File Photo
Gallman and Freeman were recorded talking about illegal activity on phones at Rikers Island.
By Forum Staff
A Bronx man who claims to be a private investigator has been sentenced to up to three years in prison after admitting that he bribed a witness between from February 2013 and through April 2015, Chief Assistant District Attorney John Ryan, on behalf of Queens DA Richard Brown, announced on Monday.
Charles Gallman, 55, pleaded guilty last July to bribing a witness and was sentenced this week to one to three years’ incarceration. Frederick Freeman, Gallman’s co-defendant, pleaded guilty in May 2016 to second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in the original gun case and to third-degree tampering with a witness. He was sentenced in 2016 to nine and a half years in prison.
Charges in the underlying case showed that Freeman, 30, went along with his girlfriend, Raneisha Williams, to an apartment in Jamaica where Williams’ brother was living. After knocking on the door, Williams’ brother refused to open it. When he looked through the peephole he noticed that Freeman had his hand in his waistband, so Williams’ brother opened the door. Freeman then raised a silver firearm and pointed it toward the victim, ordering the man to back up so that he and Williams could enter the apartment. But Williams’ brother quickly reacted and slammed the door on them, locked it and called 911.
Police arrived and found Freeman and Williams in an apartment bedroom three floors below. Cops recovered a loaded .380-caliber pistol inside a black purse they found under the bed.
Freeman and Williams were each charged with second- and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
In May 2014, Williams pleaded guilty to second -degree criminal possession of a weapon and was sentenced to three and half years in prison. The case against Freeman was pending when he and Gallman, working as a team between February 2013 and April 2015, tried to bribe, intimidate, and tamper with the witnesses slated to testify against Freeman in the gun case.
Specifically, according to the charges, Freeman and Gallman engaged in acts with the intention of instilling fear in Williams’ brother and other family members. The suspects made it evident that testimony or any cooperation with the DA’s Office would result in physical harm.
Court records show that Freeman contacted witnesses and family members and spoke with Gallman by phone from Rikers Island about offering bribes and tampering with and intimidating witnesses. Gallman contacted Williams’ brother and a member of the family in person and over the phone in an effort to tamper with them and/or intimidate them.
