48 Hours - Listen Now - Criminal Attorney

Episode Date: October 4, 2024

Paul Bergrin is a hotshot criminal defense attorney in Newark, New Jersey. Seemingly unstoppable and with unorthodox methods, he’s built a reputation for getting his clients off the hook. But as Paul's legend grows, so do the suspicions swirling around him. When FBI Agent Shawn Brokos starts investigating a major drug ring, she makes a shocking discovery: the gang's most powerful player is none other than Newark’s star attorney. Has the ex-federal prosecutor crossed the line and started committing crimes himself?From Wondery, comes a new series about a lawyer who breaks all the rules, the FBI agent determined to take him down at all costs, and the people caught in the middle who paid the ultimate price.Listen to Criminal Attorney on the Wondery App or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen early and ad-free on Wondery+. Join Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple podcasts. Start your free trial by visiting Wondery.fm/Criminal_Attorney now. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Paul Berggrin was a lawyer who could get you out of any sticky situation. Caught selling pirated videos like Queen Latifah was in 1995? Better call Paul. Accused of lying to a jury during testimony like Lil' Kim was in 2003? Better call Paul. Caught stabbing your spouse 10 times with a steak knife, no matter if you were innocent or guilty? Paul could get you off the hook.

We see lawyers like this in The Sopranos or Breaking Bad. But what happens when those fictional lawyers cross over into the real world? At the peak of his career, Paul Bergrin was undefeated, a master lawyer who knew the system inside out. But when an FBI agent finds traces of Bergrin's involvement in a massive drug ring, questions start to arise on the lengths Paul went to achieve his dominance and what he would do to ensure he stayed there. I'm your host, Brandon Jinks Jenkins. Join me in Wondery's newest true crime podcast, Criminal Attorney, where I'll tell you the true story of how Paul Bergeron went from representing others in court to representing himself. No one is better suited to breaking the law than those who know it best. I'm about to play

a clip from Criminal Attorney. Follow Criminal Attorney on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. From Wondery, I'm Brandon Jinks Jenkins, and this is Criminal Attorney. It was 2003, and Shawn Brokos was on her way to a Newark apartment complex. She'd received a tip that someone in that apartment had a gun, that they shouldn't. Shawn was in her early 30s, blonde and white in Newark. She looked like a teacher, or a dentist, or someone with a desk job at a bank. Which is actually what she'd been doing seven years earlier. She ran the loan department at a bank in El Paso. So overseeing who qualified for commercial loans, personal loans, car loans.

Until one day when federal agents came to the bank, they were investigating one of the bank's clients who they suspected of money laundering. It wasn't like in the movies. It wasn't all that exciting. Just two guys wearing suits serving a subpoena. But Sean was fascinated. She thought to herself, Wow, this sounds a whole lot more interesting than the work I'm doing. I literally walked down to the local FBI office. I put my name in, filled out an application, and before I knew it, I was off to Quantico for training for the FBI. Fast forward to present day, and Sean was a full-on, bona fide FBI agent. It was something that I knew would be an adventure.

Look, Newark at the time was not a great place, but if you're in law enforcement, boy, there's no better place to be. She was part of the gang squad. We were always running cases on the Bloods and the Crips because at the time in New York, those were the strongest street gangs. And to this day, the case involves someone affiliated with the Crips. The man's name was Kimo Deshawn McCray. Kimo had been convicted of a felony, so it was illegal for him to have a gun.

And that was enough to take him down. When Shauna and her partner got to the apartment, they knocked on the door. They were let inside, where they met Kimo and his mother. We said, hey, we know you have a gun in the apartment. We know that you cannot be in possession of a gun. We don't have a search warrant. We can get one. But if you turn that weapon over to us, that would be the best thing to do. They went to the bedroom and opened the closet door.

And there it was in the back of the closet. It was a sizable shotgun. Brownstock, older model, and sawed off, meaning the barrel had been shortened. They grabbed the shotgun and headed back to the living room. I immediately walked up to chemo and I said, you're going to have to come with us. And I was holding him. I think it was on his forearm or maybe like his upper arm. And I remember he just literally slipped right out of the jacket.

So in a split second, he's gone, and I'm left holding this jacket, and he's out the door. Kimo and his mom were on the ground floor of the apartment building, so his escape was pretty simple. And he had another advantage. I'm thinking I'm not chasing him. I'm in skirt and heels. I'm not going to chase after him through the projects. As Sean watched Kimo run off, she also saw a lost opportunity. See, Sean wasn't just there to get a gun off the street. Sean Brokos needed someone like Kimo.

She had her eyes on some of the bigger players in Newark, and getting Kimo into custody was just the next very important step in her plan. In this case, Kimo McCray was not the white whale she was looking to land, but he was connected and could lead her up the ladder. She needed someone to go inside the crew and feed her information. That was why she needed Kimo McCray to agree to be a confidential informant. Now let's be clear here. The FBI, throughout its history, has had a pretty bad reputation when it comes to informants. They use a small fish to go catch the big fish. But that feels more like big game hunting for optics more than any attempt to stop a problem

or protect citizens. Like how long ago did they start the war on drugs? And how's it going now? But that's the game Sean's playing here. There is no FBI investigation without getting people on the street to talk. And that was why the fact that he was now out the door and down the block was such a bad look. Sean turned to Kimo's mother. At first, she claimed the gun was such a bad look. Sean turned to Kimo's mother. At first, she claimed the gun was hers, not Kimo's. But Sean wasn't buying it one bit. I said, you cannot own this gun for your son.

It is his, and you cannot do this. It's just not the right thing to do. And she said, yes, it is his gun. It is not my gun, but I don't want to get my son into trouble. So that's when I said, look, just come down to our office tomorrow. We can work through this. Sure enough, the next morning, Kimo and his mother show up at the FBI field office in Newark.

Kimo's a slim black guy in his early 30s. He's been in and out of jail a few times at this point. Petty stuff like weapons possession, robbery, and drugs. But now he's got kids. He's very close with his family, and he does not want to do any more time. Sean remembers that Kimo's mom did a lot of the talking. He looked terrified. In his mom's apartment, Kimo had gotten the jump on Sean.

But here, in her office, with Kimo's mother by his side ready to do anything to secure his freedom, Sean had all the leverage. She'd been in this situation enough times before. She'd sat across other young men like Kimo and tried to flip them. So by now, she had a whole speech worked out.

You don't have to answer any questions. I'm not going to ask any questions, but I'd like you to listen to me for the next five minutes. Sean lays it out for Kimo. It's simple. You can either join our team, become part of team government, which means you're going to help us in our investigations. If you decide against that, you do know that I will have to arrest you for being in possession of this weapon. And what that's going to look like is you're going to do jail time. You have the previous conviction.

You will be going to jail for quite some time. So, go to jail. Or become an informant and risk your life trying to infiltrate a ruthless drug gang. Rock, meet Hard Place. Listen to Criminal Attorney early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.