The full text of a letter that Republican City Councilman and candidate for New York City Public Advocate Eric Ulrich, wrote on behalf of Mafia Associate Robert Pisani has been released to The Schpiel.  The Mafia Associate, connected to the Bonnano Crime Family, was later convicted of forcible touching and harassment of a 17 year old girl, and of exposing his penis in his New York Deli.  According to conviction records, Pisani put the young woman’s hand in his pants, revealed his genitalia to her, attempted to remove her bra, and groped her buttocks before she fled his deli.  Eric Ulrich is currently endorsed by the GOP in all five boroughs of New York City and by New York State GOP Chairman Ed Cox.

Previously, Ulrich claimed that he was not associated with mobster Robert Pisani, and that he was only writing on behalf of him because he was a constituent and a “help to the community”.  In the text of the letter, Ulrich states that he considers Pisani a “personal friend”.  He also states that he has “regular conversations” with the Mobster and that they often revolve around the well-being of their respective families.  The City Councilman used the official watermark of the New York City Council for the letter, implying that he was writing the letter to the judge in his official capacity as a member of the New York City Council.

Pisani has a rap sheet stretching as far back as 1992, including charges for assault, insurance fraud, criminal possession of a weapon and harassment.

Campaign finance records show that in June 2016, Pisani donated $250 to Ulrich. In October 2016, his wife chipped in another $100.

Below is the full text of the letter:

An article by the Daily News covering the Pisani sexual assault case accused Ulrich of making laudatory comments about the predator, including that he was “a really good guy” and would  “write two letters if I could”. Ulrich took to social media to claim that this was “fake news”.  Despite Pisani being classified as an associate of the Bonnano Crime Family by the Federal Government and being convicted of sexual assault, Councilman Ulrich has stood by the contents of his letter, saying that while Pisani should be tried for his crime, the letter is not relevant to the conviction.  It remains unclear why a City Councilman and candidate for Public Advocate would continue to stand by a convicted Sexual Predator and Mafia Associate.  Did the councilman have a personal stake in the outcome of Pisani’s trials?

Friends and associates of Pisani have used their positions of power in the past to attempt to assist him in escaping accountability for the crimes he was convicted of. In July, Pat Adams, the publisher of a local newspaper in Howard Beach, plead guilty to misprision and was indicted on four counts of witness tampering and obstruction of justice in Pisani’s sexual assault case. Recordings were unearthed that revealed her stating that she would ruin the victim’s reputation were she to go public with her accusations.  Many questions still remain unanswered about Councilman Ulrich’s relationship to Robert Pisani.