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Larry Tanoury
"Anyone who conducts an argument by appealing to authority is not using his intelligence; he is just using his memory."

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The Leon Koziol I Know…

13 02 2010

It’s rather unfortunate and saddening to see that the “powers that be” have
succeeded in taking down the only Civil Rights attorney in the region. Although they may have won the
battle, I would never bet against Koziol winning the war.

My first professional correspondence with Leon Koziol came in the summer of 2004. I had just been fired
from my position as Director of Marketing for the city of Utica. I was given no reason for the termination and
had only rumors of the real reasons why I was let go. These reasons were simply because I was in the wrong
place at the wrong time, which made me a political threat. At least a “perceived” threat.

I called Mr. Koziol on a Saturday on his personal cell phone while he was on his boat in Lake George. I
assumed that, as a busy attorney, he would disregard my call and tell me to call his office during regular
hours. That wasn’t the case. Koziol advised me that I had no case due to my position being an “at-will”
employee. However, he did say that if he knew the administration and their MO, they would likely seek
further retribution and open themselves’ up for legal action. How right he was. The very next day I was
arrested without cause. The arresting officer didn’t even know why he was arresting me. He stated he was

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“just taking orders.” After paying an original retainer fee, I had run out of money by the time the trial came. I
didn’t want to make Koziol go through a lengthy trial without properly paying him. I informed him that I
would not object to his removal from the case, but I was going to continue to trial because I knew I was 100%
innocent. Five minutes after hanging up the phone, Koziol called back and said it was not about the money
and he couldn’t let me go to trial without a good defense. He refused to abandon me, even though it was
probably the smart thing to do both financially and politically. This was a controversial case involving the
Mayor and police. But Koziol stood up for me.

We won that two day jury trial, being acquitted of all charges. This led to a later civil rights award of $75,000
for violations of my civil rights, including malicious prosecution. If Koziol didn’t stand up for me, I don’t
know where I would be today. I certainly would never have been elected to the county legislature in 2007. He
didn’t do it for any financial gain. Again, I couldn’t afford the trial and the award from the civil case was
hardly worth the costs and time of years of litigation. He did it because he believed in the case, cause and me.

Over those years I became close friends with Leon. I came to know him as a very principled man who
absolutely adored his children. You could always tell when his daughters were around; his face would light-up
and he was like a totally different man. We had a joke that if you ever needed anything from Leon, ask him
when his daughters were around. He was so happy when they were with him that he would give you anything.

Things became very turbulent only after Leon announced his intention to run for Congress in 2006. Contrary
to popular belief, Leon didn’t enter the race to run against Mike Arcuri. He was actually pondering the run for
a long time, and was surprised when Arcuri announced that he was running. But that didn’t matter. The
powers that be made it well known that he would pay dearly for entering the race. Of course they courted him
first, in order to get him to switch races and run for state senate. But that wasn’t the end, very quickly they
started their attacks on his family and his career. I could write forever about the specifics of the vial
corruption I witnessed during these years, but I’ll leave it for him to expose in the proper forum.

I’ll leave you with one last example. This “Ethics Commission”, which is composed of his ex-wife’s attorney
and an Arcuri loyalist and campaign contributor, along with the opposing attorney on my civil case, is led by
Mary Gasparini, an attorney that was admonished for ex parte communications herself. Now she is leading
the charge against Koziol. This commission actually had the nerve to use me against Koziol. Because I helped
him (a friend) move furniture one day, they said he should have had a contract with me (or something along
those lines). Although they had me down as a complainant, they never called me to testify. Instead, Koziol
called me in and I explained that Koziol had saved my life and career and I wanted nothing to do with a
complaint against him. They didn’t care. The 90 year old “judge” even threatened to hold me in contempt
because I continued to rip into Ms. Gasparini for what I called a witch hunt. I dared the judge to do it. Maybe
a bit risky by me, but I refuse to watch as this judicial system, full of crooks, uses our government to settle
personal and political scores.

In short, Leon Koziol is not only the best litigator this area has ever seen, he is an amazing person and father.
And I have no doubt that he will prevail in the end.

« Picente and Dimeo Pointing Fingers – In The Wrong Direction! Koziol Files Complaint With Judicial
Conduct Commission »

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Information

Date : 02/13/2010
Tags: 5th Judicial, Civil Rights, Corruption, Ethics Commission, Leon Koziol, Oneida County
Categories : 2010 Election, Albany, Corruption, Mid-Term Election, New Hartford, New York, Oneida
County, Politics, Reform, Rome, State Assembly, State Senate, Utica, Wahsington D.C.

3 responses
13 02 2010

Auntie Rosetta (08:32:08) :

It’s a certainty that the Arcurious cockroach is going down! In fact, one by one they will all fall like
dominoes!!

Reply
14 02 2010

Greens and Beans (00:54:42) :

Could it be that possible that those “powers that be” feel it would be advantageous to neutralize Mr.
Koziol? Perhaps it may be for agreeing to represent those who have been branded the area’s hottest
personas non grata du jour? One’s political party affiliation has little difference. If you’re in, you’re in!
And if you’re out, you’re out! It is just another day in the politics of the People’s Republic of Upstate
New York.

Reply
19 02 2010
Koziol invited to speak at Family Preservation Festival in D.C. « Larry Tanoury (02:08:54) :

[...] The Leon Koziol I Know… [...]

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