Switching
sides
Federal agents sometimes fall prey to the lurid
lifestyles of their informants
December 1, 1998 By Bill Moushey, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
It was May 22, 1992. FBI agent Christopher Favo was briefing his boss,
Special Agent R. Lindley DeVecchio, who headed the task force trying to
end Brooklyn’s Colombo crime family war.
Two men loyal to the Colombo faction led by Victor J. Orena had been
gunned down on a Brooklyn Street the night before, Favo announced.
DeVecchio’s reaction was not what Favo expected. The man charged with
stopping the violence cheered for the shootings.
"He slapped his hand on the desk and he said, ‘We’re going to win this
thing,’ " Favo would recall two years later. "And he seemed excited about
it.
"He seemed like he didn’t know we were the FBI. It was like a line had
been blurred . . . over who we were and what this was. . . . He was
compromised. He had lost track of who he was."
The Post-Gazette’s two-year investigation found that federal agents are
often placed in positions where they can lose track and end up
compromised.
Agents sometimes must make deals with the devil — criminal informants —
to fight crime. The temptations to become partners with these criminals
can be great. And the safeguards to prevent their defections are few.
Questionable
ally
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The late Gregory
Scarpa Sr., shown here in a 1992 photograph, had longtime ties to
organized crime and longtime ties to the FBI. His connections with
one federal agent drew protests from within the FBI and charges that
Scarpa was fed government information that he used against his mob
enemies. (Newsday) |
No one mentioned Gregory Scarpa Sr. by name when Favo and DeVecchio
talked that morning.
Scarpa, a gangster who’s lust for murder earned him the nickname
"Killing Machine" in New York’s tabloids, had sided with the Carmine
Persico faction against Orena in the bloody Colombo crime family
fight.
But Scarpa was also a government informant — common in federal law
enforcement. Agents use them to get inside information about criminal
conduct. Sometimes these informants are paid money. Sometimes their reward
is leniency if they happen to be facing a prison term.
For three decades, Scarpa had been an informant for the FBI. His
relationship with DeVecchio, which lasted at least a decade, went beyond
any accepted FBI practice, fellow agents have testified.
DeVecchio not only ignored Scarpa’s day-to-day criminal activities, he
was accused of assisting in the Mafia killer’s success.
Accusations against DeVecchio, made in sworn statements by other FBI
agents, cooperating FBI witnesses, government documents and court
testimony, include:
Giving Scarpa the names of other FBI snitches, so Scarpa could
put them in harm’s way while shielding his own illegal operations.
Telling Scarpa where the FBI was placing wiretaps so he could
avoid them.
Informing Scarpa of pending indictments against his associates —
in one instance, allowing Scarpa to help his son disappear before the
younger Scarpa could be arrested.
Handing over the addresses of Scarpa’s enemies in the Colombo
crime family war so that he could track them down and kill them.
Fabricating evidence against Orena and other Scarpa adversaries
so they would be sent to prison.
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Victor Orena,
shown being led into federal court in New York City in 1992, was
sentenced to life in prison for crimes related to the Colombo crime
family war. Federal agents and informants say FBI Special Agent R.
Lindley DeVecchio helped Orena’s organized crime enemy, Gregory
Scarpa Sr., fabricate evidence against Orena.
(Newsday) |
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DeVecchio has admitted accepting gifts from Scarpa. But he steadfastly
has denied any other wrongdoing. In several recent court cases, he took
the Fifth Amendment rather than discuss his relationship with Scarpa.
Yet the files and first-hand reports of other agents detailing his
actions have resulted in more than a dozen New York mobsters being
acquitted after juries learned the FBI had conspired with criminals to
commit crimes.
Orena wasn’t so lucky. He was sentenced to life in prison before the
Scarpa-DeVecchio relationship was uncovered. His attorneys’ efforts in
getting him a new trial have so far failed.
And what of the Justice Department’s probe into the actions of its
rogue agent? The agency’s investigation exonerated DeVecchio.
The Post-Gazette’s two-year investigation into misconduct by federal
law enforcement officials found the kid glove treatment of DeVecchio is
not unusual.
The Justice Department did not respond to questions the newspaper posed
about concerns raised in this story.
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