sfqueen Posted August 22 Report Share Posted August 22 CLUB KING BOOTED By LAURA ITALIANO -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PETER GATIENHis family can stay. Email Archives Print Reprint August 21, 2003 -- Like some unkillable clubland Terminator, he has survived a federal drug prosecution, a tax-skimming conviction, the wrath of state and city regulators, hordes of hungry creditors, bankruptcy and debts still soaring into the millions. But yesterday, the curtain finally came down on Pierre Jean "Peter" Gatien, the city's embattled former King of Clubs, when an immigration judge ordered he be deported immediately to his native Canada. Judge Elizabeth Lamb of the Justice Department's Executive Office of Immigration Review ordered Gatien's "green card" yanked under the 1996 Immigration and Naturalization Act, which allows the feds to deport resident aliens who have committed serious felonies. Gatien's felony was his 1999 guilty plea to skimming $1.3 million in state taxes from his Limelight and Tunnel nightclubs in the 1990s. Gatien will leave behind his family - who are all American citizens - a pricey Gramercy Park apartment, millions in vendor and tax debt and his probation officer. But although he'll be gone, he won't be forgotten, said lawyer Benjamin Brafman. Gatien is in negotiations to sell the rights to his life story to "some very prominent people in the entertainment industry," Brafman said. "Something spectacular will be announced fairly soon," he said. Gatien had used his pricey team of lawyers to stave off deportation through three years of legal arguments and court delays - much in the way he has kept at bay seemingly everyone from federal prosecutors to unpaid ice and beer vendors. But the judge yesterday ruled that Gatien could no longer remain free on bail while deportation hearings dragged out. Faced with going into federal custody for the months it could take to continue fighting deportation, Gatien decided to throw in the towel and agree to be deported. That way, said Brafman, he'd only be in custody for the several days it will take to process his one-way trip to Canada. Gatien's wife and business partner, Alessandra, 35, and daughter from a previous marriage, screenwriter and actress Jennifer, 28, dabbed their eyes with handkerchiefs provided by Brafman as Gatien was led away, without handcuffs. "He's still in the country, so I'll believe it when I see it," said one of Gatien's largest creditors, when told of the deportation ruling. "He keeps living the good life. He hires the best lawyers, and they're the only ones who get paid," said the creditor, who asked not to be identified. In the early and mid-'90s, as owner of the hedonistic Tunnel, Limelight, Club USA and Palladium dance clubs, Gatien was a nightlife icon. The empire crumbled slowly, but dramatically. There were fatal drug overdoses in both Tunnel and Limelight, and his colleague, drug-deranged party promoter Michael Alig, was busted for the hammer-bludgeoning death of another club kid over a drug debt. He sold Tunnel and Limelight in 2001. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
normalnoises Posted August 22 Report Share Posted August 22 That's the patriot act for ya. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skince55 Posted August 22 Report Share Posted August 22 Originally posted by normalnoises That's the patriot act for ya. Not really, but good try Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kramadas Posted August 22 Report Share Posted August 22 So, it finally happened huh...damn! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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