded not guilty to felony counts of conspiracy to defraud the United States; paying bribes to a former federal drug agent; maintaining a drug-involved premises; conspiracy to distribute controlled substances; and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.

The case against Gerace stems from an ongoing government probe into alleged organized crime in the Buffalo area. Gerace is the nephew of the man who prosecutors say runs the Buffalo Mafia, although they’ve never proven that in court.

On the same day Gerace was arrested, State Supreme Court Justice John L. Michalski lay down in front of a moving freight train, according to sources. That happened about a week after federal agents questioned the judge about his friendship with Gerace. Michalski is recovering from a leg injury.

The investigation has also resulted in indictments against former DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni, Buffalo teacher Michael Massechia, who admitted selling drugs, and Joseph Bella, who is charged with committing fraud while selling Covid-19 test kits at inflated prices.

After Gerace's arrest, a federal magistrate judge released him from custody but prohibited him from setting foot in Pharaoh’s.

But at Daniels’ request, U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra Jr. modified those restrictions on Wednesday, granting Gerace permission to spend three hours a day in his workplace. Gerace can go to the nightclub he owns every day from 7:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. while he awaits his trial.

The judge said Gerace can take care of banking, writing checks and ordering food and beverages for the nightclub.

“We think this was a very reasonable ruling by the judge,” Daniels told The News. “Peter is allowed to be at Pharaoh’s from 7:30 until 10:30 each morning. The place opens at noon. The only person allowed to be in Pharaoh’s while Peter is there is a cleaning woman who has to be preapproved by the U.S. Probation Office.”

The general manager

Known to friends by the nickname “Tommy O,” Ermin was described as a law-abiding man and devoted father by George V.C. Muscato, the attorney who represented him after Ermin and three other men were arrested by Lancaster police following a barroom altercation 11 years ago.

Lancaster police identified all four men as members of the Outlaws, accusing them of “punching, kicking and stomping” a man in a bar on Central Avenue.

Ermin was initially charged with felony assault after the April 2010 arrest, but the charge was later reduced to a misdemeanor, and Ermin ultimately pleaded guilty to a noncriminal violation of disorderly conduct, the Erie County District Attorney’s Office said. A Village of Lancaster judge sentenced Ermin to perform 30 hours of community service.

Muscato described the incident as “an ordinary barroom brawl” that erupted after a woman asked Ermin to give her a ride on his motorcycle.

“To my knowledge, this was the only brush Tommy has ever had with the law. To my knowledge, he has no criminal record,” Muscato said. “He’s a very interesting guy who graduated from an elite art college in Pittsburgh and lost part of his leg in a horrible motorcycle accident that was not his fault. His wife was killed when a car crossed the center line and hit Tommy’s bike.”

Muscato said he did not know what position Ermin holds with the Outlaws.

But one person who said he was aware of Ermin’s leadership position is Steve Cook, a police officer from Missouri who is executive director of the Midwest Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association.

The Outlaws, founded near Chicago in the 1930s, are one of the biggest and most dangerous biker gangs in the world, said Cook, who lectures police agencies all over America about the gangs.

“Tommy O is a mover and shaker in the biker world,” Cook said. “He’s a leader of what I would describe as an international criminal syndicate that has chapters all over the world.”

A violent history

Over the decades, police linked members of the Outlaws to violent incidents all over the United States, including a September 1994 brawl and shootout that killed two bikers during a motorcycle event at the Lancaster Speedway.

More than 100 shots were fired during the speedway fracas, police said, noting that guns, knives, brass knuckles, ax handles and other weapons were found at the scene. Police said some of the bikers wore bulletproof vests. A Buffalo leader of the Outlaws and a Rochester leader of the rival Hells Angels were killed.

In the early 1990s, several local Outlaws – including the man who was then the president of the Buffalo chapter – were convicted of drug trafficking crimes at Buffalo’s federal court.

The U.S. Justice Department identified the Outlaws as a dangerous organization in a 2015 report on gang violence in America. The government report said some Outlaws engage in criminal activities, including drug trafficking, homicide, arson, assault, prostitution, robbery, theft, explosives, extortion, fraud, intimidation, kidnapping and money laundering.

One of the most famous Outlaws – former international president Harry “Taco” Bowman – was sent to prison for life in 2001, after he was convicted of murdering rival bikers, fire bombings and other racketeering crimes. Bowman, who traveled to Buffalo to lead a funeral procession after the Lancaster Speedway murders, died in federal prison in 2019.

Another former international president of the club, James “Frank” Wheeler, was sentenced to a federal prison term in 2004 after he and 10 other Ohio Outlaws were convicted of racketeering in Toledo.

Earlier this month, Ontario Provincial Police in Brantford announced the arrests of 10 people on firearms and drug charges. Police said the arrests followed an eight-month investigation into criminal activities by the Outlaws and three other “criminal networks.”

Ex-Pharaoh's worker tells of Outlaws

A former employee of Pharaoh’s told The News that as many as 30 members of the Outlaws were sometimes present for Wednesday night events the bikers called “church.” The word “church,” according to motorcycle club jargon, refers to meetings of its members.

“The Outlaws scared off other customers,” said the former employee, who expressed her own fear of the Outlaws and spoke on the condition that her name would not be published.

The indictment of Gerace accuses him of operating Pharaoh's as a drug-involved premise and maintaining it for the purpose of distributing a variety of drugs there, to facilitate prostitution and to provide drugs to employees in exchange for sex. Although the indictment mentions that he employed members of the Outlaws at Pharaoh's, it does not accuse any Outlaws of drug or sex trafficking. 

Daniels said the Outlaws are not involved in drug-dealing, sex crimes or any other crimes at Pharaoh’s.

Asked about the 1994 Lancaster shootout and drug convictions against local Outlaws, Daniels noted that those incidents took place more than 25 years ago. “Ancient history,” the defense attorney said. “None of these things has anything to do with Pharaoh’s.”

Gerace denies crimes in bar

Gerace told The News last month that the charges of drug sales and sex trafficking at Pharaoh’s were untrue.

“I make so much money here that I’d be an idiot to do something illegal,” Gerace said, referring to Pharaoh’s.

According to Daniels, the Cheektowaga club has more than 100 employees, including some part-timers. He said Gerace spends $5,000 to $10,000 each week on beer, wine and alcohol, and another $4,000 to $5,000 on chicken wings, steaks, turkey breasts and other food supplies for patrons.

Gerace, who returned to work at Pharaoh’s on Thursday, told The News he was gratified by Sinatra’s ruling. When asked about the Outlaws, he referred a reporter to Daniels.

“We are supposed to be innocent until proven guilty,” Gerace said.