A 90-year-old Brooklyn federal judge who’s been on the bench for some of NYC’s most high-profile cases is now presiding over one of the biggest — and possibly most dangerous — of his career.
Judge Frederic Block is hearing the case of Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero, so notorious he had a season of the Netflix hit “Narcos” based on his life, and who the White House once called “one of the most evil cartel bosses in the world.”
“It’s probably the number one criminal case in the country,” Block declared during an interview with The Post this week.
But Block — whose resume includes the Crown Heights riots murder of Yankel Rosenbaum and the infamous Queens killing of Kitty Genovese, along with Gambino crime family boss Peter Gotti’s racketeering trial in 2003 — is so unfazed, he’s doing stand-up comedy on the side.
“With cases, including this one, I don’t walk around in fear,” continued the judge, who survived multiple death threats over the years, including one in 1998 from Lucchese crime family underboss Anthony “Gaspipe” Casso, who wasn’t thrilled to be spending more time behind bars because of Block.
He picked up comedy as a side hustle a month ago after spotting a sign for a workshop and taking a class, making his debut at Gotham Comedy Club earlier this month using the stage name, Judge Felix Schmeckler.
Wearing his robe and taking a seat placed on the stage for him, he insisted on being a “sit-down comic” and cracked that anyone who insisted that he stand will be reported for “elder abuse.”
In a nod to his wife, he joked that 30 goes into 90 three times, but 90 goes into 30 zero, to uproarious laughter.
The judge admitted he took a risk making a “jackass” of himself on stage, but did so in the hope of unifying people because of too much “divisiveness” in court. Comedy is “the one thing that can bind us.”
As for the Quintero case, the smuggling kingpin was released on a technicality in 2013 after serving 28 years for the 1985 killing of DEA agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, one of the most notorious murders in Mexico’s narcotics wars. He became one of the FBI’s most wanted criminal and his Guadalajara Cartel inspired a season of Netflix’s “Narcos: Mexico” in 2018.
He was reportedly hiding in the jungle for the past decade in order to elude extradition to the US, before being suddenly expelled from Mexico in February.
In a courtroom packed with dozens of DEA agents on Wednesday, Block asked a prosecutor whether the death penalty was a possibility for Quintero, who has pled not guilty to four counts, including continuing criminal enterprise and cocaine importation conspiracy. The next hearing is on June 25, at which point the prosecutor will decide about pursuing capital punishment.
Hours after his courtroom cleared out, the bon vivant judge, an avowed night owl, jazz pianist, musical playwright and author — his latest book is called “A Second Chance” — he entertained friends at his downtown home.
“I’m almost 91 and I still talk better than Biden,” said Block, whose birthday is June 6.
The youngest of three brothers, Block was born in Brooklyn and moved with his family — his father owned a Garment District clothing company — to the Upper West Side at age 9. He graduated from Stuyvesant High School, and went onto Indiana University and Cornell University Law School. He was appointed federal judge by President Bill Clinton in 1994.
“I take the cases that come to me. And I write decisions that I think are correct. I follow the rule of law. And there’s a touch of humanity to it,” he said.
Of all his trials, which number in the thousands, the Peter Gotti racketeering case – which included a cameo by actor Steven Seagal, who was allegedly being squeezed for millions of dollars by the mob – stood out the most. “It was straight out of ‘The Godfather,’” mused Block. “It was cinematic – right out of Hollywood.”
Block, who drives his mini-Cooper from his home to the courthouse every day, said his 30-years younger wife, Betsy, keeps him on his toes but admitted he sometimes feels like “red meat” because of his age.
Still, he’s a spring chicken compared to his neighbor and friend on the ninth floor of Brooklyn Federal Courthouse — 100 year-old Judge Leo Glasser. “We’re very close – I kid around with him that I get no respect because he’s 100 and I’m only 90, so nobody cares about me.”
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