Zeitz read the Daily News article into the court record in which New York attorney George Vomvolakis said he and his client, Lee Cruceta, 34, of Monroe, N.Y., wanted to cooperate with the prosecution, but "they don't believe" him.

"The men who profited significantly are out on bail, but the lowest guy is going to be in jail because he can't afford bail," said Vomvolakis, who represents Cruceta in a related Brooklyn case that goes to trial on Jan. 15.

Zeitz, apparently concerned that such remarks could implicate co-defendants, admitted that the judge had no jurisdiction over the out-of-state attorney. Cruceta is seeking a court-appointed lawyer here.

"The whole media thing takes a life of its own," said Zeitz, who is representing funeral home operator James McCafferty, of Mayfair. With cases "tried in the press," he said, it gets hard to find jurors untainted "by what they read or heard."

Two defense attorneys and Assistant District Attorney Bruce Sagel opposed the gag order, saying it was "premature." The judge rejected it.

Last week, a grand jury charged McCafferty and the Garzone brothers, Louis, 65, of Kensington, and Gerald, 47, of North Wales, Montgomery County, with selling diseased tissue - removed without consent from 244 late Philadelphians - for nearly $250,000 to Biomedical Tissue Services in Fort Lee, N.J. in 2004-2005.

BTS owner Michael Mastromarino, of Fort Lee, also was charged with allegedly selling the diseased tissue to five companies, which distributed it to 41 Pennsylvania hospitals, including five here, for implants.

Co-defendant Cruceta, BTS' chief "cutter," allegedly dispatched "cutters" to remove tissue from cadavers at Garzone Funeral Home, on Somerset Street near Ruth.

The remains were cremated at Liberty Cremation, Inc., part-owned by the Garzones and McCafferty. The funeral home and crematorium were named defendants.

Since surrendering on Tuesday, Cruceta and Mastromarino have been held in the Curran Fromhold Correctional Facility, on State Road, unable to post bail for $4 million and $5 million, respectively. Their hearing is set for Tuesday at the Criminal Justice Center.

Last week, bail for the Garzone brothers was reduced from $5 million to $1 million and each posted $100,000 in cash. McCafferty's bail was $500,000.

Yesterday, Shuter set an Oct. 24 hearing for the Garzones and McCafferty who, Sagel said, would be joined by Mastromarino and Cruceta.

Attorneys then could decide whether to bypass the preliminary hearing for a trial date in Common Pleas Court, but three defense attorneys opposed that.

After the hearing, attorneys Howard Kaufman and William Brennan defended their clients, Louis Garzone and Gerald Garzone, respectively, calling them "solid citizens" who perform community service.

Brennan said Gerald has coached at North Catholic High School for 11 years.

Instead of accepting up to $3,000 a year for the job, he returns the money to the school to pay for students' tuitions.

Kaufman said the brothers surrendered their state funeral-home licenses in May 2006.

But Basil Merenda, state commissioner of Professional and Occupational Affairs, said the licenses were revoked and permanently surrendered in June 2006.

Merenda said a third Garzone brother, James, who lives in Florida, then reactivated his Pennsylvania license to continue to run the Kensington funeral home.

"There was no legal basis for denying it," Merenda added.

Kaufman said the Garzones have no civil lawsuits filed against them, though one lawsuit was dismissed.

A recipient claimed she "may have been exposed to diseased tissue - not that it came from Garzones."

Documents for tissue removal were forged by BTS and Mastromarino - not by the Garzones, he added.

Asked about ashes from several corpses being mixed during cremation, Kaufman said "There's no proof of that." *

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