NEW YORK - Bernard Kerik served as New York City Police Commissioner on 9/11 and later pleaded guilty to tax fraud before pardoning. He is 69 years old.

The New York Police Department confirmed his death on social media Thursday. FBI Director Kash Patel said his death “after a private battle with illness.”

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani reviewed his long history with his former police commissioner during a show Thursday.

Giuliani said in tears: "We were together from the beginning. He was like my brother." "I know Bernie as a better person. I'm certainly a brave, stronger person."

Army veteran Kerik was called a hero after the 9/11 attack and was eventually nominated for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security before falling dramatically from Grace, who ended in prison.

He pleaded guilty to 2010 federal tax fraud and false statement charges. Part of the apartment renovation he received from a construction company was caused by more than $250,000 in apartment renovations, and authorities said authorities count on Kerik to convince New York officials that there were no organized criminal links.

During Kerik's sentencing, the judge noted that he committed some crimes while serving as "the chief law enforcement officer of the country's largest and most grand city."

He was imprisoned for three years before being released in 2013.

President Donald Trump pardoned Kerik in his 2020 leniency. Kerik was one of Florida’s guests after his first appearance at Federal Court in Florida, a guest of Fet Trump, in connection with his case related to his confidential documents, participating in comments from the former president at his Bedminster, New Jersey club.

Kerik was appointed chief of police in 2000 by Giuliani and was appointed in the 11 September 2001 attack.

After the attack, he described “the top police officer in the United States” in Kerik’s 2015 book From Prison to Prisonment.”

He wrote: "But that day I would give nothing to happen. I hope there wasn't." I happened to be there at the time. I was there and in this case I did my best. This is what we all do. ”

He was made by President George W. Bush (George W.

But when Crick suddenly withdrew his nomination, he caught him off guard and said he found the information, which led him to question the immigration status of the person appointed as the butler and nanny.

In 2005, Kerik founded Kerik Group, a crisis and risk management consulting company.

Later, he worked for the former mayor of New York City, focusing on efforts to overturn Trump's losses in 2020.

Patel described Kerik as “a warrior, patriot and bravest civil servant in this country’s history” in an article on social media.

“He has been decorated over 100 times for his heroic, valiant and service, who rescued victims from burning buildings, survived assassination attempts and brought some of the world’s most dangerous criminals to justice,” he said. “His legacy belongs not only to medals or champions, but also to the lives he saved, the cities he helped rebuild and the nation he was honored to serve.”

Kerik grew up in Paterson, New Jersey, where he quit the troubled East Side high school, and later portrayed in the 1989 film Lean On On On On Me.

He joined the army, where he became a military policeman stationed in South Korea. He continued to work in Saudi Arabia and then returned to Americans to oversee New Jersey prisons.

He joined the New York Police Department in the late 1980s. He was defeated in the 1990s to run New York's long-standing prison system, including the city's infamous Riker's Island Complex.