Geraldo Slams Kerik Sentencing

Geraldo Rivera declares that former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik was sentenced by a “hanging judge” who treated the 9/11 hero as if he were a “terrorist or a murderer.”

On Thursday, federal district judge Stephen Robinson slapped Kerik with a harsh jail sentence of four years after he pleaded guilty to several charges, including lying to the White House and filing false tax returns.

Editor's Note: See Geraldo Video Below

On Fox News Channel’s “Gerald at Large” over the weekend, Geraldo — a longtime supporter of Kerik during his years-long legal ordeal — told viewers:

“The deck was stacked against him from the beginning, by Stephen Robinson, a federal judge who seemed intent on crippling Kerik’s ability to defend himself.

“Item: Claiming Bernie was trying to influence the jury pool by leaking information for a favorable article that was never published, the judge revoked Bernie’s pretrial bond, throwing him in jail even before he went to trial, treating the 9/11 hero like he was a terrorist or a murderer.

“Item: Adding insult to injury, the hanging judge also ruled that Kerik could not mention his noble services on 9/11.

“Item: Not only is the judge a hypocrite, he’s also wrong on the facts, woefully overlooking not only Kerik’s courage but his charity and compassion for 9/11 victims in the years since the towers went down.

“And finally, item: As overzealous as the prosecutors were, they agreed that Kerik should serve a stiff sentence of between 27 and 33 months. But in a rare departure from protocol, the judge chose to ignore the plea deal, adding 15 months to Kerik’s sentence, giving him 48 months behind bars. Compare Bernie’s 48 months to the 10 months received by former Connecticut Gov. John Rowland for essentially the same crime.”

Kerik told Geraldo that he has been “devastated” by the sentence, charging the judge with “annihilating any possibility for me to salvage anything — my finances, my house, my family, my life, by doing what he’s done.”
Geraldo also said the judge “hated” Kerik, and added: “I think a terrible thing has happened here.”