Jerry Garguilo, presiding justice of Appellate Term, who handled landmark opioid litigation, dies at 74

As a parent, St. James resident Jerry Garguilo would tell his children playful tall tales. As a Supreme Court justice in the New York State courts, he would lighten the mood of tense trials with a witticism or a quip.

But, in 2021, when he presided over New York's landmark litigation resulting in $1.7 billion in settlements with companies that manufactured and distributed opioids, he was the focused and no-nonsense jurist who kept the complex case on track even through a pandemic.

"He’d had a long career as probably one of Long Island's top litigators over the course of his private practice" before being elected to the State Supreme Court in 2009, said District Administrative Judge of Suffolk County Andrew A. Crecca, a colleague and friend. "And so he brought all that skill set and know-how to the bench, and really was a premier judge who handled some of the state's largest litigations."

"He absolutely loved the law, and being sworn in as a Supreme Court judge in front of his father and mother was probably one of the best moments of his life," said Nicole Garguilo, of Smithtown, the eldest of his three daughters. "He understood there are so many aspects to the law, and that you can never forget the human element ... that the human component couldn't be taken for granted. He wanted to make sure the humanity of what was at stake wasn't lost."

Garguilo died Saturday at Mount Sinai South Nassau in Oceanside, following a cardiac event and treatment by EMTs on the way to the hospital. He was 74.

At the time of his death he was presiding justice of the Appellate Term for the 9th and 10th Judicial Districts, encompassing five upstate counties and Nassau and Suffolk. He also served on the Commercial Division of Suffolk’s Supreme Court.

"He was a titan among giants — that's the only way I can describe him,"  Nicole Garguilo said. "But he made people feel like they were each his favorite. He had unique relationships with each of his daughters, each of his friends, each of his fellow judges and colleagues and especially his wife," Angela, whom he married in 1973. "His whole life was for her. It was about making sure she would be OK when he was not there. That was his No. 1 thought every single day."

Jerry Garguilo was born Oct. 29, 1950, in Brooklyn, the eldest of five siblings. Their parents, Aniello Garguilo and Mary Marchese Garguilo, ran a family bakery. When Jerry — his formal name, with no middle name — was in fourth grade, the brood moved to St. James. There he graduated from Smithtown Central High School, now Smithtown High School East, in 1968.

Founded Hauppauge law firm

After obtaining a bachelor’s degree from Saint Francis College, now Saint Francis University, in Loretto, Pennsylvania, in 1972, he got a 1977 law degree from Pittsburgh’s Duquesne University. Admitted to both the Pennsylvania and New York bars, he briefly clerked for a Pennsylvania Supreme Court justice before returning to Long Island and serving as a Suffolk County assistant district attorney from 1977 to 1979.

He then cofounded the Hauppauge law firm Russo, Garguilo and Fox, which later moved to St. James. Following an unsuccessful run for New York State’s Sixth Assembly District in 1986, he was elected to the State Supreme Court and was sworn in in January 2009. Garguilo was appointed to the Appellate Term in 2014, and as presiding justice of the Appellate Term in 2022.

His accolades include a 2012 distinguished alumni award from Saint Francis University, and being named the Suffolk County Bar Association’s justice extraordinaire in 2023 for presiding over the opioid trial.

In addition to such formal recognition, his colleague Crecca offered a more personal one: "One thing I loved was that Jerry always brought in the best pastries from the family's bakery over in St. James," Garguilo’s Bakery, run by Jerry’s brother and sister-in-law, Michael and Kathy Garguilo.

Besides his daughter, his brother and his wife, Garguilo is survived by daughters Jacquelene Bonistall, of Purchase, and Joelle Nocella, of Manhattan and Fort Salonga, who uses Joelle Garguilo professionally as a WABC/7 reporter; siblings Neil, of Smithtown, Anthony, of Smithtown and North Carolina, and Mary Boylan, of upstate Pine Bush; and five grandchildren.

Viewings will be held on Wednesday and Thursday at St. James Funeral Home. Following a funeral Mass on Friday at SS. Philip & James Catholic Parish in St. James, he will be buried at St. James Episcopal Cemetery.