Personal Life
Kerik's first child, Yi Sa, was born in October 1975 to Yi Yun Cha when he was 19 and serving in South Korea as a military policeman. In February 1976, Kerik completed his tour of duty in South Korea and was transferred back to the United States, leaving both mother and daughter behind. In his autobiography, Kerik called the episode "a mistake I will always regret, and I pray to God that one day I can make it right". In December 2001, Kerik and his daughter, now Lisa Marie Jordan (married to Joshua Jordan with two children), re-united after 26 years of separation.
Kerik has been married three times. His first marriage was to Linda Hales on August 10, 1978, when he was nearly 24 and she was 27. They separated in 1982 and were officially divorced June 6, 1983. Linda — now remarried and known as Linda H Priest — is the Clerk of Superior Court in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
Kerik's second marriage was to Jacqueline Llerena of New Jersey. It lasted from September 3, 1983, to July 1992. Together they had one son, Joseph Michael (born June 11, 1985) who is a detective with the Newark Police Department in New Jersey.
Kerik's third marriage was to Syria-born Hala Matli (born February 3, 1972). He met her in 1996, when she was the office manager in his dentist's office. They married on November 1, 1998, and they have two daughters: Celine Christina (born March 3, 2000) and Angelina Amber (born October 30, 2002). Rudy Giuliani is their godfather.
He is a 5th degree black belt master instructor in the martial arts, with black belts in both Japanese Karate and Korean Tae Kwon Do.
In 2001, Kerik published a memoir, The Lost Son: A Life in Pursuit of Justice, a New York Times best seller. In this book, he revealed that his parents divorced when he was three years old, and that his mother, an alcoholic and a prostitute, was murdered when he was nine – possibly by her pimp.
Kerik's father, Donald Raymond Kerik, Sr. died on February 24, 2006, from cancer.
In 2009, Kerik was seen in the season finale of the Bravo reality show Real Housewives of New Jersey.
Kerik has been a resident of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey.
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