"That guy threatened me!" Babij counters. "He told me: 'Go fuck yourself; I'm not going to pay you.' I said, 'What do you mean you're not going to pay? I'm going to come over there and fuck you over.' He was a hotshot, crazy cocaine cowboy."
After scrapping with Itzler, Babij became embroiled in another bitter confrontation, this time with a stripper who lived with several other women in a rental apartment he owns in Octagon Towers on Nineteenth Street and Washington Avenue. On July 21, 1996, one of Babij's tenants called to say one of the roommates, Demetria Ekmektsis, had a man over and was smoking pot with him in the bedroom. Babij was concerned, because the lease prohibits visitors to the apartment. Accompanied by building security, Babij confronted Ekmektsis, who worked at Club Madonna on Washington Avenue. Ekmektsis was indeed lighting up in the bedroom with a man, who took off like a shot. Babij claims he then required Ekmektsis to leave that night, and gave her $150.
Steve Satterwhite
Babij the businessman doesn't like to be toyed with
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Ekmektsis told police Babij grabbed her by the neck, ripping the apartment key from a necklace she wore, and tossed her out. Police arrested him nearly eight months later for battery.
In September 1996 Stavropoulos sued. The suit's language is spicier than that used in most civil complaints. "Defendant [Babij] spoke of his connection to organized crime. He pointed to certain large, muscular, intimidating individuals in his company and said they were members of organized crime. In particular, he referenced having used such connections to force his prior business associates to comply with his wishes."
His trial in the Ekmektsis matter took place in June 1997 and lasted a little more than an hour in front of County Court Judge Beth Bloom. She found Babij guilty. He ditched his lawyer, appealed, and represented himself. His second trial, in February 1998, was held before a jury, which acquitted him.
Ekmektsis is now suing him in civil court.
Even inside the offices at Image, Babij failed to find refuge from the backbiting and accusations. In 1998 Babij hired Alain Mora to assess new talent. Mora only lasted a few months, a period etched into his memory. "Jerry Babij is not what an agent is supposed to be," the 26-year-old says. "He is the worst person I've ever met in my life." That's his only on-the-record statement.
Babij fired Mora in late December 1998. On January 4 Mora went to the Miami Beach police and filed this report. "Victim [Mora] states that subject [Babij] has threatened him over the phone. Subject believes that the reason his business has gone down is because of victim. Victim is afraid for his safety because subject told him 'Find out what happened to the last person who called the cops on me.' Victim was advised to seek a restraining order."
In a phone conversation with New Times, Mora argues police spelled his name wrong; it's Alan Morra, he points out. (State records show only Elio Alain Mora, with a date of birth of June 11, 1973, the same information on the police reports.) A few days later he calls back, a changed man. "I don't want my name used; [Babij] is crazy," he shouts. "I'm scared." Then after rambling on for a while, he blurts: "If anything happens to me or my family, I'm going to break both your legs, you motherfucker!" Later he shows up at the New Times office and makes a similar threat.
If Babij is right, Mora is the scary one. When police interviewed him, Babij told a detective that "the victim [Mora] embezzled money from him and he has an accountant attempting to confirm said accusation. He claims the victim called him two weeks ago and threatened to have two guys beat up Babij. He said he told the victim that he would beat him up himself." On March 26, 1999, Babij told police Mora had threatened him twice that very day.
Babij is ecstatic to hear Mora threatened a New Times reporter: "See! This is what I have to deal with all the time. I guarantee you, when this is all over, I'm going to seem like the sanest one out there." And then he laughs.
The season is over. The photo shoots for fashion magazines and catalogue companies have dwindled to a trickle. The vast commercial fashion machine will now rumble north to New York and east to Europe. Summer in Miami is slow in the modeling world. But not for Babij. He's working feverishly to get jobs, bring on new talent, and promote his company. He works so hard, he has time for little else. "I'm married to my work," he admits. "I really don't have a social life." Or, he adds, any friends.
