Former Brooklyn prosecutor gets five years probation for role in marijuana trafficking ring; ‘No excuses. I am truly sorry’

A former Brooklyn prosecutor was sentenced Thursday to five years probation for his role in a cross-country pot trafficking operation.

Ramy Joudeh, 37, took part in the drug conspiracy both before and during his year working as an assistant district attorney in the Brooklyn DA’s office — and at one point he conspired to make money collections while another member of the ring was locked up for a fatal stabbing.

Brooklyn Federal Court Judge Dora Irizarry handed down the no-jail sentence Wednesday after Joudeh’s lawyer stressed his client’s “minimal role” in the conspiracy, and noted that he had no idea of the scope of the trafficking operation.

Joudeh was one of 11 people indicted in connection with the marijuana ring.

In a May 1 letter to the judge, Joudeh described himself as profoundly remorseful, and wrote about his volunteerism and his devout Muslim faith, and his struggles with alcohol and drug abuse.

“I know that I have done wrong. I know that I made a series of bad decisions seven years ago that brought shame to my family name and hurt so many people that I love,” he wrote. “I know that I betrayed the oath that I swore to uphold. There are no excuses. I am truly sorry.”

Joudeh worked for the Brooklyn DA from April 2015 to May 2016, and a source familiar with the case said he was fired from the DA’s office over the course of the federal investigation.

He pleaded guilty in December to using a cell phone to commit a felony drug offense — a charge that could have netted him up to six months behind bars. He still has his New York law license, and has no lawyer disciplinary history, state records show.

The feds started looking into the pot ring after a 787-pound crate on a truck bound for California was stolen at gunpoint as it left an auto body shop in South Plainfield, N.J. on March 26, 2015, court filings say.

Investigators learned of more shipments, and started uncovering phone records and the names of alleged co-conspirators, including Joudeh and Richard Gambale.

Joudeh’s phone activity corresponded with several suspected shipments in 2015.

“Of particular concern is that the defendant continued to participate in the drug trafficking conspiracy, and specifically operated on behalf of Gambale, even after Gambale was imprisoned for fatally stabbing another person during a money-related dispute in January 2016,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Weintraub wrote in a May 11 filing.

After Gambale was arrested and jailed while awaiting trial in a Staten Island homicide case, Joudeh and two other accomplices were caught on a wiretap talking about collecting five-figure amounts of cash owed their cohort while he was locked up.

Gambale, who law enforcement sources say has ties to organized crime, stabbed rival Anthony Perretti 22 times in a Staten Island industrial park on Jan. 4, 2016. The Staten Island DA dropped murder charges against Gambale after acknowledging he acted in self defense.

Perretti, who was a convicted killer, chased Gambale in his car at high speed and beat him with a pipe, and an eyewitness confirmed Gambale was retreating as he tried to fend off the blows.

Gambale entered a guilty plea in the federal marijuana case on Nov. 10, and awaits sentencing.

“My client has a solid track record over the last seven years of providing for his family and serving his community,” said Joudeh’s lawyer, Joseph DiBenedetto. “There is no doubt in my mind that he will continue on this path. He has a lot to be proud of.”