BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) – A federal jury heard opening statements Wednesday in the trial of strip club owner Peter Gerace Jr.

Gerace, the owner of Pharaoh’s Gentleman’s Club in Cheektowaga, faces charges of sex and cocaine trafficking, bribery of a public official and tampering with a witness.

His case is intertwined with that of former DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni, who was convicted of multiple federal crimes.

Gerace’s case has drawn a lot of attention, in part because he is the grandson of the late Joseph Todaro, owner of La Nova Pizzeria.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi told jurors in his opening statement that Todaro was the alleged head of an Italian organized crime organization in Buffalo. U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Vilardo prohibited prosecutors from using the word “Mafia” during the Gerace and Bongiovanni cases. Todaro was never convicted of any crime.

Tripi outlined the government’s case against Gerace in a nearly two-hour opening statement Wednesday.

He said Gerace became rich by coercing vulnerable young women who were dancers at Pharaoh’s into having sex with powerful, well-paid clients by giving them cocaine and pills, which fueled his addiction.

Tripi also said that Gerace and Bongiovanni were childhood friends and that Bongiovanni protected him and his club from authorities’ investigations in exchange for bribes.

And after Bongiovanni was arrested and could no longer protect him, Tripi said, Gerace tried to intimidate a witness against him.

The defense presented a very different picture of Gerace.

They acknowledged that strip clubs aren’t exactly the most family-friendly places.

“It’s not a high school dance,” attorney Eric Soehnlein told jurors during his testimony that lasted a little more than half an hour.

They said Pharaoh’s is no different than any other strip club in the United States and that Gerace made money through fees and liquor, not cocaine and sex.

Defense attorneys also scoffed at the mob reference.

“That belongs on the History Channel,” Soehnlein said.

The trial is expected to last up to two months.