For one of the actors, former D.H. Blair brokerage executive Al Palagonia, the premise wasn’t a stretch. Palagonia has a small role as a Wall Street executive trying to rein in a broker who is playing fast and loose with the fictional firm’s money. As it turns out, the Manhattan D.A. has already decided that Palagonia played fast and loose with his own clients’ money. In June 2001 the 35-year-old pleaded guilty to enterprise corruption in connection with a series of criminal indictments handed down three years ago against executives at now-defunct D.H. Blair. Palagonia and other senior executives at the firm stood accused of engaging in basic penny stock pump-and-dump schemes. On January 13 New York State Supreme Court Justice Bernard Fried sentenced Palagonia to a minimum of two years and a maximum of six years in prison. In a real-life plot twist right out of the movie, Palagonia last month was said to be savoring his own final hours of freedom, which included a trip to the Super Bowl in San Diego. Palagonia, who has also been ordered to pay several million dollars in fines, was expected to appear before Fried on February 3. Neither Palagonia nor his attorney, Stanley Arkin, nor director Lee returned requests for comment. “He’s going to pay his debt to society, and hopefully when he’s done he will continue acting,” says a pal of Palagonia, who has appeared in several other Spike Lee films, including Summer of Sam and He Got Game. “I can tell you one major parallel to 25th Hour: There are going to be some good going-away parties.”
