Ghostwriter Wants Half|of Kerik Book’s Profits

MANHATTAN (CN) - New York City's former police commissioner-turned-convict Bernard Kerik stiffed the ghostwriter of his book "From Jailer to Jailed" over the fruits of three years of her labor, a federal lawsuit claims.

In a phone interview, Kerik's lawyer Tim Parlatore painted the lawsuit as a "completely invented" tale by a "prison pen pal."

"This is about a woman who developed a fixation on Mr. Kerik," he said.

In a lawsuit filed Thursday, Upstate New York resident Dara DAddio delves into lengthy detail about how she allegedly helped write the book meant to transform Kerik's reputation from a disgraced NYPD police chief into an unlikely champion of criminal justice reform.

When he served as the NYPD's 40th police commissioner, Kerik did not have much sympathy for people convicted of crimes - or those who expressed political dissent of U.S. policies in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Kerik professed to have a different perspective on his harsh policies after being sentenced to 4 years in prison in early 2010.

Though he pleaded guilty for lying to the IRS and federal investigators about receiving $225,000 in renovations to his Riverdale, N.Y. apartment, he has long contended that prosecutors treated him unfairly.

His memoir, a reflection of his stint as Inmate #84888-054, reflects on his experiences meeting others that he says got a raw deal.

DAddio says that she and Kerik spent nearly three of those years "collaborating, editing, revising, and writing drafts" while he was incarcerated in the Federal Prison Camp in Cumberland, Md. from Sept. 17, 2010 to July 5, 2013.

Kerik sent two emails to his publishing agent on July 23 and July 31, 2013, stating that he was concerned about not disclosing DAddio's contributions, the 22-page lawsuit says.

The complaint traces how a chapter title about solitary confinement evolved from "A Box of Steal" to "The Horror of the Box" to "The Box and The Angel," and DAddio itemizes her expenses to the penny for the time that she says that they spent communicating by mail, phone, email and in person.

She says she spent $3,301.96 on travel and lodging to meet him in prison in Maryland to discuss the book, and that she racked up $381.50 in bills performing legal research for the book on the federal Pacer database.

Under the category of "website construction services," DAddio says that she paid $2,472.84 to purchase the domain name BernardKerik.com and TheKerikWatch.com, building both of the sites, and paying fees to hosting company GoDaddy.com.

On top of a $25.00 to $40.00 per hour fee as a "reasonable rate" for her labor, DAddio seeks a judgment awarding her "undivided one-half interest in the copyright of the book" and a reimbursement of her earnings and expenses.

Parlatore said the lawsuit was evidence of what he called DAddio's "obsession and stalking," adding that she allegedly followed Kerik on "dozens of Twitter accounts."

"We have thousands, literally, thousands of messages from her," he said. "Her conduct had been reported to multiple police departments."

Asked how his client met DAddio, Parlatore said: ""She's one of those people that become like prison pen pals."

DAddio's attorney Autondria Minor, from the Latham, N.Y. firm Schmeiser, Olsen & Watts LLP, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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