A blast at O’Neill
Possible tie to Playboy model airs at cop trial
A pistol-packing Playboy Playmate may have received her NYPD gun license only after police Commissioner James O'Neill intervened on the curvaceous model's behalf, a defense lawyer in a police corruption trial suggested Thursday.
Attorney John Meringolo raised the possible connection between the top cop and the Stephanie Adams — only to receive no answer from the witness under cross-examination when a prosecutor objected at the Manhattan Federal Court trial.
“Do you remember Commissioner O'Neill calling to get a woman (named) Stephanie Adams a gun license?” Meringolo asked government witness Sgt. David Villanueva in the case of allegedly corrupt NYPD Deputy Inspector James Grant.
U.S. District Judge Gregory Woods stopped Villanueva, who was indicted on bribery charges, before he could answer as lawyers from both sides went to a sidebar. The trial continued without a reply.
Adams — who committed suicide last May after shoving her 7-yearold son to his death from their 25th floor Midtown hotel room — purchased a .50-caliber semi-automatic weapon after getting her permit in April 2016.
Adams alleged the NYPD held a grudge after she won a $1.2 million jury verdict against a cop who violently tackled her during a 2006 incident where a cabbie wrongfully accused her of carrying a weapon.
NYPD Deputy Commissioner Phil Walzak said O'Neill “has no relevant testimony to offer in this trial.”
A second police official flatly declared “it never happened.”
Meringolo was cross-examining Villanueva in an effort to portray the former sergeant as someone who would break rules to give gun permits to those who were undeserving.
Adams' first application was denied in part because of a photo of her holding a gun, wearing short shorts and a police cap, a source said.
In her second try for a permit, Adams' touted her supposed close ties with O'Neill, as well as now-Assistant Chief Stephen Hughes, according to the source. O'Neill was chief of patrol at the time.
That application was approved.
Adams' husband, Charles Nicolai, denied anything improper about her gun permit process. “We used proper channels and everything was legitimate,” he said. “We followed the book.”
Villanueva testified Tuesday that stars like the singer Marc Anthony and Marvel Comics CEO Ike Perlmutter received much quicker and easier approvals than the average New Yorker when it came to gun permits. He has admitted under oath to accepting bribes from middle men, including lawyer John Chambers and Brooklyn businessman Alex “Shaya” Lichtenstein.
Grant, the former commander of the 19th Precinct in Manhattan, is on trial for accepting an assortment of pricey gifts from Borough Park businessman Jeremy Reichberg in return for certain favors.
Adams, the former Miss November 1992, was 47 when she committed suicide. The death of her boy Vincent was ruled a homicide.