Chapter 15
America's Dirtiest Secrets In 'retrospect, sitting behind bars for three years gave me an unusual advantage over most of my fellow Americans. You see, I got to see the 6:00 evening national news weeks, and in some cases, even months before anyone in the free world.
I also got to see what would be well
hidden from the free world by our beloved government - the truth. I met the players and creators of the news, dined and worked with them daily, and even got to interview them almost at will.
I discovered
the real reasons the U.S. government wanted Noriega out of power and it had very little if anything to do with drugs.
I met and befriended the
people the CIA hired, then betrayed to fly guns and drugs on behalf of President Reagan. Yes, it seemed all the people who knew the inside story were now locked inside hide the truth!
real
prison. What a great place to
Just think about this for a minute. If someone had
information about you that could get you locked away or exposed on the front pages of the Times, can you think of a better place to put that person besides the graveyard? After all, if they told the truth from behind bars, their credibility is automatically in doubt if not totally negated.
Thus it was no accident that I met dozens of very intelligent and educated people, political activists, and
even
patriotic zealots
who
risked life and limb for America were secreted at MCC Miami and other
federal
prison facilities.
People like Mike Tolliver, George
Morales, Jesus Garcia, and Gary Betzner. selected by the CIA for
recruitment
These people were carefully
because
as
criminal
suspects,
they came with automatic built-in "deniability". If and when the shit hit 1
the fan, they could simply be arrested and charged with crimes, and no one, much less the news media would pay much attention to them. It mattered not whether the crimes were real or fabricated. Fortunately however, the folks at Dateline, Congressional investigator Ralph Maestri, Brian Barger of CNN, Senator John Kerry, and Johnathan Kwitny of the Wall Street Journal were not taken in by the government's dubious ploy in the case of the contra scandal, and the American public eventually learned of the fiasco, about nine months after I did. When I told my own mother about the guns for drug missions months before the story broke on the news she was more than skeptical that the U.S. government could possibly sanction such crimes.
Only when she saw the story
on the nightly news and Dateline did she come to believe it.
I get a
similar reaction when I tell people about my own experiences working for Uncle Sam in the Coast Guard, and with the Treasury and Justice Departments.
The real story about Noriega's demise still remains well hidden from the public however. But that is someone else's book to write.
Let's
just say that Noriega was a productive CIA employee for more than a decade, and it was only after he began saying "No" to his American puppet masters that he became a dangerous liability - someone who had acquired too much potentially embarrassing information to be left in power.
It is now no secret that Noriega wanted U.S. troops and
bases out of Panama, but when he threatened to expose the drug money laundering operations of the CIA, h e m a d e a l o t o f b i g p e o p l e i n W a shington nervous. But he sealed his doom when he refused the “request” of then CIA Director George H. Bush to cancel the Panama Canal Treaty he sign with Jimmy Carter in 1977. This infuriated Bush who when he became President himself, decided that “Manny simply had to go” and he did via a kidnapping that required a military invasion in 2
1989..
And
now that the man is a convicted
would believe
him today
right?
felon, almost
In my humble
no one
opinion,
America
deserves to hear his side of the story and not from a courtroom where politically- appointed
federal judges
conceal the truth during his trial. glimpse
of
the
censored
Americans
real Panama/Noriega
the man 88 times curious
Better still you can actually
prison and if he gets your
get
a
story should rent the video
d oc u m e n t a r y entitled "The Panama Deception". to be nauseated.
to
to
But be prepared
write to Noriega in
mail, he'd probably be more than glad
to tell you the real version of that 1989 invasion and the arguments that led up to it.
I also was destined to meet the old college buddy of George W. Bush who claimed to have supplied
his drinking pal with their supply of
party drugs - marijuana and cocaine during their glory days. was jailed elected
He too
less than six months before George Bush Sr. would be
President,
and only three days after some
leaked out that the Presidential candidate's and drug problem.
press stories
son may have a drinking
The guy was only a few years older than me and I
would meet him on the "magic bus" - a very special place reserved for only the most potentially embarrassing very interesting
prisoners.
Indeed some
people can be found within the confines
prisons - and not all of them are genuine criminals.
of U.S.
Early on, after I
first picked up on this oddity, I decided that I would keep notes and document
my experiences,
encounters,
and the most
interesting
people I met. As time wore on, I realized I was certainly not the only one railroaded into a conviction,
and I intended to use these other
cases to corroborate my own abuse of process.
I never intended to
write a book - at least not yet.
3
Having been able to speak at length with numerous witnesses to the above
government
corruption
along
with
my
own
personal
experiences working for Uncle Sam brought me to the sad conclusion that real justice level.
in America
is conveniently
selective at the federal
Politicians in the highest places who have the power to appoint
federal judges have the luxury of using the criminal justice system as a
powerful
weapon
and
tool
to
silence
and/or
discredit
critics,
intimidate potential candidates, or take vengeance against someone who fell into disfavor - like whistle blowers.
It all comes down to controlling the flow of information and putting the "right" spin on the truth.
Politicians are well aware that no matter if
something is true or false, it will be believed by the vast majority of Americans
if they see it on the TV news or in the print media.
Wagging The Dog was a movie that most of us considered a comedy, but in actuality, was almost a bulls eye hit on reality in Washington. The spin doctors of Washington, if given enough money can have us all believing damn near anything.
And God forbid should someone
(like Bill Maher, host of Politically Incorrect for example) start publicly questioning or challenging the spinned version of events.
The man
was forced off the airwaves at a time when his late night audience grew to an all time high. from television
The spinned version of his disappearance
erroneously
blamed
"low ratings".
Maher
proved
otherwise in his last week of live broadcasts.
Another
more
recent
example
of
how
the
U.S.
subverts
or
suppressed the truth was the Israeli massacre at Jenin in May of 2002 orchestrated by Ariel Sharon.
America could not have it's best
ally in the Middle East charged with war crimes as was Milosevich for similar acts in Croatia.
So as soon as the first story broke in Cairo 4
about Jenin, the Bush administration
promptly dispatched
their top
political lobbyists and spin doctors to take charge of the damage control. Over a dozen countries
lobbied the United Nations for a
public investigation,
the last thing the U.S. or Israel wanted.
God and President
Bush knows how he managed
Only
to quash that
5
investigation,
but without
from the American
it, those slaughtered
at Jenin soon faded
news media which did not have, nor wanted to
spend it's own resources on the story.
It's been my own experience
that those in power have a self-interest (politically and/or financially) to regulate,
edit, or otherwise
censor
the truth
if it may be potentially
damaging. The president of America is the most powerful person in the world, and only bad press can ultimately remove him from office. What else can influence voters more than the news they read and see on television?
I urge every American to scour the Internet and
find some foreign newspapers to read on a regular basis. be surprised to find stories never. even mentioned
You may
in the American
press.
Americans
have a love/hate
relationship
seems nobody likes a "snitch",
with
yet everyone
their stories on 60 Minutes, 20/20, or Dateline. realize that every whistleblower better government investigations
whistle
is fascinated
If their stories
might never have been launched,
It
to hear
But people need to
who comes forward
for all of us.
blowers.
helps make a
were never told,
and corrupt,
abusive
government officials would not only still be stealing or misusing your tax dollars to line their own pockets, but would have no qualms nor fears of perpetrating whistle
even greater
blowers and watchdog
Personally,
I feel that
groups can only help restore some
integrity to our immoral government strengthened
abuses.
and laws need to be significantly
to protect them from the kind of retribution that I and
others endured for two decades.
Because we try to do the right thing
and report crimes and abuses, our lives have been made miserable. In my own case, offenses,
I have
been jailed
four times
for non-existent
had my friends, fiance, and neighbors threatened
against
helping me by federal agents, smeared beyond belief, had my life's 296
savings seized, my home trashed twice by federal agents, had my phones tapped, been shot at, beaten, pepper sprayed, drugged, and urinated on, and had my mail intercepted.
And all this took place in
America - allegedly the greatest democracy on Earth.
And there are
yet dozens of other whistle blowers who endured far worse than me. Some have gone insane, others who could not handle the incessant harassment
took their own lives to find relief, and yet others like
Liston Smith were murdered or suffered coincidental
accidents. For
those who sacrificed so much for so little there must be at the very least, meaningful and effective protection.
Whether you are willing to accept the truth that whistle blowers have to offer is not the issue.
In a truly free country, they should be able to
be heard without fear of revenge. assured
of hearing
Without them, you will never be
the full-unedited
related story. Websites
version
have sprouted
of any government-
to recruit, encourage,
publish the stories of whistle blowers like www.
and
But their stories
need to picked up an carried by the mainstream media without repercussions to the newspaper or radio/tv station who carries the story. In this regard, I am now seeking the financing to set up a Internet news wire service (www.NewsNetNine.com) to act as a clearinghouse for whistle blowers world-wide and provide protective liaisons with media resources who have the courage to report all the news.
What the American public got to see about Enron was just the very tip of a very large iceberg that most in our government would like to keep submerged out of view. Some 60% of Congressmen received campaign contributions from Enron and President Bush's personal friendship with its executives goes back to the early 90s. Less than two weeks before New Yorker AI Chalem was found with five bullets in his head in his own home, 297
he was buying "off-market" shares of Enron through an off-shore trading account for a Texas, Congressman. How do I know? He called to ask me if I could help him round up the shares. We may never get to see the whole Enron story, but I stumbled across many pieces to the puzzle one by one, purely by chance.
Not all Americans want to know that a man is raped every seventeen minutes in U.S. prisons, or how lobbyists and corporations bribe their way to success and enormous wealth, or than one of every 12 Americans go through the criminal justice system, and about 20% of them are innocent citizens, but in America we should be able to hear and see this stuff if we so choose without interference from our own government.If
you
agree, send me an e-mail, and I will truly keep you posted on everything that others want to hide from your eyes and ears in a timely manner, and let
you
draw
your
own
conclusions.
My
email
is
[email protected].
My own personal conclusion is that many in our government utilize and abuse their authority to organize and perpetrate crimes of growing magnitude, and they finance their criminal ventures with our tax dollars. The scary part is that this organized crime is not limited to our muftimillionaire
politicians,
but includes growing elements
inside federal
law enforcement, the Wall Street bankers, corporate America and even the mob as Richard Brenneke testified before the U.S. Congress.
They have
become the true "Untouchables"
The epitome
of this is law enforcement corruptions exemplified
case of Joseph suit pending
in the
Salvati whose family now has a $300 Million law
against the FBI.
Mr. Salvati and the other three men
spent 30 years in prison for the murder of Eddie Deegan. The FBI not 298
only knew Salvati and the others were innocent at the time of their arrest, but they knew from wire taps that the actual killer was one of their very own informants named only
suppressed
evidence
Joseph
this information,
Barboza!
Yet
they
they helped to fabricate
and testimony used to convict four innocent
two of them sentenced to the death penalty.
not false
men and get
Only recently, some 30
years after the fact did the public ever hear anything about this case when news of special Congressional FBI Special extensive
Agent Paul
framing
"Untouchables"
Ric o who was
still believes
and
investigations
himself
leaked out in 1998.
in part responsible to
be
one
for the of
the
showed absolutely no remorse whatsoever when
called on the carpet before Congress for ruining the lives of an entire family
for some 30 years. Amazingly,
Rico when
in fact he would easily
obstruction
of justice,
more
bizarre
was protected they admit they
is the
no charges were filed against be
and a half dozen fact
the
from prosecution
found
guilty
other
real acknowledged
of
perjury,
statutes.
Even
killer (Barboza)
for years by the FBI even though
knew he was the killer for the last thirty five years!
The government covered up this case for decades, as they continue to do with others including my own.
Certainly you can imagine my surprise when a letter to FBI Director Mueller (dated September
15th, 2001 and sent via courier) containing
video and audio tapes advising him of a corrupt FBI agent involved in smuggling over $250 Million of drugs does not even get a form letter reply. I later learned that the FBI already knew about this scoundrel and rather than undertake an embarrassing prosecution of the guy, they merely asked him to take early retirement.
The man now lives with impunity in
his Key Biscayne luxury home less than 100 yards from the old Nixon compound and the handful of witnesses who can put this man behind bars 299
have either been jailed or run out of the U.S. including myself. My attorney Bill Gilmour has video and audio tapes of
former
FBI
Nelson cavorting with convicted drug smuggler
agent
Terry
Erling Ingvaldsen of
Norway right inside the Miami FBI offices! Ingvaldsen admits that he and Nelson smuggled
millions of dollars
of
heroin,
cocaine,
and
ecstasy together for years. Although as I explain later, Erling did not have much choice, Nelson sure did. When discovered and arrested RCMP in Canada, but Ingvaldsen
Nelson claimed it was just as "sting"
and others
say
otherwise
by the operation
and are willing to take
polygraph tests. More about Terry Neslon can be found by running an Internet
search
using the keywords
"Special
Agent Terry Nelson".
You'll be more than amused at what you find.
My lawyer and I documented to FBI Director Mueller and the RCMP in Canada can document that we informed the FBI about Nelson’ criminal activity
months
before anything
ever
hit the
Gilmour also has copies of the unanswered well
as Attorney
General Ashcroft.
agree there is something
very wrong
internet
about
him.
letter sent to Mueller as
I think most Americans
might
with an FBI which shows no
interest in learning more about one of it's own corrupt agents. This is epitomized
by the case of FBI Special
knowingly
helped
fabricate
Agent
Paul
Rico
who
false evidence and testimony to convict
four men including Joseph Salvati of a murder he and other agents knew were 110% innocent. cost
Rico admitted
his
misconduct
that
Salvati
30 years
of false imprisonment, before Congressional
investigators
on record,
yet
brought
against
Rico.
not even
one
criminal
charge
was
If this isn't obstruction of justice what is?
Rico should get the same sentence
his devious
deceptions
earned
Salvati.
300
Now most people would think that once a drug smuggler is arrested and sent off to prison, he is put out of business and his smuggling days are over. Benitez.
This is not necessarily
true as in the case of Renee
Renee is not so easily discouraged even though he may not
see freedom for another ten years or so.
I had won his confidence
after I typed and translated a handful of legal documents for him at MCC Miami, where I had already befriended Erling Ingvaldsen who vouched
for me.
Benitez had decided that he could continue
his
illegal multi-million dollar enterprise by recruiting a proxy to act on his behalf.
It would have to be someone who had unrestricted access to
him and someone he could have private, with.
unmonitored
conversations
This limited his choices to lawyers, and for some reason he
chose Steve Finta.
One fine day, Benitez approached
me and asked me if I had any
money to invest in a venture that would pay a 500% return. pure curiosity
Out of
I said "maybe", when in fact I spent the last of my
moneys on Attorney Herb Sachs long ago.
Within 48 hours I was
called for an unexpected "lawyers visit" and when I was taken to the visiting room, there sat Renee with his attorney Steve Finta and I was promptly
introduced.
Erling Ingvaldsen
and a few other of Finta's
clients including Carlos Botero were waiting to see Finta as well.
Once inside the private interview room alone with Finta, he began by saying "Renee tells me you're a player and want in on our action" I again answered "maybe - depends on the action and my cut of it". Finta perceived an interest and cut right to the chase "We're putting a load together and need another $500,000.
For every $100,000 you
put in we'll pay you a minimum of $300,000." but not for long.
I was stunned at first
"Isn't this risky?" I asked "We have no risk." Finta 301
replied matter-of-factly.
"How so?" I countered.
Finta subtly pointed
to
another
talking
a
man
sitting
in
visitor's
Ingvaldsen "See that guy with Erling?"
booth
with
Erling
"Yeah?" "Take my card and
go introduce yourself - his name is Terry and he covers our back". I took
his cue and his card and walked
knocked on the door and then entered.
across I greeted
the visiting
room
Erling and gave
Finta's card to the other man, who then looked out the door towards Finta who flashed him the "okay" hand sign. himself
as Special
Agent
Terry
thought was a dumb practical joke.
Nelson
The man introduced
and I laughed
at what I
But within 1 0 seconds Terry had
his credentials and badge out for me to see. Son of a bitch!
I thought
to myself and promptly stopped chuckling. Terry was an FBI agent! Terry already knew quite a bit about me from Renee – that I lived I Puerto Rico for seve years, was a pilot, and fluently bilingual. He assured me that if I participated in their venture I would make a lot of money, and even more when I went free, because as he said “I need a project manager in Puerto Rico, and I think you’re the perfect guy for the job.” Not knowing if I was being set up for something I said very little and said “I see”. I guess I was a bit in shock over how openly he was talking to me about joining up in his criminal enterprise. He claimed Erling would be going free in a few weeks to help him, and I could do the same when I was released in two months on probation. He said he take me out for a few drinks and explain more when I went free and he gave me his home number to call him when I went free. In the interim, he wanted me to invest in some loads. I left the little meeting room shocked and confused.
Not knowing what I was supposed to say I just made small talk with Erling trying to ascertain ventures.
if Erling had any role in the Benitez/Finta
All Erling would say was "Terry's a good guy - you can 302
trust him".
I didn't know how to take that comment, so I just excused
myself and left them t a l k i n g a n d a s a s I was walking towards the exit, Benitez approached
me "Are you in?".
"I need to think about
this Renee - give me a couple of days" .
My i ni ti a l contacts with Terry Nelson at MCC Miami were
brief, but
enough to convince me he was using his authority to protect and profit with drug smugglers. Before coming to prison Renee Benitez, one time head of the Medellin/Cali cocaine cartel who was arrested after shooting a DEA agent in Colombia in the early 80s. It took American agents more than a decade to find and arrest Benitez. If I wa s not vetted by Benitez and Erling, I would never have been introduced to Finta, and then Terry. Finta was the buffer between Terry and the prisoners. If anything went wrong Finta was covered by “Client – Attorney Confidentiality”, and Terry as an FBI agent didn’t have to explain squat to anyone. That entire evening was so surreal for me..
Later Renee would tell me that the load would be about 600 kilos of cocaine shipped into Port Everglades concealed in some lumber from Central
America
but would
not give
committed some bucks to the venture.
me
more
details
unless I
I asked him for another day. I
was just trying to get out of this mess without causing any ill will. Later that day I took a walk with Erling to have a private conversation and asked him if he knew that Finta and Benitez were running a smuggling operation. not to get involved busted.
He acknowledged because
that he did and warned me
Finta and Benitez were about to be
I probed further bu t Erling just said "It's better that you don't
know for now - I'll tell you next week" "Are you crazy Tony?
"Are you in on this Erling?"
I don't trust Finta or Benitez".
Now I was
303
confused.
Why did Erling have weekly visits from Finta and why was he
talking with Nelson the other night? The mystery would be solved shortly.
The following week Erling approached me in the library where I was typing some letters for George Morales. He was upset. He somehow came to the conclusion that Finta was just using him for business contacts and wasn't doing anything to get him a new trial or released from prison. I would later hear similar words from Renee Benitez and some Haitians that had a similar relationship with Finta.
Indeed, it was much better and more
profitable for Finta if his clients never were released from prison.
If they
were, his participation would no longer be required, and by now he was certainly growing accustomed and quite comfortable with his new wealth.
By the grace of God a stroke of good luck fell at feet one day as I was taking an after dinner stroll on the prison compound around the walkway that circled it's small lake. I was walking with Erling who was telling me how Sheriff Nick Navaro of Ft. Lauderdale had put a gun to his young son's head to coerce a signature on a prepared statement.
We were discussing
the possible ways to expose the fraud when
suddenly
I saw him. What was he doing here?
The answer was quite
simple -
working. The last time I had seen him was some ten years
earlier when we were both petty officers in the Coast Guard stationed at Air Station Borinquen in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.
He was married with a
beautiful sweet wife and children. He was too nice of a guy to be a prison guard?
His name was Jimmy and I made a bee line straight to him.
"What in God's name are you doing here Jimmy?" He was just as shocked to see me and replied with a similar question of his own.
I signaled for
Erling to walk ahead without me and Jimmy and I strolled off to a more private area to chat. 304
In less than 30 minutes we exchanged updates and I learned that Jimmy was recovering from a painful divorce and decided the military would not provide him the life he wanted. But not wanting to lose his accrued government seniority he grabbed the first federal job that came his way when he came to Miami. And now he was a prison guard at MCC Miami. He looked drained and was obviously not the happy go lucky guy I knew ten years ago. Jimmy was depressed and he clearly hated his new job. That was easy to understand. What a genuine joy it was for me to find an old friend in this place.
We had never really been close friends, but
friends none the less. And right now a friend is just what I needed.
I explained my problem with the mail interception and Jimmy agreed to smuggle out a single letter for me at the risk of losing his job. After much thought, I decided that this one missile would have multiple warheads. I would send one letter containing three others to my most loyal friend in the free world and she would remail the three letters inside.
One letter
would be to only man I trusted at the FBI at the time, (Ben Grogan) another would be to the Postal Inspector, and the third to Congressman Mottl.
When Jimmy confirmed that he personally dropped my thick envelope in a real red white and blue mailbox in the real world I was elated and assumed that help would soon be on the way. What I didn't count on however was my mother's pride. I would learn some five years later during a heart to heart talk during a mother's day dinner that my own mother failed
me.
She confessed that she was too proud and embarrassed to send the letter I wrote to Ron Mottl who was an old family friend.
Parma political
circles are small, and my father was well-known in those circles.
My
dear mother didn't want anyone in arma to know her only child was behind bars - no matter what the reason. Fortunately, she did mail 305
the other two letters but I had no way of knowing that Ben Grogan had died, and when I received a form letter reply from the Miami Postal advised
Inspector
I laughed
and then cried.
His
generic
letter
me to submit a written detailed complaint (which is exactly
what I mailed him) and someone would then respond from his office. If they did, I never saw it. As hard as I tried, I could not persuade Jimmy to smuggle out another letter for me.
Apparently one of the
guards got caught bringing in drugs and cigars for the prisoners (a very lucrative business for guards) and now spot checks were being done on guards as they entered and left the prison. not be able to explain
Jimmy
would
a letter from a prisoner in his lunchbox and
could even be charged criminally.
I know my letter to Grogan following week, Erling showed
made it to FBI hands
because
me a Miami Herald article.
load of cocaine was busted at Port Everglades bundles of lumber, just where he said it would be.
the
Finta's
hidden inside the I gave the FBI all
the information I had gathered on the shipment and it was enough to result in a bust.
Little did I know that Erling also blew his own whistle
tne the same load. But we were both very much surprised to see that the Miami Herald article made no mention of Attorney Steve Finta nor Special
Agent
Terry
Nelson.
Why?
This question would go
unanswered for another year.
When I was released from prison, I had promised to help a handful of prisoners seek genuine justice and Erling was one of them. But only a few months after I was released from prison, Erling showed up in my office. He was beaming and quickly explained "Terry got me out". It would prove to be one of the best business decisions Terry Nelson would ever make. Erling went into prison a wealthy married man and came out broke and 306
divorced.
But Terry would soon help him make up for lost time - and
money.
The next time I would see Terry Nelson would be 1997 he was still prospering in the drug trade in 1997 as he would be in 2001 when he was asked to take early retirement when too many questions were being asked about Terry.
I called him at his Key Biscayne home (305) 361-3071
an effort to locate Erling.
in
"He's busy right now Tony - we're right in the
middle of a big deal in Canada. What do you need?" he asked me. "I need for Erling to call me as soon as he can" I replied, Terry enough to confide Erling never message. through
not
trusting
in him despite Erling's many assurances.
did call, and I wondered
The next time
still
I heard from
if Terry even gave him my Erling was two years later
his son Egil who called me in 1999 to tell me that
betrayed Erling on a multi-million
Terry
dollar ecstasy and heroin deal in
Quebec, and let Erling take the fall, while he took the money.
I would see Erling for the last time in December of 2001 in Toronto when
he asked
introduced
me if I knew a lawyer
him by telephone
he could
to Bill Gilmour
released from prison in Quebec,
really trust.
and when
he was
he came to Toronto to meet Bill.
Because Erling will be filing his own law suit against the FBI, I have agreed not to divulge more details of the Terry Nelson connection until the case is over.
I will say however, that on behalf of Erling I
placed a call to Terry and basically said "Hi Terry this Tony DiMarco. You know Erling wants his share of the money". back but such an unexpected bluntness"
At first he was taken
call and then even more so by my
After some meaningless chit chat Terry replied "Well just
tell Erling to be cool, keep his mouth shut, and he'll get his money. Tell him to call me and remind him I've got my own problems right 307
now".
Even though Erling served his time, both in the U.S. and
Canada
he was "advised" not to return to the U.S. ever again or
they'd
lock him up for the rest of his life. So despite the fact that
Erling
is a U.S. citizen,
Nelson's
was forced
to live abroad
secret criminal life and freedom,
to preserve
and perhaps his own life.
Only in 2010 was Erling finally allowed to return to the U.S. with a pledge of secrecy and to guarantee that secrecy they put him on “special parole” which means if he ever talks, they could throw him back in prison.
Terry Nelson is not the only such agent to prosper illegally from their positions of unique authority. be the
last. They
passive
bribery
felonies.
He was not the first, and certainly won't
have taken
to the
government
extreme
corruption
pro-active
perpetration
mere
of major
The lure of easy millions is not easily ignored, and seldom
does a veteran agent come under suspicion nor scrutiny. is often
from
better for the Bureau to conceal
exposed to embarrassing
publicity.
matters
If they do, it
rather than be
But I assure you, anyone who
dares to blow the whistle on these sleazy entrepreneurs themselves
on the receiving
end of death threats,
will find
bogus criminal
charges, or hot
Yes, America's dirtiest secrets were revealed to me in the only safe place they could be hidden - prison. learned
from
two
of
Finta's
In my last days behind bars, I
clients
and
from
Finta's
former
investigator Dario, that Finta was in fact, a paid FBI informant who the FBI hired to obtain information from his own clients under the guise of the sacred "client/lawyer
privilege of secrecy.
Now it made sense to
all of us why Finta was never really concerned about getting his legal fees up front like' all the other lawyers.
He would come visit prisoners
ostensibly "out of the blue" and offer his services, but only to big drug 308
dealers like the Haitian Army officers like Colonel Biambi - cases he secretly helped to convict. In reality, he was directed by the FBI to visit these prospects and become their lawyer. Once we were on to him, one of his clients/targets
actually frisked
Finta in the visitor's
room and found him to be wearing a body wire. One would think this would be enough to get a lawyer disbarred,
but the prisoner was
promptly transferred to another prison the very next day and held in solitary confinement that night so he could not let other prisoners in on his discovery.
Only by luck would I meet this man when the magic
bus would take me to Talladega federal prison in Alabama where the magic bus had deposited named
Oliva Cantu.
him a few days before.
My mother would always try to convince me
that everything in life, even the worst tragedies, reason.
He is a Cuban
happen for a good
Had I not been whisked off in the magic bus, I would never
have obtained the last missing pieces of the Finta puzzle from Oliva.
When I was released from prison in 1990, one of the first things I did was to get a message sent into Erling and the others about Finta and I took the liberty to send an anonymous fax to all the other lawyers in Miami advising them of Finta's official FBI duties.
Less than a week
later I got a call from Erling's brother in Florida that Steve Finta was asking
Erling and others
if they had an address for me.
I then
received a collect call from Erling himself who advised me "Tony, you better be careful. killed.
Finta is so pissed he said he's going to have you
He's looking all over
in your name?"
for you - I hope you don't have anything
Fortunately I didn't and I was staying with my future
wife in her father's
Miami Beach condo.
myself looking over my shoulder frequently,
None the less, I found because I came to the
conclusion that sooner or later, Finta would turn to Nelson to find me. Finta
is
the
proverbial
elephant
who
never
forgets 309
Sure enough
in 1994 while working
in yacht sales at Champion
Marine in Miami, I was at the Fort Apache marina waiting for a "Mr. Ortiz" who called earlier in the day and asked me if I would help him sell his boat on a consignment basis.
He was to arrive at the marina
in his boat in the late afternoon, "around 5:00pm". but Mr. Ortiz never showed
up.
I waited until six,
I was angry that he didn't even
bother to call. It was a long hot Miami day, I was hungry, and I headed for my car in the parking lot to go home. seemed, a brown sedan pulled into the parking lot.
Out of nowhere it It crawled along
slowly as if the driver was searching for a parking space. But as usual the huge parking lot was almost empty except for five or six cars. There were two occupants and the one in the passenger leered at me.
He gave me the creeps.
seat just
They both appeared to be
Hispanics in their late twenties or early thirties. Talk about instinct.
As I was unlocking my car door I heard someone shout "Tira, Tira!" which is Spanish for "Shoot - shoot!" the shouting
voice
I looked up in the direction of
and saw the passenger
in the
brown
sedan
pointing a pistol out the window at me, and it was the driver who was shouting the instructions. Instinctively I hit the deck behind my car a mere second or two before I heard the crack of single shot and the squeal of tires as they peeled out of the marina. I was shaken to say the least, but it didn't take me long to surmise that Finta may have been responsible for this little episode. My gut reaction was to report this incident, but after thinking it through, I realized that since I was now a convicted felon on probation and that this incident might give the feds an excuse to revoke my probation pending "an investigation" or for my "own protection". In the last four years I had grown quite 310
accustomed to my freedom and so opted not to file a report. I never did hear from Mr. Ortiz again. Yet
other
secrets
of another
nature
hidden
behind
prison
walls
seldom if ever make it to public ears. They do occasionally find their way
to
obscure
web
pages
www.prisonwatch.org amongst others.
like
www.hrw.org
These
are some of the most
sensitive and dirtiest secrets for they concern in some cases government. often
to the extreme, committed
human rights abuse,
by officials of the U.S.
Yes, the same self-righteous U.S. government that so
condemns
violations
and
China,
and third world countries
for human rights
has even bigger skeletons in it's own closets.
In later
chapters I will get into specific first hand incidents,
but the treatment
of some
those
prisoners
confinement
in U.S.
would
surely
prisons, especially be called inhumane
Central America
or North
here in America,
they are not even mentioned
What kind of abuse?
Prisoners
Korea.
But because
in solitary
if discovered they transpire in the
in right
open
press.
Here's a sampling ...
left naked and hog-tied
for 2-5 days and forced to eat like a dog
out of food
placed
bowl in front of them.
in a
A prisoner
could find himself in this painful situation with
merely
a guard
or
for disagreeing refusing
to
perform
unauthorized
work
details.
Prisoners confined to an enclosed cell and then sprayed with an entire can of pepper spray merely for making too much noise, singing, or calling too often for a guard's many request
forms,
complaint
attention. forms,
Prisoners or who
who write too
report
prison
staff 311
violations to the up
warden,
with involuntary
frequently
find
injections of Thorazine.
themselves
getting
shot
Prisoners who refuse to
speak to guards could easily find themselves without toilet paper for a week or two, or placed
in a cell with a known sexual
molester, or
gang member who is then told you are a member of a rival gang! In my own case, guards had a great deal of fun telling other prisoners that I was a former federal agent and then were amused as I took a couple of beatings from other inmates, one of which was fairly severe, and if I dare to report the perpetrators, I’d get worse for sure within a week. Prison is not a place for weak people – even federal prison. State and county jails are even doubly dreadful and violent.
Prisoners who speak with the same
profanity that comes their way from guards are frequently
shocked
with cattle prods or tasers.
The ACLU recently reported that there were over 200,000 cases of prison rapes in America in 2010. Since most rapes are not reported for fear of retribution, we can estimate the true assault rate is more than double. And almost half are men on men. Usually prison rapes make for good jokes but I can tell you when you awake in the middle of the night with some guy trying to force his penis up our ass, it is the worst possible feeling I have ever had and I had to fight like a mad dog to get him off of me. When I insisted that I be allowed to call the police and file criminal charges against the man, the guards just roared with laughter and suggested “get used to and by the time you go home you will even like it!” one told me with a huge grin on his face. Guards generally feel no obligation to protect prisoners unless there is such a riot going on or there are video cameras in the room. Taking showers in a prison is always risk business. Fortunately I learned how o fight before I turned ten back in Ohio. 312
I had volumes of statistics on prison crimes that I accumulated, but again, most all of it was removed from my mother’s home with my second set of manuscripts.
But I seem to recall that 5% of all female prisoners leave
prison pregnant or subjected to chemically-induced abortions.
Every prison has what's called a "Goon Squad" biggest,
meanest,
and most immoral
guards
a group of the
who are called
into
action every' time a colleague decides that an inmate needs a good beating that could last up to 10 or 15 minutes whether a prisoner submits or not.
And it's not unusual to get one of these beatings
while your hands are cuffed behind your back so you can't even protect your face from a flurry of kicks and punches. Some prisons guards refer to the goo squad affectionately as “the disciplinar y committee”. In my 38 months behind bars I witnessed about a dozen such assaults and frankly two were really justifiable an d i n t hr e e of th e c as e s th e pr i s on er s w er e t a ke n a w ay u nc o n sc i o us. Th ey do n’ t al w ay s w h er e t he r i o t eq ui p m e n t w h en th ey m ak e a gr o u p a t tac k.
313
I f y o u se e t h e se g u y s c o m i n g t h e b e st t h i n g t o d o i s q u i c k l y s u b m i t b y l y i n g o n t h e f l o o r . R e m a i n st a n d i n g a n d a r g u e a n d y o u w i l l r e g r e t i t f o r su r e .
I found
myself at the receiving
end of one these
beatings
after
I
reported a guard who stole some magazines, a picture of my girlfriend, and my sunglasses from
my
locker
clever enough to use phonebooks
to the
warden.
They
so as not to leave tell-tale marks
on my body but still managed to knock me unconscious. handcuffed, them.
were
I could do little but remain
Being
quiet so as not to provoke
When I awoke still cuffed, I realized someone had urinated on
me. I was sore for days. Erling endured quite a few of these brutal unprovoked beatings at the hands of guards including one that left his leg and jaw broken (at another prison facility) 314
Then
there
are the "practical
jokes"
that the guards
prisoners for purely entertainment purposes.
pull off on
Those in solitary usually
see most of these sick pranks, like finding insects or feces in your food, or visine, (a great laxative), urine, or even hallucinogenic drugs in your drinks, or tiny hairs of fiberglass insulation in your bedding or towels that leave you scratching yourself raw for days.
Aside from this physical abuse, some of the veteran guards have become masters at mental and emotional torment.
They would take
great joy and satisfaction in causing grief for prisoners they didn't like with clever but simple ruses like trashing
a prisoner's
incoming or
outgoing mail, turning away visitors, or relaying false messages like "Your wife's lawyer called and she filed for divorce and doesn't want you to call or write anymore, and if you do, harassment charges will be filed".
This gem was pulled on a prisoner I met in EI Reno prison
in Oklahoma, who was so despondent with the news that he took his own life, and NOTHING was done to the guard responsible.
At one
time I had all the details of this incident including statements from the man's wife and his cell mate, but those notes were taken away from me in a cell search just days before my release to freedom. If I recall correctly his wife was from Fort Worth, Texas.
Occasionally
the "pranks" become
more serious
myself became a target of such plot. woman guard who was prostituting associate
and sinister
as I
At MCC Miami there was a
herself to the prisoners and an
of hers who was peddling drugs.
I reported both to the
warden via a "kite" which is prison lingo for an anonymous note. this day, I still don't know how they discovered certainly
To
it was me, but they
had revenge in mind when they found themselves
being 315
questioned in the warden's office.
Ultimately, the woman was caught
in a sexual act and was fired, and the other fellow was apparently transferred.
But before their departure, they had something special in
mind for me. Random
cell searches
random.
When
contraband
are anything
guards
but
get tips
(drugs, weapons,
of
booze, etc.)
they use the random cell search
routine to
seize the goods and if they choose, charge the owner
with
new
crimes
that
could
significantly extend his time behind bars for a few more years, especially in the case of drugs. Prisoners that the guards don’t like get set up regularly. Who will believe them? Anyone who has ever known me knows quite well that I don't use drugs
of any kind.
And so did another blac k woman
befriended in a round about way. cell following the summoned
by
completion the young
whispered "Meet me in the could this be about?
of
guard who
I
At any rate, I was returning to my my
work
black woman. laundry
I wondered.
detail,
when
She walked
room -
I was
by me and
right away"
What
Alone in the laundry room she
warned me "Your cell is going to be searched Gorcyca. If I were you, I'd check it real good -if you know what I mean".
I didn't know what she
meant but I took her advice and went right to my cell and searched it thoroughly. I found nothing. But as I was about to leave my cell to go lift some weights, I bent over to retrieve a towel from my locker when I noticed a small tuft of mattress stuffing on the floor. I forgot to examine the mattress. When I did I found a small three inch slit in its underside.
I
probed the opening with my fingers and pulled out a small plastic bag
316
that had what appeared to be about an ounce of some ivory colored powder in it. It didn't have any odor to speak of but I had to guess it was either cocaine or heroin.
I immediately flushed it down the toilet and
prayed nothing else had been planted in my cell. steps
out
my cell
approaching me.
before I
noticed two
I think I made it three
guards with
Lt.
Foster
One of them immediately had me up against the wall
being frisked while the other began searching my cell.
Lt. Foster
announced that it was indeed "a random cell search".
I said nothing as the two guards tore the cell upside down and then dragged my mattress out of the cell and immediately pointed out the slit to Lt. Foster.
"Cut it open" he ordered and they complied.
They
looked at one another in bewilderment but said nothing in front of me. "Step into your cell and strip Gorcyca" Foster order. I complied, quite relieved that I had found and flushed what they were now looking for. Once naked they looked in my mouth and had me bend over and spread my buttocks in case I had stuffed something up my ass.
I could see the
disappointment on their faces but still said nothing. "Okay - get dressed and clean up this cell"
They were gone as quick as they appeared.
I
could have easily found myself in prison for another 3-5 years if that little scheme had worked as intended.
To the young lady who tipped me
off, I am forever grateful. Thank you Ms. G.
Sometimes a phony cell search is conducted in order for guards to plant something in your cell, like a hidden microphone or a weapon. If you have a prosecutor who cannot prove his case against you
he may use prison
contacts to help him keep you behind bars long enough before trial that you will be willing to plead guilty to time served, especially if you are facing new 317
charges for a blade or drugs found in your prison cell. How it got there is never even a consideration
There is never a shortage
of
weapons in any jail. In fact there is no shortage of anything if you have money to pay guards to be your courier. $500 can buy you a bottle of whiskey, and $1,000 a mobile telephone, or an hour with a female guard. Of course you can get any drug you want in prison but the prices are highly inflated. As for me, I learned how to make wine from bananas and raisins and would have my five gallon weekly production sold before it was even fully fermented. I made wine to make friends and in prison you don’t want people messing with the winemaker. I never brought any of my wine back to my cell. I always had found clever ways to conceal it right in the kitchen area . But just as I was perfecting my wine making skills, things beyond my control began to occur.
I was not looking for trouble. I just want to clear my name of the bogus bribery charge. I had spending most all of my free time in the prison library writing leter upon letter to a dozen civil liberty and constitutional right groups, the Chief Judge, and my Congressman. I knew that the mail was being read, but I did not know that it was being collected to either give to the FBI and then later just thrown into the shredder.
Yes there
human and civil rights abuses in America and his salt
merely
needs
prisons to confirm this fact.
to
interview
any
is no shortage reporter
of
worth
the occupants of our nation's
Granted, most people may not have any 318
sympathy
for
prisoners
but three things need to be remembered;
First, About 25% of prisoners have
not
been
be presumed civil
rights
and violates somebody's
convicted
innocent abuse
is
in custody are
and
crime. Allegedly
they
until proven
guilty. Secondly,
human
a
state and federal son,
trial
any
not
of
awaiting
daughter,
are to and
sanctioned punishment of any court laws.
mother,
Third- every father,
prisoner
is
or spouse. Would you
let anyone victimize your parent or child with this type of abuse? Until this abuse is eliminated right here in America, our government
has
no right to lambaste other countries for their human and civil rights deficiencies.
Hypocrisy at home provides little credibility and respect
abroad. Scenes like this one are common in prison and the police are never called to make a report unless a death results. I saw more than a dozen prisoners get beaten or stabbed while guards watched on. Once I was the victim and it is a horrible
memory.
Thank
God thi s did not happen often at MCC Miami.
I want to make it clear that I saw the least violence at MCC Miami, but I was drugged, beaten, fed laxatives, hog-tied, and burned with cigarettes by staff while in solitary confinement. I was stabbed with a pencil in the neck by a prisoner not even known to me. But most of the bloody violence I would see was when they illegally transferred me to other facilities explained shortly ahead in another chapter. Most of all my abuse at MCC Miami took place in solitary confinement and a good part of it was mental and psychological torture. If I was not a scrapper since childhood, I’d surely be dead years ago. 319
America needs a Nelson Mandela not another George Bush. If I could, I would nominate Ron Paul to save our country from the banksters and their CIA drug dealing partners. From China I cannot do much but tell the truth most all in government want to hide.
"Ask no man to do what you yourself will not" - Apache Tribal Proverb
320
