BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- In a wide-ranging phone interview with News 4 Investigates, the convicted owner of Pharaoh's Gentlemen's Club renewed his criticism of how federal prosecutors attacked his case and portrayed his relationship with former DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni, and also discussed why he chose not to testify in his two-month trial. On Dec. 27, the jury convicted club owner Peter Gerace on eight of nine counts, including bribing Bongiovanni for protection against law enforcement detection, sex and drug trafficking, and maintaining his club as a drug-involved business. He faces life in prison at his Aug. 15 sentencing. On Saturday, Gerace – who remains in the Chautauqua County Jail – spoke with a member of the News 4 Investigates team. Gerace has had conversations with the team on several occasions since being incarcerated almost two years ago. Gerace has been critical of the U.S. Attorney's Office, and specifically Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi for almost two years. He has sent more than a half-dozen letters to News 4 Investigates, which often focus on what he deems as an "unethical" prosecution. Gerace also filed numerous complaints with federal agencies requesting investigations of the prosecutorial team. News 4 Investigates was unable to confirm any investigations based on Gerace's complaints. Prosecutors tried to thwart reporters from in-person jailhouse interviews with Gerace by seeking to gag him. Their chief concern was that Gerace might discuss sensitive details of his case that remain under a protective order. The office even warned that it would have an FBI agent present during any in-person interview. Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Vilardo ruled that reporters must follow the policy of the U.S. Marshals Service, which requires approvals from five people, to secure an in-person jailhouse interview with Gerace. Included on the list is the office that prosecuted Gerace, the judge himself, and Gerace’s attorneys. But the ruling does not address phone interviews. "This whole trial, they talk about truth, justice, and everything else," Gerace said by phone. "OK, show me one time that the prosecutor or anybody around him looked for truth or justice. It was all about fooling the jury and fooling grand juries. That's all it was." In addition, Gerace accused prosecutors of providing some protected witnesses with funds for rent and other expenses, like car insurance, as a strategy to get them to testify against him. Most former dancers testified they would not have agreed to be on the witness stand for the government if they had not been subpoenaed to appear. Latest from News 4 Investigates A full accounting of the amount of money the government spent for some protected witnesses was never mentioned at the trial. A letter from Gerace to News 4 that arrived Monday expanded on his criticism of the payments. "95% of the girls that testified ... were all fired from Pharaoh's," Gerace said. "They were paid to testify, either monetarily or with Joe Tripi's 'get out of jail free cards.' Commit all the crimes you want, just testify against Peter, as you saw over and over again at trial." When asked why prosecutors would target him if he didn't commit the crimes, Gerace said he had "no idea." Gerace said his attorneys suggested the reasons could be the alleged familial link to Joseph Todaro Jr., whom the government has accused of running the Buffalo mob. Todaro, who operates the La Nova pizza chain, has never been charged with any crime linked to organized crime. In addition, Gerace said it could be his connection to the Outlaws Motorcycle Club's John "Tommy O" Ermin, who has a national role in the club and also managed at Pharaoh's. The government considers the Outlaws a dangerous "racist, para-military organization" with 136 chapters across the country. "I asked my lawyers that all the time," Gerace said. "They said, 'Well, maybe because your family and maybe because of the bikers.' I said first of all, bikers have jobs in every single country. There's bike clubs. They all have jobs. There's nothing illegal about these people working. OK? They don't do anything illegal in my club, it's none of my business." In 2023, the government charged Ermin for obstruction of justice and retaliation for alleged involvement in a conspiracy with Gerace and others that led to the fatal fentanyl overdose of one of the government's key witnesses, who Gerace described as his good friend. Both have denied involvement in her death. The U.S. Attorney's Office declined to comment. Former U.S. Attorney Trini Ross cited her supervision of both trials of Gerace and Bongiovanni as among her biggest accomplishments. “Peter Gerace preyed on the most vulnerable victims, using them to grow his business and his profits,” stated U.S. Attorney Ross at a press conference after a jury convicted Gerace. “Peter Gerace did not want to be caught and have his crimes exposed. However, this investigative and prosecutorial team worked tirelessly, gathering the evidence, and connecting the dots and Peter Gerace now stands convicted of some of the most heinous crimes.” Gerace also discussed his relationship with the former DEA agent, Joseph Bongiovanni, who the government had to take to trial twice, after his first trial ended with a hung jury on most counts. The government fared much better in the retrial. A jury found Bongiovanni guilty of seven of 11 charges, including conspiracy to defraud the United States and obstruction of justice. He faces up to 20 years in prison. Gerace somewhat distanced himself from Bongiovanni. The government and others described Gerace and Bongiovanni as childhood friends. Prosecutors said Bongiovanni shielded Gerace and his associates from law enforcement investigations in exchange for money. The jury did not find Bongiovanni guilty of accepting bribes, but a separate jury found Gerace guilty of bribing a public official. "We've known each other since we were 15 years old, but we lost contact sometimes for years," Gerace said. "You've seen the phone calls, you seen the texts. How often were they? Sometimes maybe two, three times, four times a year." A federal agent testified at his trial that investigators recovered 391 texts between Bongiovanni and Gerace over four years. Most texts included banter and typical messages two friends might share. The federal agent said Bongiovanni made false statements in DEA reports to minimize his relationship with Gerace. Gerace said he and Bongiovanni rarely saw one another. But sometimes they would go out to dinner with their significant others. "That's all it was," he said. "There's not a single text message in that phone or anything else that connects anything to drugs or sex trafficking. Nothing. And that's the only phone I ever had for 20 (years)." Gerace was asked about one message he left on Bongiovanni's DEA cell phone, in which he asked whether police can ping throwaway phones, also called trac-phones, which provide a phone number not linked to the owner. He said the reason for the message was because one of his former exotic dancers was involved in a custody battle, and she alleged he was illegally growing cannabis. "It was a simple question and answer, but Tripi wanted to fool the jury," Gerace said. Another issue is that Gerace chose not to testify, even though he was mailing news media letters before, during, and after his trial. Nor did his two defense attorneys, Eric Soehnlein and Mark Foti, call any witnesses to testify on behalf of Gerace. But why? Part of the reason is Gerace said he and his attorneys might have been overconfident. "I wanted to testify 100%," Gerace said. "And the lawyers felt as though the government did not put on a case, which I believe they didn't also. They didn't think we should even call witnesses, even though there's many, many, many witnesses that would tell the truth about Pharaoh's. People that have been there for 10 years, 15 years, 18 years." 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