A Brooklyn federal judge has ruled that club king Peter Gatien took part in a plot to sell drugs at his nightspots – a decision that could topple his embattled empire.
Judge Frederic Block found that Gatien was a co-conspirator in the scheme to turn his high-profile hotspots into drug supermarkets.
That may convince the State Liquor Authority to permanently revoke Gatien’s liquor license, effectively closing the controversial Limelight and Tunnel clubs for good, sources said.
Block made the ruling this week at the ongoing trial of Stephen Lewis, who is charged with directing drug dealers at the Limelight. Lewis now manages the ultra-trendy Life in Greenwich Village.
“Mr. Gatien was a member of the conspiracy,” Block said in a hushed sidebar conference at the Lewis trial.
“He participated in that conspiracy and … he knew the objects of the conspiracy and he joined in its purposes,” the judge said, according to a transcript of the conversation obtained by The Post.
The decision cleared the way for the Lewis jury to hear certain statements from admitted drug dealer “Baby Joe” Uzzardi about Gatien.
Block, who presided over Gatien’s 1998 acquittal on drug-conspiracy charges, took pains to note he was not disagreeing with the jury’s verdict.
He said his finding was based on the bulk of the evidence in the case, and not the “reasonable doubt” standard required for a criminal conviction.
But that may be all the evidence the state needs to strip Gatien of his liquor license.
“We had not been made aware of this,” said SLA spokeswoman Maris Hart. “Certainly all of this information will be taken into consideration” at upcoming SLA hearings on Gatien’s license.
Gatien’s lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, predicted the judge’s decision would not dethrone the club king.
“Peter Gatien was acquitted of these charges by 12 ordinary citizens in less than two hours,” Brafman said.
Brafman, who won Gatien’s acquittal, said Block’s decision was a narrow legal ruling with no impact on anything but Lewis’ trial.
The decision has “no bearing whatsoever on the current charges pending before the SLA, which relate to matters in 1999, whereas Judge Block’s comments relate to events that occurred more than five years ago,” Brafman said.
Block’s decision couldn’t come at a worse time for Gatien – especially with the next SLA hearing scheduled for Tuesday.
Federal, state and city authorities have continued to probe his businesses since the acquittal, and say they have turned up new evidence of open sales of the drugs Ecstasy and Special-K.
The investigations shifted into high gear in January after 18-year-old James Lyons died after taking a combination of Ecstasy and Special-K, an animal tranquilizer popular in clubs.
Raids on the Tunnel earlier this month snared 10 accused drug dealers, and the city has vowed to close the location under nuisance-abatement laws.
The raids by the NYPD spurred the SLA to briefly suspend Gatien’s liquor license, but it was reinstated by a judge a few days later.
Gatien pleaded guilty in March to tax-evasion charges. He is awaiting sentencing in that case, and could face up to 90 days in jail.