Origin Story | 7

Summary

Criminal Attorney: Episode 7 - Origin Story Run from the Boogeyman

Host: Matthew Nelson
Reporter: Rich Breton
Release Date: November 4, 2024

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1. Introduction

In the seventh episode of Criminal Attorney, titled "Origin Story Run from the Boogeyman," host Matthew Nelson delves into the complex and enigmatic life of Paul Bergrin, a renowned criminal defense attorney from Newark, New Jersey. The episode unravels Paul's journey from a heroic lifeguard friend to a suspect embroiled in criminal activities, exploring the factors that may have led to his downfall.

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2. Early Life and Friendship with Rich Breton

The episode opens with a nostalgic recount of Paul Bergrin's early life, highlighting his deep-rooted friendship with Rich Breton.

At [00:14], Matthew Nelson introduces Rich Breton, who shares a pivotal childhood memory:

Rich Breton [00:45]: "So we swam over there, hung out with them for a while, shot some pool, ate some food, and then had to swim back."

This memory underscores Paul’s heroic nature when he saves Rich from drowning:

Rich Breton [01:40]: "You know, I thought I was drowning, but he was. He saved me, so he saved my life that day."

The strong bond between Rich and Paul is further emphasized:

Rich Breton [02:18]: "If you wanted to pick and describe what you wanted your kid to be like when they were teenagers, you would describe Paul."

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3. Family Background and Father's Influence

Paul's upbringing in Far Rockaway, Queens during the 1950s and 60s is explored, revealing a tumultuous family environment. His father, Bertram Bergrin, was a New York City police patrol officer whose behavior left a lasting impact on Paul.

Rich recounts Paul's childhood experiences:

Rich Breton [05:23]: "We used to hang out also a lot at Beechninth Street... We all were very close."

However, beneath the surface, there were signs of corruption and strictness:

Rich Breton [07:41]: "His dad had like 100 different bank books back when you had bank books... a closet full of appliances."

This hinted at possible illicit activities:

Rich Breton [08:05]: "I think it was more money than a policeman would make... I’m guessing he got kickbacks, but I don't know."

Paul’s relationship with his father was fraught with abuse and neglect:

Rich Breton [09:42]: "I don't see much affection between Paul's dad and any of the family members."

Despite this, Paul initially intended to follow in his father's footsteps by passing the police entrance exam but was influenced by his wife, Barbara, to pursue a more prestigious career in law.

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4. Career Shift to Criminal Defense

Paul's transition from the Essex County Prosecutor's office to becoming a criminal defense attorney marked a significant turning point in his career. His early experiences in the prosecutor’s office exposed him to unethical practices:

Matthew Nelson [03:24]: "He was writing that while in prison awaiting trial. He names names."

This revelation in his memoir hinted at the beginning of his conflict with the government.

Additionally, Paul's shift was influenced by his exposure to colleagues like Richard "Ritchie" Roberts, a former detective who also transitioned to defense law.

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5. Relationships with Peers and Clients

Paul’s courtroom prowess and charismatic personality made him a central figure in Newark’s legal and social circles. His friendship with Ritchie Roberts is particularly notable:

Ritchie Roberts [12:09]: "He understood the law. His style in the courtroom... he got acquittal after acquittal."

Paul’s reputation extended beyond the courtroom, as he mingled with both criminals and law enforcement:

Ritchie Roberts [16:11]: "Paul's clients, of course, included drug kingpins who stood around at the same party as Paul's friends from law enforcement."

These minglings fostered an environment where Paul was seen as a bridge between different worlds, often leading to ethical gray areas.

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6. Emerging Corruption and Downfall

As Paul's legend grew, so did the suspicions surrounding his practices. His memoir, received clandestinely by Rich, painted a picture of Paul as an underdog fighting against powerful government forces:

Matthew Nelson [03:49]: "He makes the connections that that's why they're going after him."

However, the reality hinted at deeper corruption:

Ritchie Roberts [16:30]: "Paul was known in Newark. He had a reputation of being there for those who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford a high-powered attorney."

Accusations against Paul included involvement in "New York Confidential," cartel connections, and witness tampering, ultimately leading to his arrest.

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7. Perspectives on Paul's Behavior

Colleagues and associates offer varying interpretations of Paul's actions:

• Ritchie Roberts views Paul as inherently corrupt:

  Ritchie Roberts [19:32]: "There was something in him. And maybe it was too easy for him to get away with some of the things he was getting away with."

• John Edwards Tiffany suggests Paul might have inherent sociopathic tendencies:

  John Edwards Tiffany [21:50]: "He probably had sociopathic tendencies."

• Henry Klingaman presents a more nuanced view, portraying Paul as a tragic figure:

  Henry Klingaman [22:11]: "Paul was clearly in control of his faculties at all times. He was one of these tragic figures that perhaps if he had stayed on the right side of the law, would have nonetheless been very successful."

These perspectives highlight the complexity of Paul’s character, leaving listeners to ponder whether his descent was a product of his environment or inherent personality traits.

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8. Conclusion

Paul Bergrin's story embodies the intricate interplay between personal history, professional ethics, and environmental influences. From his heroic act of saving a friend to his alleged criminal activities, Paul's life serves as a cautionary tale about the corrupting influence of power and ambition within the legal system. The episode concludes by reflecting on the failure of the justice system to contain one of its own, ultimately questioning the very foundations of legality and morality that Paul once upheld.

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Notable Quotes:

• Rich Breton [01:40]: "You know, I thought I was drowning, but he was. He saved me, so he saved my life that day."

• Ritchie Roberts [16:30]: "Paul was known in Newark. He had a reputation of being there for those who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford a high-powered attorney."

• Henry Klingaman [22:11]: "Paul was clearly in control of his faculties at all times. He was one of these tragic figures that perhaps if he had stayed on the right side of the law, would have nonetheless been very successful."

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This episode of Criminal Attorney provides a comprehensive look into the enigmatic life of Paul Bergrin, blending personal anecdotes with investigative reporting to paint a vivid picture of a man who once stood as a pillar of the community but ultimately fell from grace amidst allegations of deep-seated corruption.

Transcript

[Wondery Announcer]

Wondery subscribers can binge all episodes of Criminal Attorney early and ad free. Join Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts.

[Rich Breton]

Wondery.

[Matthew Nelson]

If you're expecting Jinx, you might be surprised to hear a Scottish accent. I'm Matthew Nelson, the reporter for Criminal Attorney. Decades before the events of our podcast, a teenager called Rich Breton stood at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean in Rockaway, Queens. He and his friend put on their trunks. They steeled themselves and decided to swim across the channel from Queens to Atlantic beach to go meet some other kids.

[Rich Breton]

So we swam over there, hung out with them for a while, shot some pool, ate some food, and then had to swim back.

[Matthew Nelson]

Now, this swim, it's not easy. It's about a quarter of a mile and there are hazards in the water.

[Rich Breton]

And there's boats and stuff going through there. Not to mention, the current between the Atlantic Ocean and the Long Island Sound is pretty drastic.

[Matthew Nelson]

Rich was a good swimmer, but this time he found himself in trouble.

[Rich Breton]

On the way back, I ran out of steam, I guess, from just the exertion of it all and having a full belly. I was starting to conk out, you know, I was flailing with my arms and stuff.

[Matthew Nelson]

Thankfully, his friend was there tonight.

[Rich Breton]

Then luckily he was close enough to grab ahold of me and pull me in.

[Matthew Nelson]

That friend was Paul Bergryn. Rich says that Paul put him in a lifeguard hold and pulled him back to shore.

[Rich Breton]

You know, I thought I was drowning, but he was. He saved me, so he saved my life that day.

[Matthew Nelson]

I know it is a long time ago, but what was his reaction to those events?

[Rich Breton]

He was glad that he was there. He was like, no sweat, no problem. I got you.

[Matthew Nelson]

It seems like an important memory for both of you. It's also the kind of story that some people might be surprised to hear about Paul Berggren, what do you make of that?

[Rich Breton]

Oh, I know he liked helping people. I mean, he helped me. He helped his brother when he was coaching the baseball team. He's just a helpful person.

[Matthew Nelson]

To Rich, he was a role model, too.

[Rich Breton]

If you wanted to pick and describe what you wanted your kid to be like when they were teenagers, you would describe Paul.

[Matthew Nelson]

So what changed? And how did Paul Bergrin go from saving lives to ending them? From Wondery. Hello, I'm Matthew Nelson, and this is criminal Attorney. Episode 7 Origin Story Run from the.

[Wondery Announcer]

Boogeyman.

[Matthew Nelson]

It'S challenging to report on someone you can actually interview. Paul was held under such strict conditions in prison that only his lawyers and his daughter can speak to him there. But what we did get was the chance to read his memoir. And it was full of information.

[Rich Breton]

He was writing that while in prison awaiting trial. He names names.

[Matthew Nelson]

That's Stjepon Mestrovic, the war crimes professor who Paul called to the stand while defending the soldiers in Iraq. And Paul believed his defense of those soldiers is one reason the government came down so hard on him.

[Rich Breton]

And he makes the connection. He makes the connections that that's why they're going after him.

[Matthew Nelson]

For over a year, I tried to get my hands on Hall's memoir, the stories, Rosetta Stone. Then one day, a package arrived at my door. Alright, it is Tuesday, April 23rd. Probably never gonna get face to face with Paul. So perhaps this is the closest I will actually come to meeting him. This manuscript. Inside the box were 150 neatly typed pages. And it wasn't just Paul settling scores. There were stories from his childhood in Queensland. His mum, his domineering dad, and the moments and places that really shaped him. Each page drew me in deeper, took me closer to Paul Bergrin. And it became clear to me that this wasn't just a memoir. It was Paul's last stand, his real closing statement. The way Paul saw it, he was an underdog caught up in a David versus Goliath battle with the US government. But what his memoir makes clear is that Paul has been fighting forces more powerful than him since the very beginning. Paul grew up in Far Rockaway, queens, in the 1950s and 60s. Rockaway is a part of New York, but it feels more like a beach town than the big city. His home was just a few minutes from the waterfront where he saved his friend Rich Breton from drowning that day.

[Rich Breton]

We used to hang out also a lot at Beechninth Street. There's a playground there, basketball and paddleboard courts, which we played all the time. It was a very mixed crowd. There was, you know, Jewish kids, Irish kids, Greek kids, black kids, you name it. We all were very close.

[Matthew Nelson]

Rich and Paul had been best friends since high school. And Rich spent a fair bit of time at the Bergrin family's modest home.

[Rich Breton]

All through high school. His mom was like my second mom.

[Matthew Nelson]

Paul didn't do much to worry his mother.

[Rich Breton]

He was very good kid. He didn't steal anything from the supermarket checkout aisle or as a kid or any of those things. So he was a very helpful, studious, polite. He wasn't Falmouth. He was a straight shooter.

[Matthew Nelson]

Rich said that Paul was such a straight shooter that he tried to stop his siblings from stepping out of line. He told me the story about him and Paul crashing a party to stop them from smoking marijuana.

[Rich Breton]

We found out that a couple of siblings of ours were at somebody's house, and we went over that way and found them and grabbed their purchase and threw it down the local. The nearby sewer drain because we weren't having that. We wanted them to be straight up.

[Matthew Nelson]

People hearing this story now with all that we know, it's deeply ironic. All these years before Shawn Brokos and the feds were raiding his restaurant and seizing kilos of cocaine, here was Paul making his own Boston saying no to drugs. Paul's father, Bertram Bergren, was enforcing the law for Rio. Bertram was a New York City police patrol officer. Rich said he was in charge of the 100th Precinct in Southern Queens. He wasn't around a lot, and he and Paul were never close, but he made a big impression on Rich.

[Rich Breton]

Let's just say I think their dad. I won't say where he got the money, but his dad had like 100 different bank books back when you had bank books. And every time he opened up a bank book, they got a toaster or something like that.

[Matthew Nelson]

These toaster ovens and kitchen appliances were the free gifts you used to get when you opened up a new account with a bank.

[Rich Breton]

They had a closet full of appliances. And I remember his mom sitting down with Paul and I adding them all up one day. It was nothing to sneeze at.

[Matthew Nelson]

Rich said that there was something here that just didn't add up. Does that mean that he had more than one income?

[Rich Breton]

Well, I. I think it was more money than a policeman would make, put it that way. Yeah. I have no idea where he got it, but I don't think it was policeman salary. Yeah, I can only guess.

[Matthew Nelson]

I mean, if you. If you feel comfortable guessing. What. What would your guess be?

[Rich Breton]

Well, considering he was in charge at 100th Precinct, I'm guessing he got kickbacks, but I don't know.

[Matthew Nelson]

Yeah. What kind of an impact do you think that had on impressionable young Paul?

[Rich Breton]

He's like me. He probably saw that there's different ways to make money.

[Matthew Nelson]

But despite having a closet full of appliances, Paul said that his father was incredibly cheap and didn't support his family because he was only interested in banking as much money as he possibly could. When his dad was at home, Paul wrote that he constantly berated him and his two siblings and told them that they would never amount to anything. He also said that his dad beat him and that he has vivid recollections of his father's Belt lashing against his limbs. The way Paul told it, his father tormented the entire family. Paul said that from a young age he wanted to prove his father wrong, show him that he wasn't worthless or a loser. Despite this, Paul yearned for his father's approval. He never got it. Rich Breton said that Paul never mentioned any abuse to him, but it wasn't a very warm household.

[Rich Breton]

I don't see much affection between Paul's dad and any of the family members. Not even his, not even Paul's mom.

[Matthew Nelson]

Still, Paul initially planned to follow in his father's footsteps. In his memoir, he talks about passing the police entrance exam. But by this time he was dating Barbara, the woman he would go on to marry and have a family with. And she urged him to. To aim higher. So Paul decided to shoot for a career that was prestigious. One that would prove that he was smart and capable and successful. He decided to become a lawyer. But in Newark, some of the people he would go on to meet were not as squeaky clean as guys like Rich. Some of them would even introduce him to activities that might have been more familiar to his father. Perhaps the seeds of corruption that would later define Paul's career were sown right from the start. In his memoir, Paul wrote about what you might call an unorthodox autopsy. One day during his time at the Essex County Prosecutor's office, Paul claims he walked in on the detective eating a sandwich in the autopsy room. And this detective, he was joking around with the medical examiner and sliced the body himself. Clearly this guy did not follow protocol. Paul says that this wasn't the only wild thing he saw. According to him, a lot of the office was self serving and corrupt. Paul very quickly realized or accepted that the ends justified the means. In Newark, Paul jumped sides and became a criminal defence attorney. That's when he made friends like Richard Richie Roberts. Ritchie was famous for being the cop who brought down the drug kingpin Frank Lucas and his heroin empire. And if you remember the movie American Gangster, he was played by Russell Crowe. I've seen American Gangster like so many times that it almost feels a little bit like I already know you before I've met you.

[Ritchie Roberts]

Yeah, well, don't forget it's Hollywood. So a lot of that stuff happened, but not in the way that they projected it. Russell Crowe's an asshole. I just want to say that the.

[Matthew Nelson]

Movie captured Richie's life as a copy. But after making huge busts like the one recreated in the movie, Ritchie decided to become a lawyer.

[Ritchie Roberts]

Went to Seton Hall Law School in the Evenings, five nights a week for four years. Cost me a very nice wife. But I guess it was worth it. Cause I've had a couple since.

[Matthew Nelson]

By the mid-90s, Ritchie was a criminal defense attorney in Newark. And just like Paul, he'd switched from working in the Essex County Prosecutor's office and became a criminal defense lawyer.

[Ritchie Roberts]

You go from a detective to a prosecutor to private practice. If you are. A lot of guys did that. If you are a good prosecutor and you are known as a very good lawyer, you go into private practice, you're going to attract a lot of the wise guys and you're going to attract a lot of criminal business. Because they know you. You're a former prosecutor. These guys always think you know somebody you could talk to and maybe get a break. Far from the truth. But we don't dispel that image.

[Matthew Nelson]

Paul and Richie were often at the courthouse at the same time.

[Ritchie Roberts]

You could see he understood the law. His style in the courtroom. Put your head down in charge. Whoever gets knocked down and stomped on, that's their fault. It's your job to do that. Take no prisoners. I mean, he knew how to try a case. He got acquittal after acquittal.

[Matthew Nelson]

Paul and Richie ran in the same crowd, drank at the same bars, and defended the same kinds of criminals. Occasionally, they'd even pass along cases to one another and help each other out. At this point, crime in the city was at its peak. Carjackings were rampant. And by 1996, the violent crime rate in Newark was six times the national average.

[Ritchie Roberts]

I mean, you're not going to walk out in a broad market and get a bullet in your head. It might, but probably not. People didn't go out in the streets at night in Newark unless they knew you. You knew them, and you knew exactly where you were going.

[Matthew Nelson]

Like, can you walk around at night? Can you park your car?

[Ritchie Roberts]

Get me for laughing. There's only one person that could do that. Paul boasted about the fact that he could park his car. I don't remember what kind it was. It was a luxury car, Mercedes, one of those in the worst part of Newark, in front of the worst bar in Newark. And nobody would touch it. Nobody would go near it. He loved to talk about that, and he relished in it. You know, I go where I want to go, and I'll be looked upon as a big man and one of them. And he was. And his car was never stolen, never scratched.

[Matthew Nelson]

This was because Paul was known in Newark. He had a reputation of being there for those who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford a high powered attorney. And so his car was safe wherever he parked it. According to Ritchie, among the Newark lawyers at this time, Paul Bergrin was the main character.

[Ritchie Roberts]

I'm not saying this in a positive sense, but he was really a larger than life human being. Everything he did was big.

[Matthew Nelson]

Richie said that bigness extended to everything. The cars Paul drove, the flashy clothes he wore, and the parties he threw.

[Ritchie Roberts]

They were great parties. You had to leave because there was a thing full of coke and you didn't know who else was gonna be there. You didn't wanna get in trouble.

[Matthew Nelson]

The guest lists were pretty unusual too.

[Ritchie Roberts]

There were some fine attorneys there, politicians there. There were drug dealers there who were clients, not that they were doing anything.

[Matthew Nelson]

Paul's clients, of course, included drug kingpins who stood around at the same party as Paul's friends from law enforcement.

[Ritchie Roberts]

I mean, were cops at those parties? Of course. Did cops smoke a little weed in those days? Sure they did. Just the way it was.

[Matthew Nelson]

Ritchie wasn't shocked to find criminals and cops at the same party. But over time, it became clear to him that Paul had a closer than average relationship with his clients. And just like John Edwards Tiffany, the lawyer who shared an office with Paul, Ritchie started to receive warnings. One day he met a prosecutor friend for drinks and he was telling me.

[Ritchie Roberts]

These stories about Paul and I honestly couldn't believe him.

[Matthew Nelson]

What kind of stories?

[Ritchie Roberts]

Well, he was telling me, Paul's a gang guy. I said, what do you mean he's a gang guy? Have you noticed who he represents? I said, yeah, have you noticed who I represent? There's no one else to represent out there. So there was, but he told me to be careful. He said, you know, I'm not saying that I can't tell you that he's a criminal. I can tell you what we've been hearing about him and. And just be careful of your dealing with him.

[Matthew Nelson]

After that, Richie heard more and more about Paul. Stories about him being involved in New York Confidential, working with the cartel and doing whatever was necessary to make sure that witnesses did not talk. Stories that would eventually be told inside a federal court.

[Ritchie Roberts]

When I heard what the charges were, you know, it was like everything else, I was shocked and not shocked at the same time.

[Matthew Nelson]

After Paul's arrest, Ritchie ended up representing a client who was likely going to prison based on the evidence against him. But that's when a prosecutor approached him.

[Ritchie Roberts]

And said, can I talk to your client? I said, why? I said, because he was represented by Paul Bergrin. He could Help himself if he gives us some information about Paul Berggren.

[Matthew Nelson]

Richie spoke to his client.

[Ritchie Roberts]

This kid told me that Paul either wanted to be present during a murder or was present during a murder. Again, that's just this one client talking.

[Matthew Nelson]

After that conversation, his client spoke with the prosecutor.

[Ritchie Roberts]

So when I went back to my guy, he says, yeah, he wants me to testify against Paul. I'm not going to testify against Paul. I said, well, you're dead on this case. You're going to go away for a long time.

[Matthew Nelson]

It was another devil's bargain. Go to prison or testify against Paul Bergrin.

[Ritchie Roberts]

And he indicated to me that he was afraid of Paul. The prosecutor told me that if he had cooperated, he would have let this kid go scot free on this case.

[Matthew Nelson]

This client would tell his lawyer about the murder, but there was no way he was going to get up and talk about it at Paul's trial. Given Paul's reputation, who could blame the kid? And if cops and robbers were at the same party, maybe Paul wasn't the only crooked lawyer in town. One thing I've wondered, and I think perhaps you can answer this, was to what extent is Berggren a product of his environment?

[Ritchie Roberts]

Everybody was a product of the same environment that Paul was. Nobody ever did what Paul did. There was something in him. That's the way I see it. And maybe it was too easy for him to get away with some of the things he was getting away with. I could name four or five cops like me who went to law school evenings and all became lawyers. And none of us did what Paul did. We're all exposed to the same environment.

[Matthew Nelson]

So while Richie Roberts did not take over an escort servicer tamper with witnesses, he too, along with some of the other lawyers who worked in Newark, got into trouble in 2019. He was disbarred. Richie and an old protege of Paul's were accused of stealing money from clients. Ritchie pleaded guilty to perjury and theft. John Edwards Tiffany had also been disbarred a few years before that for negligence towards clients and fraudulent and deceitful conduct. So it's hard to argue that the environment and all the blurred lines in Newark didn't at least play some kind of role in making all of these folks who swore to uphold the law go off the rails. But Richie doesn't buy that if Paul.

[Ritchie Roberts]

Was in Boise, Idaho and shit was happening, he'd be involved in it. Yeah, he would be involved.

[Matthew Nelson]

I've been working on this story for a couple of years now and I've often asked myself. How do you explain Paul's behavior? Reading his memoir, I started to wonder if it was all of the abuse he said he suffered at the hands of his father. Or maybe it was just seeing all these other cops and lawyers cut corners and break rules from day one. Along the way, I asked a lot of attorneys what they thought and everyone had a different conclusion.

[Ritchie Roberts]

I have to go with my original assumption. I think he was just crazy. He had no compulsion to try and be honest. Nothing along those lines mattered to him. I think everything he did gave him immediate satisfaction.

[Matthew Nelson]

John Edwards Tiffany, the lawyer who shared an office with Paul, thought it was in his nature.

[Ritchie Roberts]

I just think that something biologically he was predisposed where I think, you know, he probably had sociopathic tendencies.

[Matthew Nelson]

Henry Klingaman, Anthony Young's lawyer, had a different perspective.

[Henry Klingaman]

Many people would think a lawyer hiring a hitman to kill a witness is insane in the sense that, you know, we're sitting at a bar talking about what a crazy case this is. But insanity in federal court means the defendant, like, thinks he's the Queen of England. And Paul was clearly in control of his faculties at all times. I think, you know, he's one of these tragic figures that perhaps if he had stayed on the right side of the law, would have nonetheless been very successful.

[Matthew Nelson]

There is no clear consensus. The contradictions of Paul's life defy easy explanation. Was he a brilliant legal mind corrupted by circumstances or a sociopath who manipulated the system? But either way, his downfall represents a profound failure of the very justice system he was sworn to uphold.

[Ritchie Roberts]

How many people do you know like Paul Berggren? There are not too many around.

[Wondery Announcer]

Follow Criminal Attorney on the Wondery app, Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcast. You can binge all episodes early and ad free right now by joining Wondery in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Before you go, tell us about yourself by completing a short [e-mail] survey.

[Matthew Nelson]

From Wondery. This is a special episode of Criminal Attorney hosted by me, Matthew Nelson. This series is reported and written by Matthew Nelson. Senior producers are Chris Siegel and Stephanie Wachneen. Senior story editor is Rachel B. Doyle. Associate producer is Malachi Wade. Consulting producer is David Fox. Fact checking by Onica Robbins. Sound design and mixing by Jay Rothman. Sound supervisor is Marcelino Via Pondo. Music supervisor is Scott Velosquez for Freeson Sync. Senior managing producer is Lata Pundia. Managing producer is Heather Baloga. Development producer is Olivia Weber. Executive producer is Matthew Nelson. Executive producers are n'jeri Eaton, George Lavender Marshall, Louie and Jen Sargent for wondering.