Samuel Gates, Sr. is a criminal court judge. He lost his wife Elizabeth to cancer approximately a year before he became a POI. He has been raising their young son ever since. Gates' son, Sam, was kidnapped by Jarek Koska's gang in order to ensure that their associate would be found not guilty in a trial presided over by Judge Gates. Christina Rojas, Sam's nanny, was tortured and murdered by Koska's gang in order to get the alarm code for Judge Gates' brownstone. When the NYPD visited Judge Gates while investigating Rojas' murder, he claimed ignorance. Despite Markham being found not guilty, in large part due to Gates' misconduct, the kidnappers double crossed him and were going to kill Gates and his son before Reese intervened, rescuing them and capturing Markham, Koska and his team follow