Hearing set for ‘Wrestler’ actor; lawyer disputes feds' reports in steroids case.

A federal judge has scheduled a hearing next week to delve into actor Scott Siegel's behavior the night he led federal agents and police on a wild Hollywood-style chase through Eastchester and Tuckahoe.

Siegel, 35, of Nautilus Place, New Rochelle, has already pleaded guilty in the case that stemmed from the chase Feb. 18.

Federal agents were attempting to arrest Siegel in connection with possession and distribution of illegal steroids when he fled. Siegel played a steroids dealer in the film "The Wrestler," starring Mickey Rourke.

Siegel's lawyer, Barry Levin, has filed objections to a presentencing report that says Siegel deliberately tried to run down two officers during the chase.

The presentencing report, prepared by the U.S. Department of Probation, says Siegel "drove directly at two law enforcement officers who were on foot, one of whom is an officer in the (federal) task force, in an apparent effort to run them over."

One of the officers fired his gun at Siegel's car in an effort to stop him, the report said, according to papers filed in U.S. District Court in White Plains. But Levin said Siegel actually tried to avoid the officers, one of whom had slipped in the snow and was crawling toward Siegel's car.

"Siegel backed up his vehicle and drove away from the officer onto a curb and around the police cruiser," he said in papers. "At no point did the defendant drive his vehicle toward either the officer or the vehicle."

Levin said that version can be verified by video recordings of the chase. "At no point during the 30-minute car chase did defendant Scott Siegel intend to injure, nor did he injure, any task force officer," Levin said.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said it is prepared to call a half-dozen witnesses to back up the presentencing report on the chase. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sarah Krissoff said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Kenneth Karas that it would likely take two days to conduct a full hearing into the matter.

Siegel faces a possible 20 years in prison for his guilty plea to steroid possession and assault on a federal officer. But federal sentencing guidelines will likely call for a sentence of between 51 and 63 months in prison.

The degree to which Siegel endangered officers and the public during his chase could be a factor in Karas' sentence. Karas scheduled a conference for Feb. 11 to determine the scope of possible further hearings regarding the dispute.