Fresh Plea Deals in Classy DC Escorts Case

I visited PACER this evening and checked each defendant's name in the Classy DC Escorts case. The two bookers have made guilty pleas and have cooperation agreements (of the 5K1 variety) in place. I really expected Jennifer Churchill to cave first as all that she did was alter images for this outfit, but I was incorrect with that bet.

The two bookers, Alafaka Opuiyo and Kiana McKelvin, have both make 5K1 cooperation agreements that are dependent on the level of cooperation and the government's satisfaction. In other words, each will be required to testify if any defendant in this case goes to trial and testify to the government's satisfaction. Both are also required to take polygraphs. Well, you can read the agreements for yourself as I have added all documents to my website and linked the most important below.

Jennifer Churchill and Kuraye Akuiyibo each have attorneys that are actively fighting every part of this case. Make a note of both attorney names because if you ever need an attorney to actually fight and argue a case for you, these two fit the bill. All too often, attorneys do little or nothing these days and simply assume the defendant will make a deal. Most defendants do make a plea deal, so this may be understandable in that respect.

The other defendants, Otasowie Asuen and Nassim Tabatabai, are moving forward in the case, but no new documents have been filed by either of their attorneys. Sadly, this is often the case with federal defendants. One attorney in the Orlando conspiracy case that involved 11 Eastern European defendants that actually went to trial rarely filed anything for the woman he represented. In the end he neglected to file an appeal as the other defendants' attorneys did. He is with the Federal Public Defender's Office and a defendant would be better off going pro se than having an attorney like that. Hell, it is not sad - it is fucked-up!

As for Opuiyo and McKelvin pleading guilty in the Classy DC Escorts case... I do understand. The US government can be overwhelming and often the first to accept plea deals manage to avoid prison. It's almost like a game of musical chairs: You do not want to be the one caught without a seat. I won't make any predictions here, but there may only be one person without a seat when it's all over.

As for the case itself, there is much more than meets the eye at first glance here. I am seriously doubting that anyone ever brandished a firearm or went beyond a few angry words. Those two so-called anonymous witnesses earned the angry words from what I have heard and I read more about it in the documents uploaded today. Both of these idiots are trash and the government most likely has no desire to put either one of them on the stand.

As usual, all documents are uploaded to my website Updates page. The two documents of main importance here are:

McKelvin Plea Agreement 8 May 2012

Opuiyo Plea Agreement 8 May 2012

EDIT May 10, 2012 @4am EST:  I finally finished reading all of the documents. One issue of significance is that Opuiyo signed her plea agreement on 3 April 2012. McKelvin didn't sign hers until 8 May 2012. Still, I must wonder if one or both were already working with the government long before the piece of paper entered the picture. Then, of course, the question remaining would be, when did one or both begin working with agents and/or prosecutors?

Misuse of Informants at Epidemic Level in the US

I have written many posts that discuss the use and misuse of informants in the US criminal justice system on this blog; however, I am viewing the system of abuse at epidemic proportions today. Informants working for state and federal agents are setting-up people that never had any intention of committing any sort of crime and they are doing so at the direction of agents.

It is the agents that are targeting specific people and not necessarily the informants as in past. When I recall past uses of informants, I think of the old MBI system in Orlando wherein an informant can evade prosecution, or at least prison, for crimes committed by setting-up at least 3 people. Back then it didn't really matter who those 3 people were and it was simply an outrageous "three for one" exchange. That was bad enough. Read The Morality Police, written by William Dean Hinton for the Orlando Weekly for more on that ugly system. (scroll down to around a third of the article for that discussion)

Today law enforcement agents send informants after a target as if they are angry pit bulls that haven't eaten in days. These informants are often paid money and a pending criminal case is resolved with a minor charge and probation OR they could be snitches for hire that have no criminal charges to work off. You think I am joking? Take a look at this website:

Reduce My Sentence

On the website it states, "We specialize in third party "Rule 35" assistance." They add, " Lifeline Federal and State Sentence Reduction, LLC is willing to work with you from the beginning until the end to help you succeed." The header for the website states, "How much is your loved one's life worth?"

I have also discussed Rule 35 sentence reductions on this blog. You need only search in the box on the right sidebar to locate the posts. For more info, read what that outfit states about it: What is Rule 35?

Guess what? That outfit is hardly alone. Snitches for hire sites are popping-up like champagne corks on New Year's Eve. Another such site is CQLX Law, but they're quick to state (at the bottom) they they're not a law firm. Now scroll down on that website to where it states, "Our Network" and the one bulleted listing with a link says, "Escorts" and links to http://www.clevelandathleticclub.com/ .

This disgusting outfit claims to be a "Prison Sentence Reduction Firm" and states, "We specialize in Rule 35 and 5K1 sentence reductions. We work in all 50 states." For your information, a 5K1 is almost the same as a Rule 35, except that a 5K1 is filed by prosecutors at the time of original sentence, not later. Oh - I did dial the number, 561-313-9708, to ask what sort of use they make of that escort website, but it is on automated voicemail. Go figure - the snitches for hire don't answer the phone.

Do I have your attention???

Well, to all of the real people out there, I do apologize, but recent events in my life require that I stop speaking to strangers and even old friends that I have not seen in ages. I'm about as hard as it gets when it comes to set-ups and there are few ways to lure me into any sort of trap. I know the dirty, nasty game for what it is. I only wish that the rest of the population would develop a decent understanding of the real informant system in the US and how it really operates.

Alright, I will be honest: I wish that potential jurors in criminal cases would get it. The Paul Bergrin debacle comes to mind with this statement. There are so many informants involved in the various cases that Bergrin faces that it is like Return of the Living Dead with all the zombies recast as informants.

You may be wondering what could possibly lure me into some sort of trap, so I will tell you. The fact that I can tell you reveals that it didn't work. If you read this blog and you are one of the few that read my Memoirs book, you'll know how important exposing the truth was and is to me. After all, the files were stolen - and yes, I mean files as in plural.

The original file (3 huge volumes) was stolen and then the flippin' recreated file with half the documents (all the Clerk's office could find) was also stolen. The original was last tracked to Orange County, Florida Circuit Court Judge Anthony Johnson, a former US Secret Service agent. This was according to the Orange County Clerk's Office that tracked that file for me in a desperate attempt to find it. No one dared to ask Johnson what he did with it after signing it out and it was never returned, according to the Clerk of Courts.

So... just over two weeks ago an old acquaintance, posting with an alias Facebook account, tracked me down on a NorthJersey.com article that was about the Paul Bergrin case. The article is dated March 28, 2012, just in case you want to investigate this for yourself. In her comment she states:

"vicky please add me as your friend i amunable to do it jacky was using my account and messed it up i have some information that will shock you i tried calling but your number was changed this is lisa it is very important"

In her next comment she offers an email address. Let's back-up for one minute here ---- How in the hell does someone track me down to an article about Paul Bergrin? I asked her a few times, but she never could answer and all I got was a twisted sentence or two that made little sense each time I asked. Anyone that lost my info can find me easily by contacting me through my website or this blog or sending me a Facebook message or emailing via my Google profile.

But how exactly does an old acquaintance from my escort businesses that claims to have never heard of Paul Begrin track me down on a NorthJersey.com article about Paul Bergrin?

EDIT on 3 May 2012 @1am EST:

Now this is really interesting. I just visited the article linked above and "Kelly Baker's" (Lisa's) comments were completely deleted. I was not aware that Facebook (FB) comments could be deleted, unless FB closed the account because she sure as hell was not "Kelly Baker" or she closed the account. Good thing I do screenshots or someone could claim that I must be seeing things... ;)

Moving forward...

So what was this "information that will shock" me? Well, according to my old acquaintance, that used to be a friend of sorts years ago, she was in contact with a former MBI agent that had documents from my case that I have searched for an entire decade for. She stated that there was proof of illegal wiretaps in my case. Realize that according to agents and prosecutors, there was no electronic surveillance whatsoever - I still have the recordings of these statements from my case hearings because I had filed a motion demanding all electronic surveillance myself.

With the hope of reopening the civil suit or filing a new one, I gave her my telephone number. She pursued me daily and if I answered the phone (I often did not), she tried desperately to keep me talking for as long as possible. What will they do? Analyze my statements? All of my statements included a description of my anger with the lousy fucking Orlando MBI for all that they did to me, and are apparently still trying to do to me for whatever reason. Of course I threw-in some bullshit for good measure as she also did on behalf of the former agent.

Almost two weeks later, with this former agent wanting to meet with me and my old acquaintance in-person, it all came down to several issues. The main issue is that I did not buy the entire story or the pop-up trackdown. My solution was to demand that he (the former agent) send over a detailed list of specifically what documents he had. According to her, he refused and stated that "we need to have a sit-down conversation first".

Of course I did a bit of investigating on my own in-between the many telephone calls I received and discovered something concerning the old acquaintance's family member that was seriously interesting. And, "How much is your loved one's life worth?" popped into my mind.

Why on earth would I consider meeting a former agent in person, especially if he couldn't even send a list of documents over first? What did they intend to do to me? Plant drugs in the vehicle while I was yakking away in the restaurant?  Why would a former MBI agent want to give me a bunch of documents, especially when MBI is all over his resume?

So how did I finally get rid of the old acquaintance and her tag-pal the former agent? I stated that he had the perfect background to help investigate witnesses in the Bergrin case. All those DEA and FBI databases he has access to would surely tell a story of the next informants to testify in the next Bergrin trial, since prosecutors refuse to turn over any discovery. And after all is said and done, I was tracked down to an article about Paul Bergrin.

Daddy did not raise a fool and agents did not refer to me as "super-intelligent" during the case without reason. Now, to the pair of you: If my number rings again from either one of you, I will not hesitate to change the number again. I may also consider a civil suit. Drop fucking dead.

The Classy DC Escorts Case and Informants

There are more people interested in the Classy DC Escorts case than any other that I have ever posted about. From a legal perspective, there is not much going on with the case, at least there have been few documents filed. However, I am viewing this case argued and debated on TER and in some comments here.

More than once, I have felt provoked by comments made by anonymous posters here so I feel it necessary to offer a quick newsflash for those with comprehension issues. This blogger supports the defense, but this should have been obvious to anyone that actually bothers to read what I write. I also *feel* a few informants involved in the case trying to sway me to their side in emails and in comments, but that will never happen.

All that one must do is search the term "informants" in the blog search function to know how I feel about informants against adult business owners. There are numerous articles on the topic posted. In reference to the world of adult business, I view informants as snakes. You could chalk that up to my extensive experiences in my own case and trial.

The comment made by one party on a Classy DC post last night should serve as a guide of what not to waste your time posting here. I will respond more often than not. The truth is that I have no idea how these people operated this business; however, several situations, emails, and even telephone conversations that I have had about it have alerted me to current issues.

A main issue is that prosecutors do not seem to have a solid case against the defendants. If they did have a solid case they wouldn't have the need to hunt for escorts that they can call as witnesses. They're trying to find solid witnesses or a lengthy list of witnesses (voluminous) which would serve to persuade the business operators that a plea deal is necessary. With a voluminous case the quality of testimony is not as important.

Do not waste your time telling me that the driver and the confidential escort/witness discussed in the indictment are wonderful people. I am aware of the real back story and know that they were both thieves. I even have doubts about the story of pistol-whipping. They both had an agenda and the escort has her own business going in a different US city. She has even had probable clients claiming that she's wonderful. At least by the wording they sound like clients. Totally insulting to my intelligence.

And then there are the other escorts that never worked for this service and never encountered the owner trashing him and claiming friends that did work at Classy DC told her this and told her that - pure gossip and conjecture. No one gives a rat's ass dear. But if you do make it to any witness stand, a decent attorney would rip your testimony and your life apart - guaranteed.

The one document that I linked in my other posts on this case basically stated that discovery will not happen until 5-7 days before trial, if there is a trial. Doing it this way will allow prosecutors to keep their entrenched informants a secret and trust me: there are definitely entrenched informants involved. Some juries do not appreciate informant witnesses though as more often than not, they've committed worse acts than any defendants. Often this is revealed in trial - it was in mine. Such delays in discovery should be illegal.

Some of those informant witnesses are independent escorts and I really mean independent - working on their own on TER, Backpage, and EROS and also working with Classy DC Escorts. A circuit of sorts in a way, complete with cross country tour dates. I have no issue with independent escorts unless they decide to bite the hand that fed them. An escort business does have costs and expenses and marketing is time consuming. The fact is that any one of these escorts could have walked at any time - no one held anyone hostage in this case.

I also feel that at least one confidential witness was an insider and working with the feds long before the indictment was handed down. As a matter of fact, there probably would not have been an indictment if not for the insider. Prosecutors knew they needed more than the driver and the escort that claimed a pistol-whipping because that pair is not credible.

These days there are companies that offer snitches for hire. Really. They actually set people up on behalf of a paying defendant to reduce a sentence and they have extensive experience in such underhanded endeavors. I'm not going to link to the numerous websites that offer such services, but they're out there and I am even aware of the identities behind one such anonymous business. The US criminal justice system actually allows for such services. Of course prosecutors have no desire for a jury to hear about the practice.

Note that emailing me is a bad idea if you are an informant. Do not forget that. I am the last person on this planet that would be fooled by your bullshit.

When any documents of substance are filed in this case they will be uploaded to the Updates (Documents) page of my website. Feel free to check as often as you want to, but this past week there was nothing to upload that mattered.

EDIT on 23 April 2012 @2:45am EST: I added three documents to the Updates page. They are the last 3 and the very last document is scary, at least for 20 unknown people:

US Attorney Motion for Blank Subpoenas Filed 19 April 2012

Paul Bergrin Trial: Week 1 Notes

I have decided to post notes on the Paul Bergrin trial at the conclusion of each trial week. At the end of the post you'll find my assignment of points to the feds and to Paul Bergrin. I have my own personal point system and it is not scientific, but more interpretive and from my perspective and will often be based on belief or disbelief of testimony. Points will accrue as the trial moves forward. Any statement in brackets is mine.

Opening statements:

Federal prosecutor John Gay claimed that Paul Bergrin was a part of a Newark drug ring and disclosed the name of an informant to one of his drug defendant clients. That informant was later gunned down on a Newark street. Gay alleges that Bergrin told the client, “No Kemo, no case,” before Kemo Deshawn McCray was killed and that McCray was a threat to Bergrin due to his involvement in the drug ring.

Paul Bergrin stated in his opening argument that the prosecutor's opening was pure fiction and the case “relied only on convicted felons who would lie and testify against him to get lesser sentences in their own cases”. Paul stated that prosecutors would be presenting testimony that they knew was false. As one might imagine, Paul's opening statement was emotional. It's not easy to sit and listen to repeated serious lies about one's person.

Source: MaryAnn Spoto – The Star Ledger

Emotional opening arguments in murder trial of high-profile attorney Paul Bergrin

The Trial Begins 

Kemo Deshawn McCray began his short career as an FBI informant while a member of the Grape Street Crips back in 2002-03 when agents jammed him on a gun charge. He chose to be an informant and in short time was collecting cash for his information. According to the FBI, he was paid a total of $25K for information during this time.

Source: David Porter – Associated Press

NJ lawyer murder trial focuses on slain informant

Once the opening statements were out of the way, prosecutors called the FBI agent that pursued Paul Bergrin in this case, Special Agent Shawn Brokos. To make a long story short, Brokos was mixed-up on her facts regarding the fatal shooting of Kemo Deshawn McCray. From the getaway car to the pathologist's report and everything in-between, Brokos didn't seem to know what she was talking about.

Source: MaryAnn Spoto – The Star Ledger

In murder trial, Bergrin goes after FBI agent who helped build case against him

During FBI Special Agent Brokos testimony it was revealed that McCray feared for his life and sought help from the FBI; however, was refused as he had lied to agents in a different investigation, telling them that two people were involved in a conspiracy when they didn't even know each other. “He was on his own,” Brokos stated. McCray's family blamed the feds for refusing to protect him.

[The feds murdered Kemo Deshawn McCray when they didn't immediately make an effort to protect him. After all is said and done, he was doing their dirty work.]

Source: MaryAnn Spoto – The Star Ledger

Slain informant in high-profile attorney murder case sought witness protection, FBI agent testifies

On Thursday Yolanda Jauregui's brother Ramon Jimenez (a convicted drug dealer) testified for the government. Jimenez had worked in Paul Bergrin's law office back in 2002 after serving 10 years of a 23 year sentence in prison. “Under cross-examination by Bergrin, Jimenez conceded he had no place to live and no prospects at the time, and vowed never to do anything that would land him back in prison.”

Of course this was short-lived and soon Ramon Jimenez would be connecting with Bergrin's clients, attempting to set-up major drug deals. Angered when Bergrin cut him off at the pass after discovering his deal to make $25K, Jimenez pursued more of Bergrin's clients trying to set-up even bigger deals. Bergrin easily poked holes in the fictional account of this drug dealer and Jimenez even admitted to lying to FBI agents. Jimenez faces years in prison for a parole violation in the earlier case and 15 years in a federal cocaine trafficking case.

[This idiot repaid Paul Bergrin with this current hell for helping him when he had no job prospects and nowhere to live. I hope he rots.]

Source: Peter J. Sampson – The Record

Drug dealer details cocaine deal in trial of murder suspect Bergrin

Jimenez was cross-examined by Paul Bergrin and it was revealed that he was actually facing over 25 years in prison over his drug dealings. Jimenez explained one deal he had arranged with a Bergrin client and on cross-examination, Paul asked, “Never meeting you before, he (Castro) proposed a $500,000 deal with Ramon Jimenez, correct?” and Jimenez responded, ”Correct.”

[Being familiar with the world of drug trafficking I can confidently assert that this is pure fantasy on Jimenez's part. No way that anyone at this level of the drug world would make such an arrangement with a stranger.]

Source: MaryAnn Spoto – The Star Ledger

Paul Bergrin murder trial: Former employee testifies against attorney

FBI Special Agent Brokos returned to the stand and cross-examination continued. It is expected that prosecutors will be calling Yolanda Jauregui (Paul's former girlfriend that made a plea deal) to testify next.

POINTS

Paul Bergrin – 4

feds – 0 

Confidential Informants: The Paul Bergrin Case

From all that I have read in the court documents, I know that there are at least 6 confidential informants involved in the Paul Bergrin case. This must be the only way that the government had to create a case to begin with.

I have discussed informants at length on this blog; however, have never discussed confidential informants (CI) and they are a different animal for various reasons. I am not referring to what is called the citizen confidential informant here as there is no doubt whatsoever that the CIs involved in the Bergrin case are only involved to gain favor with prosecutors for their own criminal conduct and prosecutions.

I will assume that each remains confidential as the DOJ is claiming that Paul Bergrin, a top-level attorney and former federal prosecutor, has participated in witness tampering and having witnesses killed for clients as a major part of the case. I will also assume that Bergrin knows what person is referred to as CI-1, CI-2 etc... and if he has no clue then the government prosecutors really did pull people out of thin air and solicit their testimony.

The fact is that I am also sure that the identities of these CIs have not been disclosed by prosecutors at this point. I am just as sure that inevitably they'll have to produce the names as Paul Bergrin is entitled to a fair trial and could not possibly have one without the identities of his accusers. In reality he needs the names now so that these people can be investigated before trial.

I had no confidential informants listed in my own case, but the state's main witness, an informant that went along with the create-a-case plan to weasel out of her actual criminal conduct, tried desperately to avoid being deposed by my attorney prior to trial. In fact, Steve Wolverton was deposing Theresa Isaacs just 3 days before trial. But because I knew her name and who she was (another escort service owner), I had already investigated her. Note: She actually had the audacity to plead the Fifth repeatedly when being deposed, but this gave a clue as to what she was hiding, so all was good. Pleading the Fifth as a witness in trial did not work for her and she was ordered to leave the courtroom.

Another major issue in Bergrin's case is that prosecutors have their CIs claiming that he had large sums of money hidden in accounts outside of the US. Well, they always claim that crap and they did in my case too. Of course my main question was, Where? What bank account? (they never responded) At that point they made the absurd claim that I “buried garbage bags full of money in my backyard”. LOL This was stated by the main prosecutor at a hearing when I was stuck defending myself and I followed that statement with my own statement giving them permission to “go dig it up” provided that they left the backyard as they found it.

One of the CIs in the case is also claiming that Paul Bergrin had 5 false US passports with his photo and aliases. This is stated by CI-4. Another CI (CI-6) claims knowledge of Bergrin's plan to open a casino in the Dominican Republic and all of the dirty money details involved. Personally, I would make the government prove it with documentation, and I'd bet that this particular CI pushed Bergrin into opening a corporation there, as someone attempted to do to me long before my arrest.

According to court documents posted on Who is Paul Bergrin? There is no agent to corroborate these wild allegations by the list of CIs. I'd bet my last $ that I know who one of them is and as a clue, he used to have major ties to the escort business in NY. I hope that he is publicly named because he deserves it more than most.

In cases like this, the prosecutors absolutely count on a defendant making a deal and the trial never happening. I would really like to see some attorney come forward and really help Paul Bergrin pro bono as Paul helped so many others.

Important Issues in the Upcoming Trial of Paul Bergrin

I have done a thorough read of the website that someone published for Paul Bergrin:

Who is Paul Bergrin

A main point that must be made is that the website is all about why the government has pursued him with malice and created this case. I do understand why some believe public perception to be important and I am clear on why they went after Paul Bergrin; however, the whypart is somewhat immaterial at this point. The fact is that they did and he is facing the trial of his life on charges created mostly from thin air.

The website is informative and if you are in the majority in the US that actually believe the news spin that they read in mainstream newspapers, you will at least think about the case by the time that you exit the site. The problem is that your perception (and mine) is somewhat immaterial, though someone needed to counter the bullshit published by New York Magazine about the case.

Perhaps the website publisher will consider adding more pages, one with a witness list, and inviting investigation from journalists, bloggers, and anyone skilled in investigation. I consider myself skilled and I would be happy to pick a name and start digging for dirt. If the many interested journalists would do the same, well, it would help and Paul Bergrin needs all the help he can get at this point. The writer from New York Magazine should be invited to pick a name.

In many ways it reminded me of my own attempts to explain the whypart to various people (several attorneys included) shortly after my arrest on Racketeering and RICO Conspiracy charges. Hell, they asked and I answered. Hint: The answer involved telephone line blocks in resorts all over tourist town (Orlando), my pursuit of the issue, helicopter chases on I-95 through South Florida, a helicopter frequently hovering over my east Orange County home, an agent that threatened multiple escorts and other escort service owners with 30 years in prison if they didn't say what he wanted them to say etc...

Telling the lengthy story was rarely avoidable as any attorney that looked at my arrest affidavit (120+ pages of pure bullshit) would look at me and say, “What did you do to who? You must have really angered someone in a high position in government.” When they finished reading through all the documents they always said, “This case is bullshit!” The problem is that it was not going to go away and still had to be dealt with, piece by piece, witness by witness. The case had to be gutted and it was a serious undertaking as the State of Florida named 40+ witnesses, many of which I did not even know in any way.

Paul Bergrin's case is the same in this respect: It must be gutted, statement by statement, witness by witness, and line by line. Each and every individual has a reason for being there (on the witness list) and it is the defendant's job to figure it out. Sometimes an investigator can help, but as with questions for witnesses to be deposed, there are some things that only the defendant knows. I did compose the questions for my attorney (Steve Wolverton) to ask each witness and Steve added some of his own.

I was not allowed to be present when my attorney deposed any witness, so I am concerned in relation to this issue about Paul Bergrin representing himself. A short time before my trial I was almost back at the starting gate when agents threatened and attempted to set-up my attorney and a main question in my mind was, how will I be able to testify? Hell, I couldn't question myself and neither can Paul Bergrin. He, of all people, should know that he must testify in his defense so this is a serious issue.

For now I am just throwing out thoughts on the upcoming Paul Bergrin trial. As more comes to mind I will post on it again. It is really important and if you do not already know that, I implore you to read Who is Paul Bergrin thoroughly.

The Upcoming Racketeering Trial of Paul Bergrin

I have written about the case of high-profile attorney Paul Bergrin on this blog in past. If you'd like to read my take on the case almost 2 years ago, read:

Blind Justice

Government Informants

To learn all about Paul Bergrin and the truth about why the government has pursued him with vengeance visit Who is Paul Bergrin.

One day about a year ago a friend of Bergrin's contacted me after reading those articles. She was trying to help Paul Bergrin by writing a book for him to raise money for the defense investigation and to continue feeding his attorney, Lawrence Lustberg, more money. There was a dispute of some sort with Bergrin's ex-wife as he had signed over all rights to his story to her and apparently she was not willing to donate to his cause. We really can't blame her though: He had a mistress for the last years of his marriage and that mistress was a major part of the case.

Shortly after the contact by Bergrin's friend, he added me to his email list. Some federal prisons allow inmates to email, but of course it is all monitored to extremes, especially in his case. I must imagine that any email correspondence that I could have with any inmate would be heavily monitored with someone (the DOJ in this case) looking for anything to charge. We only exchanged correspondence once and most of what I wrote reflected my thoughts in the aforementioned blog posts. Paul Bergrin and I didn't have much to say to each other anyway because he did not get it at that point. I must imagine that now, almost 2 years later, he gets it.

I also told Paul Bergrin a short story of my own encounter with an attorney after my first and longtime attorney exited my case, but before I found Steve Wolverton to defend me. It was during a four month period that I had no choice except to represent myself in the RICO case, not an easy undertaking for an attorney and certainly not for me at the time. Today I could do better, but I didn't do bad at all back then. It was what it was. Anyway, my short story was a pep talk of sorts, as the attorney that I encountered gave me. It was a GET UP AND FIGHT FOR YOUR LIFE type of story. Apparently he now is – good for him!

According to an August 30, 2011 story written by Martha Neil for the ABA Journal, Paul Bergrin filed the necessary motions to do exactly that. Neil's next story states that the judge on the case did grant Bergrin's wish (motion) and he is representing himself in the case. The two stories are here:

High-Profile Defense Attorney Accused of Practicing Law in RICO Enterprise May Represent Himself

Attorney Paul Bergrin's Biggest Trial is About to Begin: His Own Racketeering Case

The judge on the case didn't want Bergrin to represent himself and gave him no choice except to think about it for a while. While I get the cliché that a man that represents himself has a fool for a client and it was stated to me in my own RICO case, my thought at the time was better me than no one. That is my same thought in relation to Bergrin going pro se. Lawrence Lustberg is a money-sucker and no matter how much Paul Bergrin gave (and it is an extremely high figure), he was bound to want more, more, more. (see Youtube in blog header)

My only knowledge of Lawrence Lustberg is in relation to the Lev Trakhtenberg case and Lev's wife Viktoriya I'lina. All I know is that Viktoriya was not at all guilty as charged and somehow ended-up with Lustberg representing her after a serious falling-out with her original attorney. The only time that we ever spoke, she stated that she absolutely intended to go to trial. Somehow she ended-up pleading and doing a sentence in federal prison followed by federal probation. Knowing the situation for what it was, I had no choice except to conclude that Lustberg is not into trials when a defendant is low on funds, even though he was paid – the same more, more, and more situation. This is not the type of attorney that I would ever go to. Big names are not the way to go in many situations including this one.

It looks like the judge in Bergrin's case will be appointing Lustberg as stand-by counsel to Bergrin. In my opinion, Paul Bergrin had better watch his every step in the case as the goal is to force him to the sideline and make Lustberg take over, and there is no way I would want an attorney not willing to fight for me to be forced to represent me in a trial. It is indeed a touchy situation.

In my one correspondence with Bergrin I urged him to find out the facts and truth in reference to his girlfriend, Yolanda Jauregui, and when she became a government informant. At that point he could not even believe that she was working with the government and so I ended the correspondence. I felt sorry for him; however, was limited in my ability to communicate as I believed it inevitable that he would be pleading to charges as well with the refusal to acknowledge reality at such a late date in the case. Months later Martha Neil wrote an article that reflected my thoughts and fears:

Is Ex-Prosecutor Accused of Trying toArrange Witness Murders Now Cooperating with Feds?

My apologies (with a conditional note) to Paul Bergrin. I tend to jump-ship quickly when I get the feeling that a deal could be in the works. Lev Trakhtenberg could testify to that. However, Paul Bergrin should know better than most people that he has nothing to lose by going to trial in this case as I didn't in my own. He knows how to control information in the courtroom and has the advantage in this respect.

Representing himself won't be easy for Paul Bergrin – the government will make damn sure of that – but it is the only way. Hopefully he knows that the DOJ is hiding exculpatory evidence in the case and intends to pursue that avenue (Brady violations) in court prior to trial. Setting that trap with conflicting testimony among the informant witnesses is the first step. Even when informants are repeatedly coached in what to say and what not to say they can be backed into a corner with no way out except tears to a lone juror in a bathroom with the intent to provoke a mistrial for prosecutors. Been there and fought that.

More on the Paul Bergrin case in the near future. Consider me really happy that this guy decided to get-up and fight for his life! 

The Southwest Companions Case Mystery

The Southwest Companions case has become the mystery of the year. Albuquerque PD created a huge splash with the news of the arrests of David Flory and Chris F Garcia, two professors caught in a website fiasco back in late June. There were numerous other arrests, though most were not announced to the news. Today the only one still charged in the case is Cara Garrett, charged with “bribing / intimidation / retaliation of witness,” as far as I can see. I'm not clear on how she intimidated a witness in a case that no longer exists.

I'm also not clear on why no one is questioning the Albuquerque PD on this case, but there are no news reports of anything related since the initial arrests broadcast to the world. I know it didn't all go away because of my Gutting the Albuquerque PD Case post. Was ist los?

Are the feds involved?

This is a distinct possibility. I have read that the Department of Justice is looking at Albuquerque PD on civil rights violations. I have also read that there is another case that touches this one that involves cocaine. However, it only touches the Southwest Companions case, and possibly only because the party saw escorts via the website. Nothing is clear so no names will be included herein.

It could also be that many involved in the case have turned informant. Who are the many? Certainly more than one of the escorts, but beyond that I do not know for sure. I was told that there was a vice cop involved in the investigation seeing escorts as a side fiasco, but the source wants to remain private. The information that I have also reveals that there are several escorts that turned informant, prior to the arrests of Flory and Garcia.

As it shows today, all charges against both Flory and Garcia have been nolle prossed and no one involved in any aspect of this case is talking. Scary stuff. We went from media circus to silence in a short period of time.

EDIT on 09/29 @8pm: Thank you to "Alias Undercover" for sending a link to an article published early this morning in the New Mexico Daily Lobo: Prosecution puts F. Chris Garcia Case on Hold

I am still puzzled after reading the article. For one thing, New Mexico law is sure different from Florida law in relation to filing time limits. Really the article (and the District Attorney) does not address the mystery at all and concludes by stating that there is much to sort through and they need to investigate and get the evidence in order.  Isn't that "investigating" and "evidence sorting" usually done prior to making the arrests? Hell, the Albuquerque P.D. blasted this huge story all over the news worldwide, ruining the reputations and careers of anyone involved.

Sorry "Alias Undercover," but mystery not at all solved. What the hell is going on in Albuquerque, New Mexico?

EDIT on 10/01 @4pm: This is a response to the one comment below - I have tried to post it in comments four different ways, but Blogger won't let me, which is why I had started that now defunct forum:

Okay, so there are a bunch of incompetent morons in charge of the justice system in Albuquerque (cops, prosecutors, judges). I suppose that I gathered that much after reading through the many news releases by various APD actors including the chief of police.

But who in the hell arrests someone on 40 counts of promoting prostitution without ALREADY having completed an investigation? They sure didn't need to arrest to get access to pertinent forensic info and the only additional info that should be a part of any investigation after the loudly announced arrest would be relating to additional arrests.

That is great that they've nolle prossed all counts. Where I stand, mainly due to the heavy publicity they secured throughout with worldwide news releases, is that it would be time to file a false arrest suit. They ruined lives and careers in the name of publicity and overzealous cops and now do not even bother to say a flippin' word? Sorry, but this is not how the system works, not even in New Mexico, and no matter how incompetent the participants may be.

Nope – there are many pieces of this puzzle still missing. Are a few of their own involved? Major corruption in Albuquerque? What happened to investigative reporting and who in the hell needs news organizations that simply repeat what talking heads state? Sorry, but the big mystery is far from solved.

The False Arrest of Strauss-Kahn

New York prosecutors ruined a man's career, reputation, and cost him a small fortune. Lucky for him that he has an understanding, intelligent wife or she would have deserted him too. The high profile arrest of former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn and the perp walk that he was subjected to for US media will not be forgotten by him or most of the rest of the world any time soon. They held Strauss-Kahn without bail in Rikers Island and then the media pursued him relentlessly from the moment he was finally granted bail and released.

I discussed this high profile arrest in Most in the US Convict on Charges Alone. Anyone in their right mind would assume that there was enough evidence to charge this man when prosecutors made the decision to do so, but they are worse than even I believed. This says more about the US criminal justice system than I could ever explain on this blog. It is truly one of the worst in the world and these particular prosecutors should be fired.

Cops and prosecutors are supposed to investigate before they arrest, with emphasis on before. What in the hell happened here? Why were they all so eager to jump the gun and put this man through living hell? In my opinion, Strauss-Kahn's attorneys should consider a 42 U.S.C. 1983 action for false arrest.

In my own 42 U.S.C. 1983 case filed against former sheriff Kevin Beary, former MBI director William Lutz, and former MBI agent Brant Rose, the federal judge ruled that while there was not enough evidence to convict, there was probable cause for arrest and therefore dismissal of my suit was granted. I appealed this decision to the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals and lost. It is common knowledge (to most attorneys anyway) that the 11^thCircuit is unfriendly to adult business plaintiffs in civil suits.

I have discussed the state's main witness in my case too often on this blog to bother again here, but suffice it to say that she was a real piece of work and not believable to anyone in their right mind. Between her (Theresa Isaacs) and the mere existence of a business account with Bank of America wherein escorts deposited fees, that federal judge (Anne Conway) decided that there was indeed probable cause. I must note that Conway made this decision less than a week after a lunch with former Orange County Sheriff Kevin Beary, top cop in the US at that time. I will also note that Conway was appointed by a Bush – George H.W. Bush in 1991.

At the time of my prosecution by the Office of the Statewide Prosecutor (OSP), Jeb Bush was the Florida governor. Incidentally, the OSP works directly under the Florida Attorney General (AG); Bob Butterworth at the time that I was arrested. Of course the AG works directly with the governor. No one has even cared to investigate the implications involved in this chain of events. I have said it before and I will say it again: I was not arrested because of anything an escort did. I was arrested because of something an escort did not do. Quite frankly, and as I stated to the jury in testimony, I ain't their mommy, I wasn't present at the call, and I do not know or care what they did or didn't do - that would fall in the category of none of my damn business.

My main point here is that if such flimsy nothing evidence was considered “probable cause” in my case, New York prosecutors must have arrested Dominique Strauss-Kahn on nothing whatsoever except the word of one woman that they neglected to investigate. Now tell me what makes such a system “the best in the world” as so many Americans claim repeatedly... Can anyone explain that absurd distortion of reality?

Creative Reasoning for Collateral Murder

I am watching the CNN show “Wikiwars” at this moment. I will reserve judgment on whether it could be classified as a documentary or just a show until it's over. It begins as an informative piece about Julian Assange, so the beginning is good; however, I reached the point where the US Army general is ripping apart the “collateral murder” video submitted to Wikileaks and using creative reasoning as to why the behavior of the US military personnel in the Apache copter is acceptable. I stopped the recording at the point that Adrian Lamo is introduced.

On the short portion about Lamo, I must conclude that the guy could have easily walked away from the chat with the person claiming to be Brad Manning. All that he had to do was not log-in and read, but instead he chose to play high profile informant and encourages the person on the other side to discuss Assange and the so-called classified material.

None of this should be “top secret” anyway, which is a central point of Wikileaks. It should be public information open to dissemination by the people. They award contracts in the $billions and solicit the unaware to join a false war based on a false premise. Sure they're mad as hell that they have been exposed for what they truly are. Absolutely.

So far it looks like every journalist that Assange worked with to publish the Afghanistan War logs has thrown him under the bus, except Mark Davis. Kaj Larsen is a particularly useful tool for the US government in this film as is Daniel Domscheit-Berg as they pursue throwing Assange under the bus together in a discussion concerning the case in Sweden against him and Assange “going berserk” when the documents were published. It should be clear that these were documents in a court case that has had one strange revelation after the other, beginning with the sudden push to prosecute.

Newsflash to Domscheit-Berg: Not wanting pretrial documents prepared by prosecutors publicly released is not “a contradiction,” and actually has nothing to do with releasing documents exposing government officials involved in a conspiracy to cover-up war crimes or documents that embarass. Some of us can see beyond a created criminal case that popped-up just in time to discredit Assange.

Back to the show...

Okay, so I consider it part show and part documentary. That federal grand jury convened in Alexandria, Virginia and the CIA's Wikileaks Task Force (WTF) [what the fuck to me] is looking for anything and everything to indict Julian Assange on. As I stated in an earlier post, when the government has little or no evidence and they want to indict, they go to grand juries in Alexandria and in the Middle District of Florida. These people would indeed indict a ham sandwich.

I get the point or reason for the existence of Anonymous, but to actually remain anonymous, interviews with pro-government journalists should be out. They'll out you in the end, and probably have already attempted to.

I also get the anger at Amazon for removing the Wikileaks sites from its servers, but then again, it is a private company that can choose who it does business with and who it doesn't. For me it brought to mind the many people that I refused to book as an escort business operator over the years. I couldn't imagine being forced to book everyone capable of dialing a phone. PayPal cleared-up their big mistake when they released the frozen Wikileaks account funds as they had no right to freeze it to begin with.

I also now empathize with Assange over the situation of the funds intended for Brad Manning's defense. Assange has been put between a rock and a hard place so we must look at those that put him there, not attempt to track every dollar. The Brad Manning case and Julian Assange's situation must be kept separate.

I intend to post on the Gitmo Files in the coming week.

Revisiting a Federal Organized Crime Case

Federal Prosecutors in the Southern District of New York (SDNY) obtained the last two guilty pleas in the Gambino Family associates case that included sex trafficking charges. All 14 defendants have now pled guilty to charges. Read the DOJ press release:

Last of 14 Gambino Crime Family Members and Associates Plead Guilty to Racketeering, Murder Conspiracy, Extortion, Sex Trafficking, and Other Crimes

It looks like Suzanne Porcelli and Steve Maiurro folded first as each has a January sentencing date. Coincidentally, these two were indicted on the sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a minor offenses. Only 7 of the 14 defendants named in the indictment were included in the alleged Craigslist prostitution ring counts. Also notable is that the last two defendants to plead guilty in this indictment, Thomas Orefice and Dominick Difiore, were included in the 7 charged with sex trafficking.

The federal offense of sex trafficking has that power to invoke guilty pleas. It is a charge like none other, and let's face it – a 1997 murder conspiracy, a 1987 accessory to murder count, and a jury tampering count from a 1992 Gotti case had nothing whatsoever to do with a 2009 Craigslist prostitution ring. This should have been separate indictments; however, prosecutors charged as they did to invoke guilty pleas and it worked.

The charge of sex trafficking is powerful and has no equal today. Daniel Marino faces only 5 years for a murder conspiracy count while Maiurro faces 20 years for the sex trafficking count. Considering that someone was answering a phone and someone else was driving women to calls – with 1 minor involved somehow – I consider it absurd. Suzanne Porcelli denied knowledge of the minor in earlier news and she is facing 10 years on the sex trafficking count.

So it looks like answering an escort line is a far worse offense than conspiring to murder in the SDNY. Interesting indeed.

Miami Companions Office Manager an Informant

If you have read the Michelle Matarazzo plea agreement linked in other Miami Companions posts on this blog, take special note of the very last sentence in the document, and actually in the Sentencing score sheet:

"The government will file a Rule 5K motion based on defendant Michelle Matarazzo's substantial assistance in the investigation and prosecution of others."

Directly above that statement it is noted that Matarazzo will not forfeit any property. So she may avoid all prison time by assisting in the prosecution of others. What a deal!

Note that Laurie Carr's plea agreement has no such statement concerning substantial assistance at the end of the document.

It seems the discrepancy involves Michelle Matarazzo working as an FBI informant long before the arrests in the Miami Companions case. According to an informed source, Matarazzo began working with the FBI as an insider informant back in July 2009, and her "deal" was set in stone long before the owners and others were arrested in the case. She knew of the arrests well in advance.

To conclude here, if you were a client of Miami Companions during their last year in business – when the office manager was working as an FBI informant – well, be concerned. That isn't saying that one calling prior to July 2009 shouldn't also be concerned as there is still the database kept under lock and key by federal prosecutors.

To generalize from an experience standpoint I will say that clients usually have nothing to worry about. In my own case prosecutors had no real interest in identifying clients, and agents broke into my Orlando home while I was not there searching for something – client lists in my opinion – though I do not believe they would have made the information public if it had been found. I feel the break-in was an order to find and dispose of it permanently. I could be incorrect, but then why not just get a court order? Why illegally break-in? There were people in high government positions that feared they were on a list. I did have the second escort service in the world on the internet. (the first was in Seattle).

One must also look at the DC Madam case: Jeane Palfrey attempted to turn 50 lbs. of telephone numbers into a list of names. She thought the government would have reason to back-off when confronted with so many names of people involved in Washington DC politics and the federal government. It was a hand that never paid off and instead they managed to control her agenda by attacking her attorney and getting her to accept government puppet Preston Burton. The client names and numbers were Jeane's exit strategy – she figured that there's no way prosecutors would let it get as far as trial.

Jeane Palfrey counted on a return of her forfeited property and something simple like probation and never really intended to go to trial, but instead the government let a few names come out and buried the rest. Jeane did commit suicide; there was no murder conspiracy. The bottom line is that she played her hand and lost. The government strategy of discrediting her real attorney, Montgomery Blair Sibley, worked like magic with the help of a few people Jeane perceived to be friends.

It is time to watch and see in the Miami Companions case.

Read Montgomery Blair Sibley's blog here: Amo Probos

Miami Companions Plea Agreements

Laurie Carr has recently made a plea agreement with federal prosecutors in the Miami Companions case. Apparently Michelle Matarazzo made a deal long before the Carrs were arrested – Matarazzo is the former office manager from Miami Companions. I still cannot get any information about Rafael Bernabe-Caballero's plea deal, but I'm including a sentencing memo here.

Here are the PDFs:

Laurie Carr Plea

Michelle Matarazzo Plea Agreement

Bernabe-Caballero Sentencing Memo

I think you will find it all to be interesting reading. It does look like Greg Carr is going to trial at this point. Any former independent contractors with Miami Companions that would like to offer your thoughts on the entire situation? Did you like Greg Carr? Laurie Carr? Was Miami Companions a good company to work with?

Feel free to contact me privately.

Bad News in Miami Companions Case

I had to interrupt my postings on the Wikileaks saga to return to the topic of the Miami Companions case. First I will state that the Miami Companions Indictment and the related Fabiola Contreras complaint can be read by clicking on the PDF links herein.

Laurie Carr and Michelle Matarazzo have made guilty pleas in federal court; however, Greg Carr has not. At this point he is still fighting the case. With Mr. Carr's former wife and the Miami Companions office manager pleading guilty and cooperating with Detroit federal prosecutors, well, it is unlikely that there will be a trial.

If Greg Carr opts to go to trial the client lists could become public record and some former clients could (and probably would) be called to testify by the feds. That's the thing about keeping client lists – yes, I know it helps in the operation of an escort business, but…

I really feel for Greg Carr and from all that I have heard from everyone involved in the case he was a great guy to work for and book calls with. He was how we would all like to be. I never had such a rapport with clients or really talked to the escorts because – well, you should understand why when you look at this entire case. I disconnected myself from everyone, and so I didn't have thousands of people that liked me and missed me when it was all over. I was also acquitted by a jury.

Now it has become a cat fight with these two women out for themselves. They'll say or do anything to avoid years in prison. That is a fact. I am sorry that you were so normal and nice to people in the course of business Greg. No doubt you took much of my business over the years – I was better known as the bitch to those that didn't really know me at all. There was reasoning behind that though. What can I say? There was no client list and no one that the MBI and the Statewide Prosecutor managed to locate knew me well enough to make a truthful statement in court. The cooperating witnesses just said what agents told them to say, and were of course caught in lies on the stand.

There was an article written by Robert Snell in The Detroit News today that explains the entire messy story: Miami prostitution ring busted open in metro Detroit hotels.


Image: Miami Brickell Nights 2009 © jfmdesign / 2010 © iStockphoto.com

Defining COINTELPRO

A reader emailed me this evening requesting that I define COINTELPRO as discussed in my last post. It seems that suddenly it is a popular term, though few using it have real knowledge of the program or its effects on the lives of so many that chose to dedicate their lives to fighting injustice in history or today. As a student of Cold War era history in an academic context and in life experiences I am able to offer two perspectives of the US Counter Intelligence Program referred to as COINTELPRO.

Most are aware that COINTELPRO was implemented by the FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover during the civil rights era and that Dr. Martin Luther King and Malcolm X were victims of the covert activities and scheme to disseminate misinformation and otherwise disrupt activities that furthered civil rights in the United States. Few understand the broad use of the program against any group deemed subversive under Hoover's directive.

The American Indian Movement (AIM) is a little mentioned movement these days, yet Leonard Peltier, American political prisoner, still wastes away in a federal prison. The AIM was under attack by the FBI during the same years that the Black Panther Party (BPP) was, but there's little doubt that the BPP was a primary target with many members languishing in prisons across the US today.

What did agents do under COINTELPRO?

The primary goal of COINTELPRO was to disrupt any group activities utilizing any means necessary. Agents would:

1. Create an atmosphere of animosity between rival groups that were not necessarily enemies in any way, but simply had different agendas. The FBI made the groups enemies.

2. Infiltrate any group considered subversive and destroy the group credibility in public perception while turning members and colleagues against each other.

3. Play the part of provocateur by inciting violence at peaceful protests and events.

4. Infiltrate and destroy family relationships and friendships with the intention of isolating the victim. Various means were used to achieve the goal including, but not limited to, forged letters to friends and colleagues, anonymous letters that discredited members to wives or husbands, anonymous telephone calls claiming members were informants, and painted a person with the "snitch jacket". A snitch jacket is when the agent spreads word that the victim is an informant when the truth is quite the opposite.

5. Agents actually committed violent acts against members of one group and left behind evidence that the acts were committed by a rival group.

6. Harassed, strong-armed, and threatened group family member, friends, and employers.

7. Planted drugs and guns in order to arrest and jail a victim.

8. Made the movement look foolish and/or prone to violence or as fringe radicals.

9. Plotted assassinations of group members; Fred Hampton is one example.

10. Utilized various illegal surveillance methods.

The feds used every tool in the toolbox to ruin and disrupt civil rights and anti-war movements. Socialist and pro-Communist groups (CPUSA for example) were substantial targets as were academics. Thousands of classified documents have been released in relation to COINTELPRO, but there is little doubt that many more will never be released by the federal government.

COINTELPRO is still in operation today, though methods used by agents have been redefined and modernized. Cyber warfare is really just a new way of playing the same old game, usually from the safe position of a keyboard in an office, but still with physical violence when deemed necessary.

Back in late 2007, I joined Cop Watch in Orlando, or rather I wanted to. I immediately discovered that an MBI agent was a member of the group so I never returned after the first meeting. One must always be aware of infiltrators in group or movement that would be a problem to those in authority is state and federal agencies. A couple of movements at the forefront today strike me as covert operations, though I will leave the parties nameless today as this is about defining COINTELPRO. I am positive that I am considered a dissident by at least a couple of federal agencies. Oh well.

Responses to Witnesses and Informants

The witnesses and informants in the Miami Companions (MC) case are beginning to climb out the ditch and initiate first contact in attempt to involve others in this mess of a case. If you signed-up for a PACER account and read the complaints and the main indictment, well, then you are aware of the number of potential witnesses and informants involved.

What are plausible responses when you suspect that a witness or informant in the case is emailing or calling you begging to meet with you?

A list of stories to use when you want to avoid further contact:

1. I'd love to meet with you, but my dog died today and he was sooo fond of the crystal blue water in Nassau that we are having him cremated so that we can scatter his ashes while hang gliding over the white sand beaches of Nassau. Ciao.

2. I think I was bitten by a brown recluse spider. My leg is swelling and I have this huge, hard red area right on my thigh, a fever that is worsening by the minute, and I've got to run throw-up before the ambulance gets here…click.

3. Oh my friggin God! All I did was flush the toilet – I swear – and the water won't stop. I'm standing in water up to my ankles and the plumber still isn't here! This is horrible and we'll be in a hotel for days. Can I call you back another time?

4. I think you've been screwing my boyfriend behind my back and now you both want to kill me. I will be talking it over with my psychiatrist this afternoon and he'll tell me if I should meet you or not, but don't hold your breath. Click.

5. Answer the phone and start one of these recordings at the same time (repeat as often as necessary):

Number was successfully traced

The call you have made requires a coin deposit

Your call cannot be completed, please check the instruction manual

The phone you are calling from is not in service

Your line has been temporarily disconnected

The number dialed cannot be reached from your area


Okay – here's a link to the Phone Recording Archive. Mix and match as you see fit, but most important - have fun with it! 


Image: Incredibly Busy Man 2005 © Victor Prikhodko / 2010 © iStockphoto.com

A Closer Look at Sex Trafficking Indictments

It is truly hard to believe that feds in the Southern District of New York cooked-up the entire scheme in the sex trafficking indictments of alleged Gambino Family members, but the yarn is beginning to unravel in this direction. One fallen informant with pending criminal charges in an unrelated case plus overzealous agents and prosecutors equals a show trial garnished with public support due to the involvement of a minor.

First I must apologize for ever thinking it could be anything except a scheme engineered by an informant, agents, and federal prosecutors. The feds were adamant that they "had the goods" in hundreds of hours of recorded conversations, but according to Jerry Capeci, it looks like the only one involved in the sex trafficking of a 15 year-old was the informant. The next question is, of course, did federal agents know that their disgusting rat was pimping a 15 year-old?

I would have believed that two or three of the fourteen defendants had to have knowledge for there to be indictments, but it doesn't look that way at all. This is the statement released by the FBI in relation to the sex trafficking charges:

OREFICE, DIFIORE, MANZELLA, SCOTTO, EISLER, MAIURRO, and PORCELLI are charged with sex trafficking and sex trafficking of a minor. From 2008 to 2009, the defendants operated a prostitution business where young women and girls—including an underage girl who was 15 years old at the time—were exploited and sold for sex. The defendants first recruited various young women and girls—ages 15 through 19—to work as prostitutes. The defendants then advertised the prostitution business on Craigslist and other websites. The defendants drove the women to appointments in Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey, and Staten Island to have sex with clients. The defendants then took approximately 50 percent of the money paid to the young women. The defendants also made the women available for sex to gamblers at a weekly, high-stakes poker games that OREFICE and his crew ran.

Would you believe, from reading that statement, Porcelli refused to answer the informant's Craigslist line and returned his phone? Not only is she not a madam, as alleged, she didn't want anything to do with the informant or his operation. It was all the informant's operation! No telling what extent this dirtbag informant went to in his attempt to involve anyone and everyone in the mess.

Informants and Snakes are one and the same. I have had to learn the hard way that they are capable of absolutely anything. This should make anyone doubt the rest of the indictment as well. As usual it is create a case.

Unraveling the Yarn

More often than not these organized crime indictments must be unraveled to understand what really transpired and what didn't. Prosecutors weave a web of deceit, especially when seeking the proverbial pat on the back from colleagues, superiors, and the general population in newsworthy cases. They must validate the entire investigation and prosecution from a time and money perspective. What better way to do so then to play on public hatred for pimps and sympathy for children?

Usually the real story has serious differences, and it looks like this is one of those situations. The big headlines stole the limelight in the latest: "Manhattan U.S. Attorney Charges 14 Gambino Crime Family Associates with Racketeering, Murder, Sex Trafficking, and Other Crimes." Of course the New York Daily News jumped on the bandwagon and switched it around a bit with the headlines: "Mafia Hits New Low: Reputed Gambino Mobsters charged with running Craigslist Prostitution Ring" and "Gambino Mobsters Charged with Running teen prostitution ring." Really?

So let's dissect this for a moment, okay?

As stated in my last post, I seriously doubted the story the way that it was presented. Sure enough we have had many with a reason to hate join-in on the allegations. The big attention grabber was Henry Hill on CNN with his accusation of the mob being involved in anything that makes a fast buck, and he included child pornography and pimping minors, but he backs this accusation with nothing whatsoever; just his own hatred.

And then there's Curtis Sliwa, a longtime Gotti hater that didn't get his way and see John Gotti Jr. convicted of charges in a case that he was the victim/witness. Sliwa revealed his anger after watching CBS 60 Minutes on April 11th. He blames the interviewer, Steve Kroft, claiming that he was "in awe of Gotti" and stating that Gotti "beat the rap on technicalities," which anyone that has observed the last three or four Gotti Jr. indictments and trials knows is false. Sliwa simply wasn't a believable victim/witness, probably because he has an obvious ax to grind. Jurors tend to disregard witnesses with vendettas.

The reality of the situation is that there are a total of 14 defendants indicted in the case and 7 out of the 14 are charged in relation to the Craigslist prostitution case, with feds admitting that the remaining 7 had nothing whatsoever to do with it. The evidence involves an informant that's been wired for six months, according to prosecutors. See Informants and Snakes if you need to develop a deeper understanding of what informants are capable of, but the title explains it well.

It sounds like the wired informant came through with evidence against 2 or 3 of the 7 indicted in the alleged prostitution ring. I say 2 or 3 as there isn't much talk about Suzanne Porcelli – she may not have known that the 15 year-old was going to her calls, or she may be playing let's make a deal; it is hard to tell at this point.

From my viewpoint it looks like the only ones involved in any way in the prostituting of a minor are two defendants: Steven Maiurro and Thomas Orefice. Not the big headline story that was originally presented, now is it? It sounds like Henry Hill's renegade drug dealing from Goodfellas.

If you've ever watched Goodfellas, you know that the Lucchese Family didn't appreciate Hill's drug endeavors to the extent that Hill believed they were going to whack him for it.

So much for big headlines and proverbial pats on the back.

Informants and Snakes

Informants and snakes have one thing in common: they think nothing at all of biting the hand that helps them.


We have serious trouble in our criminal justice system here in the US. The worst part of the show trial system is the use of informants. Law enforcement will tell you that these dregs of society are a necessary evil, but don't buy it. They are necessary only to further an agenda that requires a created witness when there is no actual or real proof of a crime.

There are two main types of informants at work as you read and I write. There are informants that work for monetary or personal gain – and are actually on a payroll at one government agency or another. They get paid as they produce. The other type of informant is a defendant that has been arrested but has made a deal for a lesser sentence based on how many other (usually bigger) cases that they help agents make against targets. I have been the victim of both types at one point or another in my life.

My racketeering and conspiracy arrest and trial – at least the conspiracy part – was based on the word of an informant that was working off her own charges pertaining to her own escort service. Her name is Theresa Isaacs AKA Theresa Ryssdal and AKA Theresa Raines and I discuss the witch thoroughly in Whatever Happened to Ann. She may use other names that I have yet to discover. Ann had other motives as well: to eliminate Rocky (my co-defendant and alleged co-conspirator) as a competitor; and revenge as I refused to help her get rid of Rocky a year earlier.

The main difference in the two types of informants is that the type that's working off their own charges or sentence in a hidden plea deal will rarely survive a trial; at least not if the defense is investigating thoroughly. The informants that work for monetary or personal gain usually are undiscovered by the defense. Of course prosecutors are supposed to disclose this information as a case nears trial, but few do and most lie.

The personal gain that I reference could be many things including U.S. citizenship. Trust me; US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) utilizes the services of clean informants that seek both money and citizenship.

The main reason that I'm writing this is to remind the unaware that we live in a country that embraces show trials and created cases. I guarantee that there are as many informants walking around the U.S. as there ever were in the former Soviet Union. Either type is a serious danger to all that they encounter, and in some cases even their handlers. A snake will bite anyone.

Whatever Happened to Ann?

In the book her name was Ann, but in reality she uses several different names, none of which is Ann. The Metropolitan Bureau of Investigation (MBI) referred to her as a witness for the state, though she witnessed nothing and simply made-up whatever the main case agent deemed fitting to the situation, so that she might weasel her way out of a credit card related mess in relation to her own escort services. Today her names are Theresa Ann Isaacs, Theresa Ann Ryssdal, Terri Rysdal, Terri Ann Raines, Theresa Ann Raines – and she's left a path of destruction and fraud through the State of Florida.

During my case she was in the appeals process of a DUI that left one woman in a wheelchair, but never had to serve the six month sentence that the Brevard County judge handed down. No, it was not overturned on appeal – Terri simply failed to appear when she was supposed to turn herself in. My investigation prior to trial revealed that Terri dialed 911/police over 160 times in just over a two-year period. She called the police on escorts that worked for her own agency, clients of her agency, her next door neighbors, a guy that she called out to detail her vehicle, her mother, her boyfriends, and then she called the police on one officer that refused to take one of her complaints, claiming that he "touched her ass". Terri called the police on anyone that got in her path, and that included me and my co-defendant, Rocky. The main case agent claims that he believed her, and still claimed this long after my trial. Was he living on Pluto?

After the trial I discovered that Terri had several warrants. One was the failure to appear to serve her six month jail sentence. One was for failure to appear for a "possession of cocaine" charge. And then there was a brand new one, for 23 counts of "theft, forgery, fraud" – the catch was that the case existed prior to my trial – the State of Florida had simply hidden it under a rock somewhere. Dusty (from the book) and I found out that Terri was working as a waitress at the Island Barbeque, on Merritt Island, and of course we went directly to the Brevard County Sheriff's Office with the information. Her bond was $250,000, and the deputies took her out in handcuffs in the middle of the lunch rush. She sat in jail for almost a week when someone (from the state no doubt) came to her rescue, the bond was reduced to 10K, and she made a deal for 3 years probation with adjudication withheld on all counts. She was released from that probation in 1 year.

I thought ole Terri had disappeared after she showed-up at my door attempting to entice my son when I was gone to work one evening, but no, she just changed names. She has a new criminal traffic case, a foreclosure, attempted to place an injunction against some woman in Melbourne, a criminal case lien in Escambia County in the Florida panhandle, and various civil judgments under her various names with varied spellings – but it's Terri. Indeed, she was of substantial assistance to the state and the feds – and now she is allowed to commit fraud related to credit and mortgages in several counties under various names, while being in arrears on child support. The State of Florida, and the MBI, must be absolutely ecstatic to refer to this piece of work as an informant and witness.