Background
Gentile was born on July 23, 1943 in the Bronx.
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Paul Gentile
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After attending public schools in the Bronx, he graduated from Manhattan College in 1965 and received his law degree from Fordham Law School in 1968.
Career
After being assistant District Attorney, Gentile briefly served as the District Attorney of Bronx County, New York from October 1987 to 1988. He was appointed to replace Bronx District Attorney Mario Merola after Merola"s death in 1987. In 1969, Gentile was hired by Bronx District Attorney Burton B. Roberts to work as an assistant district attorney for his office.
He became a career prosecutor, serving in the Bronx District Attorney"s office as an assistant district attorney for the next 18 years, eventually rising to the rank of Chief Assistant Prosecutor for Mario Merola, who succeeded Roberts as the Bronx District Attorney in 1972.
Gentile was also the first director of the Major Offense Bureau established by Mr. Merola in 1973, a task force office designed to prosecute career criminals and organized crime entities.
When Merola died suddenly in October 1987 of a cerebral hemorrhage, Gentile was appointed by Governor Mario Cuomo to the position of Acting Bronx District Attorney to serve out the rest of his term. In his statement, Cuomo cited Gentile"s role in continuing the prosecution of the Bronx government officials involved in the Wedtech scandal, along with trusting Gentile continues to make "key tactical and strategic decisions" in existing investigations.
1988 election and withdrawal
After his appointment as the Acting Bronx District Attorney, Gentile, a Democrat, decided to seek a full term in the 1988 election.
The Gentile campaign included high profile and widely publicized spats with New York City public officials. In a public dispute accusing former Mayor Rudy Giuliani of connection to organized crime and corruption, despite formerly endorsing him for the interim District Attorney seat, Guiliani criticized Gentile as a "McCarthy-like character" for leaking Federal Bureau of Investigation documents about Bronx prosecutor Philip Foglia. These documents claimed to connect Foglia to organized crime, and motivated Giuliani to request that Governor Mario Cuomo oust Gentile from office, a move ignored by Cuomo.
Bronx Democratic leader George Friedman called Gentile "unelectable" at one point in his campaign, however, later clarified that he misspoke and formally endorsed Gentile for the nomination.
Despite a backing from Bronx Borough president Fernando Ferrer, Gentile no longer enjoyed enthusiastic support from key parts of the party and withdrew from the race. After his withdrawal, fellow Democrat Robert Johnson became the first black District Attorney in New York after winning the general election.
In September 2012, Gentile threatened to resign from the Bronx Bar Association to protest attorney Michael Marinaccio"s ascension to the position of president of the association, whom Gentile alleged had ties to organized crime.
