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Yekeseil Gluck, 39, was accepted into the Pre-Trial Intervention program after prosecutors charged him in January with making a series of calls to the woman’s home, work and cellphones.
The 22-year-old woman told police she was getting 2-3 calls every day of the week, all from blocked numbers. Some were simply open lines with dead air, while others were characterized as “alarming statements” by a man using a strained voice, court records show.
The caller made reference to her car, what clothes she was wearing and where she was during the day, they said, adding that he also speculated when she would be alone so that he “would be able to touch” her.
“I saw you get into your Mercedes yesterday. You looked really good in those blue pants – they matched your eyes,” he said in one message.
On another, he said: “Your work, your cell and now your home. I can find you anywhere.”
When she asked him to stop, authorities said, he replied: “Don’t worry, bella. I will stop calling you soon because we will be together. I will see you and feel you all over.”
Fearing for her safety, the woman called police. When they asked about her contacts, she recalled “a recent interaction” with a salesman named Jack.
Records show she gave police his cell phone number and business card, which said “Jack Gluck.”
In addition to recording calls, detectives obtained a warrant to determine what number the blocked calls came from.
It was Gluck’s, they said.
A committee that included a senior probation officer and criminal case manager recommended against Gluck’s admittance to PTI, citing, among other reasons, the continuing pattern of calls. Bergen prosecutors objected, as well.
But a judge admitted Gluck, who is single, to the program in July, while issuing a restraining order.
One of the objectives of PTI, program coordinators say, is to “provide an alternative to prosecution for defendants who might be harmed by the imposition of criminal sanctions as presently administered, when such an alternative can be expected to serve as sufficient sanction to deter criminal conduct.”
Defendants without prior criminal records can have charges removed if they follow certain conditions for a specified time period, ordinarily a year. If they do, their records are “expunged” — wiped clean.
Depending on the offense, PTI can require community service, restitution and/or fines, psychological testing, urine monitoring and alcohol evaluations.
They are not pleading guilty.
Should their bid be rejected, or they fail to complete the program, however, the charges go to a grand jury in Hackensack.
STORY: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter
MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE
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