Ramapo podiatrist Ira Bernstein admits plotting to kill wife
A Ramapo podiatrist pleaded guilty Monday to plotting with his lover to try to have his estranged wife killed.
Ira Bernstein, 42, of Montebello faces 5 to 15 years in prison when sentenced for felony conspiracy and financial crimes.
Bernstein and his lover, Kelly Gribeluk, have now both admitted in Rockland County Court that they conspired to hire a local businessman to kill Susan Bernstein, as well as to have two insurance investigators beaten up to discourage them from bringing fraud allegations about Bernstein's podiatry practice to authorities.
EARLIER: Gribeluk pleads guilty
HUSBAND: Podiatrist pleads not guilty in wife-slay plot
PLOT: Podiatrist's wife targeted for death wants their property
The man they picked to facilitate the attacks went to the Spring Valley police, leading to Ramapo police arresting Bernstein and Gribeluk in May. Bernstein's wife was unharmed.
Bernstein pleaded guilty to one felony count of second-degree conspiracy involving the plot to kill his wife and two misdemeanor counts of fifth-degree conspiracy for the matter involving the insurance investigators.
Executive Assistant District Attorney Richard Kennison Moran said Monday that Bernstein has also agreed to plead guilty to felony third-degree grand larceny at a later date involving the theft of money through his podiatry practice.
The grand larceny count covers a theft of between $3,000 and $50,000 and remains under investigation, Moran said.
Bernstein is set for sentencing May 16 by County Court Judge David Zuckerman. Gribeluk also could be sentenced that day; her plea agreement calls for 4 to 12 years in prison.
The maximum penalty Bernstein had faced for conspiracy was 8 ⅓ to 25 years. The evidence against him and Gribeluk included video and audio of conversations with the businessman as well as other witness testimony.
"After reviewing the charges before him and the district attorney's investigation into an additional matter, he felt it was time to put this all behind him, accept responsibility and move forward with life with certainty as to the outcome," Bernstein's lawyer, Jeffrey Millman of Stony Point, said.
Gribeluk, 36, the mother of three children, pleaded guilty Sept. 28 to three counts of second-degree conspiracy. The charges include that she and Bernstein made a $2,000 downpayment toward having Susan Bernstein killed and payments of $2,500 to have the investigators beaten up.
Moran told the judge that Bernstein had negotiated a $100,000 price for his wife's murder, conspiring with Gribeluk and a police informant to have a driver run down the mother of his children and claim her death was an accident. The original price was $200,000.
As part of their investigation, authorities had a make-up artist make the United Healthcare investigators appear to have swollen faces and the businessman showed Gribeluk and Bernstein photos to convince them he had carried out the beating and had the ability to carry out the death plot as well.
EARLIER STORY: Ramapo podiatrist plotted with girlfriend to kill wife, cops say
EARLIER STORY: Probe expands into podiatrist facing murder for hire charges
EARLIER STORY: Kelly Gribeluk appears in court
Ira and Susan Bernstein, who have three children, had filed for divorce on Nov. 12, 2014, but entered into an agreement on Feb. 26, 2016, to suspend the action, with the promise that he would transfer ownership of four properties within 30 days to her. He agreed to pay all associated costs. She has since filed a lawsuit accusing her husband of pain and suffering.
Gribeluk had her own personal issues, having gone through a bitter custody battle that included a fight over her children's religious upbringing.
Meanwhile, Bernstein's podiatry offices in Ramapo and Bardonia had their own set of troubles. He lost two recent malpractice lawsuits totaling more than $2 million and there were several financial judgments and lawsuits against him on file with the Rockland County Clerk's Office.
Twitter: @lohudlegal