By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A judge needs to send an "unmistakable message" when sentencing former NYPD Commissioner Bernard Kerik on fraud and other charges, federal prosecutors said in a sentencing memo revealed Monday.
Kerik pleaded guilty to eight felony charges, including tax fraud, lying on a loan application and lying to White House officials when he was considered for Homeland Security secretary, in November.
"The sentence imposed here should serve to deter others," from committing similar crimes, the memo said.
In the 61-page memo, prosecutors described Kerik as a corrupt and self-serving official, and asked Judge Stephen Robinson to impose an additional $34,000 in fines, on top of the $221,000 Kerik has already paid.
In addition to the crimes he was charged with, the memo also accuses Kerik of using city police officers to work on his autobiography.
His lawyer has been filing letters vouching for his client's character and urging for leniency, the New York Times reported. Kerik's ex-boss, former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, has not submitted a letter on Kerik's behalf.
"The indisputable facts show" that while Kerik was police commissioner and, before that, Correction commissioner, he enriched himself "in violation of local conflict of interest laws," cheated on his taxes and lied to a bank. They also show he "lied repeatedly about matters of substance," related to his dealings with the White House.
Kerik is scheduled to be sentenced next Thursday in federal court in White Plains.
