THE NATION - News from May 21, 2009
A defense lawyer and former federal prosecutor whose clients have included rap stars and a soldier at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq was charged with arranging the killing of one witness and trying to hire a hit man to kill another.
Paul W. Bergrin is accused of murder, conspiracy to commit murder and racketeering in a 14-count federal indictment unsealed in Newark.
Bergrin, 53, has represented Lil’ Kim, Queen Latifah and other rap stars. He also represented Sgt. Javal S. Davis, a soldier who served about four months in a military prison in 2005 for mistreating Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib.
Bergrin’s lawyer, Gerald Shargel, said his client was innocent.
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