Thomas P. Puccio, the lead prosecutor in the 1980s Abscam corruption case who also successfully defended Danish socialite Claus von Bülow against accusations he tried to kill his wife, died on March 11 from leukemia in New Haven, Conn. He was 67.
Mr. Puccio was born in Brooklyn and graduated from Fordham University in 1966. He earned his law degree from Fordham University School of Law in 1969 and joined the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District. He was named chief of the office’s criminal division in 1973 and in 1975 he became executive assistant to federal prosecutor David G. Trager.
