N.J. Burkett reporting live
By N.J. Burkett
Updated 35 mins ago
NEW YORK (WABC) -- An NYPD deputy chief and deputy inspector were indicted in federal court Wednesday, accused of accepting thousands of dollars in bribes and gratuities from a Brooklyn businessman.
NYPD Deputy Chief Michael Harrington and Deputy Inspector James Grant appeared for an arraignment on their indictment. The seven-count indictment charges the men with wire fraud, conspiracy and bribery.
Jeremy Reichberg also was in court Wednesday and was charged with bribing the two. All three pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The arraignment of Harrington and Grant was a further development in a series of overlapping public corruption investigations coordinated by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
In exchange for the bribes, Reichberg and his friend Jona Rechnitz got private security guards, valets and chauffeurs, prosecutors said.
"They got in effect, a private police force for themselves and their friends. Effectively, they got 'cops on call,'" said U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.
Rechnitz has pleaded guilty and is cooperating in the case. Harrington worked in the Chief of Department's Office and Grant was a commander of two precincts.
Their arrests follow months of revelations that have embarrassed the nation's largest police department and put Mayor Bill de Blasio on the spot about his campaign financing. Reichberg contributed heavily to de Blasio's campaign.
The mayor, a Democrat, hasn't been implicated in any wrongdoing.
Andrew Weinstein, Harrington's lawyer, said the charges against his client were politically motivated.
"Chief Harrington is a loyal and devoted family man who has an unblemished record and has spent the last three decades working tirelessly to keep New York City safe," Weinstein said. "One would be hard-pressed to find a straighter arrow in their quiver."
Susan Necheles, Reichberg's lawyer, said in an email: "Mr. Reichberg did not commit a crime."
Reichberg's "only mistake," Necheles said, was befriending a government cooperator "who is desperately trying to get others in trouble in order to curry favor with prosecutors and save his own skin."