Recordings Link Former Schenectady New York Police Chief Gregory T. Kaczmarek, Drug Dealing Wife, And Drug Kingpin
May 12th, 2008
SCHENECTADY, NEW YORK - — For the six tumultuous years that he was chief of the Schenectady police force, Gregory T. Kaczmarek stood watch over a city that was losing its grip on crime as big-time dealers came calling with their guns and violence, looking for a slice of the bustling drug trade.
The mid-sized department was overwhelmed at times, more than once calling for help from the State Police as the beleaguered force battled its own problems with rampant corruption and internal strife.
In telephone conversations secretly recorded by a state attorney general’s task force, Kaczmarek can be heard allegedly taking part in conversations between his wife, Lisa, and an accused violent drug kingpin who state authorities say represents the very problems that have driven Schenectady to the brink.
Indeed, Kerry “Slim” Kirkem, 40, a downstate transplant who now calls Waterford and Schenectady his home, is allegedly heard in one of the wiretaps boasting that he would take control of the Electric City’s drug trade and murder anyone who stands in the way, according to copies of the wiretaps obtained by the Times Union.
“I’m a start coming over there. I’m a start coming over there showing my face,” Kirkem, whom Gregory Kaczmarek has described as a friend, can be heard telling an accused accomplice in a Feb. 16 telephone conversation. “I don’t give a (expletive) about nobody when it come to the business, I’ll murder you. … The team that’s behind you is strong, we about to take over the entire Schenectady. We too strong. We too strong for anybody.”
Two days later, just after noon on a Monday afternoon, Lisa Kaczmarek used a cellphone registered to her husband to call Kirkem and urge him to drive to Long Island to bring back a shipment of cocaine, according to the wiretap transcripts.
Gregory Kaczmarek is heard in the background joking and joining in the conversation as his wife, in apparent desperation, urges Kirkem to make the trip.
At the time of the call, Lisa Kaczmarek was at a Guilderland pizza restaurant where she tends bar, according to a person with knowledge of the investigation. Her conversations with Kirkem are laced with obscenities, threats of violence and boasts of the deals they have made, according to the transcripts.
“Why we got to wait so long?” Lisa Kaczmarek asked. “Greg’s got a birthday Wednesday.”
At that point, according to state authorities, Gregory Kaczmarek can be heard in the background saying: “That’s my birthday present.”
Four minutes later, at 12:53 p.m., Lisa Kaczmarek dials Kirkem’s number again and State Police investigators, who were monitoring Kirkem’s calls, listen in as she suggests her husband could make the drive.
“Oh, no, he’s not gonna see nobody else,” Kirkem responds.
“Yeah, well, you don’t trust Greg?” she asks.
“They definitely ain’t gonna do that,” Kirkem said, as the conversation continued. “This is Long Island we talkin’ about, you talking about a white guy going into the black, you buggin’.”
In the background of the bar, according to the wiretap documents, Kaczmarek can be heard laughing and stating: “I’ll show him the badge.”
Near the end of the conversation, after they make another comment about Gregory Kaczmarek riding along as a protector, Lisa Kaczmarek pleads with Kirkem to make the trip by that Wednesday, which was her husband’s birthday.
“You’ll be fine with the next batch. You’ll be fine,” Kirkem said.
“If that don’t come through, see if you can find something else for Greg’s birthday cause you’re my only connect,” she says.
Kaczmarek turned 56 that Wednesday.
The calls ends moments later.
It’s not clear how many other telephone calls involving Lisa Kaczmarek may have been recorded during the operation, dubbed “Operation Slim Chance” in an apparent knock on Kirkem’s nickname.
People with knowledge of the case said the two conversations involving Gregory Kaczmarek do not appear to contain any incriminating statements, although the investigation is continuing.
But the secretly recorded tapes will certainly fuel the drug-abuse rumors that have plagued Kaczmarek from the day he became chief.
Meanwhile, his 48-year-old wife and 22-year-old stepson, both of whom have posted bail on the indictment, are facing the prospect of state prison for their alleged involvement in the cocaine and heroin ring.
In an interview last week with the Times Union, Kaczmarek said that once he learned Kirkem was implicated, “I knew we would be targets.”
The 13-month investigation was sparked by traffic stops in Saratoga and Greene counties that netted drugs.
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has declined to characterize Gregory Kaczmarek’s status, including whether he could face any charges. They have described Lisa Kaczmarek as a retail-level dealer, and she is facing 8 to 25 years in prison if convicted.
