18 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 17, 2017 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Screenshot via YouTube/LibertyAvenuePolitics.com
Howard Beach weekly paper publisher tried to
intimidate sex assault victim at mob’s request: feds
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
rpozarycki@qns.com
@robbpoz
Federal agents arrested on Wednesday
the publisher of Th e Forum Newsgroup
based in Howard Beach on charges that
she allegedly tried to intimidate a sex
assault victim’s father in an eff ort to
drop her case against a reputed mobster
in the neighborhood.
Patricia Adams, 58, was booked on
witness tampering charges for allegedly
attempting to interfere in a sex
assault case against Robert Pisani,
a local business owner and reputed
member of the Bonnano crime family
who was indicted along with nine associates
earlier this year.
According to the criminal complaint,
Pisani — who had been released from
federal custody on $500,000 bail —
allegedly groped a female employee and
exposed himself to her at his shop,
the All-American Bagel and Barista
Company at 82-51 153rd Ave., on April
28. Members of the NYPD arrested him
on May 4 on charges of forcible touching,
sex abuse and harassment.
Th e arrest prompted Acting U.S.
Attorney for the Eastern District of
New York Bridget Rohde to seek that
Pisani’s bail be revoked. After a federal
judge ordered a hearing on the matter
to take place on May 16, federal prosecutors
said, Pisani allegedly reached
out to Adams for assistance.
According to the complaint, Adams
is considered a known associate of the
Bonnano family and had racked up
years of massive debt with them due
to her gambling habits “which resulted
in losses of up to $1,500 per week.”
She was known to play cards regularly
at an Ozone Park social club that the
crime outfit controlled.
At the same time, Adams also serves
as publisher of The Forum, the weekly
newspaper serving numerous southern
Queens neighborhoods including
Howard Beach, Broad Channel, Ozone
Park, Richmond Hill and Woodhaven.
Her paper had previously written
favorable articles about Pisani and his
bagel business, the complaint noted.
Shortly after Pisani’s bail revocation
hearing was scheduled, prosecutors
said, Adams reached out to the
sex assault victim’s father and asked
to meet with him. They agreed to meet
on May 13 at a local Starbucks cafe.
During the 2 1/2 hour conversation
that the victim’s father recorded,
law enforcement sources said, Adams
allegedly told him that she was close
with Pisani and that she was “in a position
… to have to expose the whole situation
if we get to that point.”
“I won’t hurt you if you don’t
deserve — that’s for my enemies,” she
allegedly told the victim’s father. “I
will not hurt you … but in the newspaper,
thoroughly, thoroughly objective
… For my good, for everybody’s
good — I’m hoping that she’ll decide
to drop it.”
She went on to allegedly tell the man
that she was “on the verge of — I’ve
been trying to get out for two years.
But because of certain obligations, I’m
forced to stay on. I’m kind of under
their thumb.” Federal agents believe
she was referencing her alleged obligations
to the Bonnano family.
It’s not the first time Adams had a
run-in with the law. She was arrested
in 2014 following a dispute with a
neighbor and threatened to have the
police officer who arrested her fired.
Adams was scheduled to appear in
federal court on Aug. 16 for arraignment
on charges of tampering with a
witness. If convicted, she faces up to
up to 20 years behind bars.
The Courier reached out to The
Forum Newsgroup and is awaiting a
response.
Anthony Giudice contributed to the
story.
Patricia Adams, publisher of The Forum Newsgroup, was arrested on Aug. 16 on federal witness tampering charges.