From: bobworn@aol.com
Subject: SNET: Allegation of Corruption at the Justice Department
Date: 18 Dec 2000 07:48:59 -0500
To: BOBWORN@aol.com

->  SNETNEWS  Mailing List

 ALLEGATION OF CORRUPTION AT THE JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
       Sworn Affidavit of Deputy Sheriff Michael S. Terlecky
 
 Tuesday, December 5, 2000
 
 Mr. TRAFICANT. Mr. Speaker, today, I am submitting  an  affidavit
 by  Michael  Terlecky  of  Mahoning  County  for  the RECORD. The
 affidavit, signed and sworn on the fourth of December, 2000,  alleges, 
 Federal Bureau  of  Investigation knowledge  and  participation  in 
 illegal gambling activities and other mob related activities.
 
 Terlecky, as a Mahoning County Deputy Sheriff, worked exclusively
 with the Youngstown Police Department Special Investigations Unit
 (SIU) to  raid  and  eliminate  illegal  gambling  rings  in  the
 Mahoning  Valley. He was removed from active duty in 1988 because
 of a physical disability.
 
 The affidavit alleges gross misconduct on the part of FBI  agents
 Robert Kroner and Larry Lynch. He points to the pressure that was
 placed upon  any  law  enforcement  officer  who  challenged  the
 illegal  activities  of  James  Prato  and Joey Naples. Prato and
 Naples, both local Mafia bosses, ran illegal gambling  operations
 in  Youngstown.  Rival  factions were hit hard by raids while the
 Prato/Naples operations were left alone. Terlecky alleges  Agents
 Kroner  and Lynch attempted to control his gambling raids so that
 there would be no interference with the Prato/Naples operations.
 
 As  the  affidavit  illustrates,  Terlecky  was  manipulated  and
 neutralized by the local FBI agents' efforts to protect the FBI's
 participation  in  illegal  activities.  Michael   Terlecky   was
 dangerous to the local FBI. He was also an unlucky man for having
 stumbled upon the connections of the Prato/Naples faction and the
 FBI.  For  this, he was later indicted and convicted for taking a
 bribe from another mob boss. Lenine Strollo.
 
 In that trial, Terlecky's attorney was Stewart Mandel. Mandel was
 a  former  U.S. attorney within the Justice Department. Following
 the trial, Mandel became a business partner of  mob  boss  Lenine
 Strollo  for  a  company  in  Conneaut, OH. Think about it. Whose
 interest  was  Mandel  representing,  Michael  Terlecky  or   his
 business partner and mob boss Lenine Strollo?
 
 In subsequent hearings, Lenine Strollo  admitted  that  he  never
 paid  Michael  Terlecky  bribe  money.  Furthermore,  Mandel  was
 indicted and convicted of income tax violations  associated  with
 Strollo.
 
 It is clear that Michael Terlecky was  innocent  of  the  charges
 against him and that even his attorney had a conflicting interest
 in helping him. He was  thrown  to  the  wolves  while  the  real
 perpetrators  went unpunished. I will continue to investigate the
 FBI's knowledge of illegal mob related activities, including  the
 activities  of  Agents Kroner and Lynch. Also, I have submitted a
 request to the President for a  full  pardon  of  Mr.  Terlecky's
 conviction.  His name deserves to be exonerated.
 
 The  Terlecky  affidavit  is  being  submitted   today   to   the
 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD as supporting documentation for my bill H.R.
 4105, "The Fair Justice Act." This bill would create an agency to
 oversee  the  U.S.  Department  of  Justice  and  prosecute those
 involved in any wrongdoing. Today, when something is amiss in the
 Justice  Department,  it  investigates  itself, much like the fox
 guarding the henhouse.  An  independent  oversight  agency  would
 eliminate  the  conflict  of  interest  that  exists  today  when
 wrongdoing occurs in the Justice Department.
 
 STATE OF OHIO,  COUNTY  OF  MAHONING:  AFFIDAVIT  OF  MICHAEL  S.
 TERLECKY
 
 After having been duly sworn in accordance with law,  I,  Michael
 S. Terlecky, hereby depose and say:
 
 
 SUMMARY
 
 The statements made  in  this  affidavit  can  be  summarized  as
 follows:
 
 During a span of time before March 21, 1998 while I was an active
 Mahoning  County  deputy sheriff I obtained actual knowledge that
 certain  Federal  Bureau  of   Investigation   agents   illegally
 obtained,  controlled,  suppressed,  manipulated,  falsified  and
 tainted evidence. Under  the  law  they  abused  their  authority
 within   the  United  States  Department  of  Justice  when  they
 concealed the illegal activities of organized crime, their motive
 being, unjust and unlawful enrichment.
 
 These same agents, by means of the abuse of their Federal  power,
 controlled  and  manipulated  local  police  agencies to do their
 bidding. That bidding  being,  the  elimination  of  any  illegal
 competitive  opposition  for  the  gangsters  with  whom they had
 aligned themselves with.
 
 These  same  Federal  Bureau  of   Investigation   agents,   with
 deliberate  indifference, risked the lives of officers of the law
 while they themselves were breaking the law. These  same  agents,
 with deliberate indifference of the trust, allowed me, an officer
 of the law to be falsely imprisoned so that I  could  not  timely
 reveal the truth.
 
 1. I am more than  eighteen  years  of  age  and  a  resident  of
 Mahoning County, Ohio.
 
 2. I became a Mahoning County, Ohio deputy sheriff in 1977.
 
 3. While I was on active duty as a Mahoning County Deputy Sheriff
 I   exclusively   worked   with   the   Youngstown,  Ohio  Police
 Department's special investigations unit. One of my  main  duties
 was  to  investigate  and  arrest  people  for  illegal  gambling
 activity.
 
 4. Because of a physical disability I was taken off  active  duty
 as a deputy sheriff on March 21, 1988.
 
 
 TRAFICANT TAPES
 
 5. During the trial United States of America
 
 6. In the immediate above  mentioned  trial,  Federal  Bureau  of
 Investigation Special Agent (FBI SA) Robert Kroner gave testimony
 as a prosecution witness. FBI SA Robert  Kroner  testified  under
 oath  that the "Traficant tapes" were found in a bread box in Joe
 Derose's apartment in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I  have  personal
 knowledge  that  FBI  SA  Robert Kroner lied about the "Traficant
 tapes" being found in a bread box in Joe  Derose's  apartment  in
 Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
 
 7. The so called "Traficant tapes" were found by Mahoning County,
 Ohio  Deputy  Sheriff  Frank  Tomaino  and  me  in  Joe  Derose's
 apartment  in  Canfield,  Ohio   during   a   multiple   shooting
 investigation by Frank Tomaino, Joseph Rinko and me.
 
 8. What took place just before the "Traficant tapes"  were  found
 was as follows:
 
 9. I believe that the reason why FBI SA Robert Kroner lied  about
 finding   the  "Traficant  tapes"  in  Joe  Derose's  Pittsburgh,
 Pennsylvania apartment is because he didn't know who listened  to
 the  audio  tapes  after  I  found  them in the presence of Frank
 Tomaino.   Additionally,  the  audio  tapes  were  found  without
 obtaining  a  search warrant. I do not feel that I broke any laws
 in the way I found the audio tapes. However, I feel  that  I  was
 ethically  wrong.  The  shootings  took  place  in  a parking lot
 outside Joe Derose's apartment on Indian Run Road, Canfield, Ohio
 which  was video camera recorded from a telephone pole. The video
 camera was put there by the FBI. The FBI said  the  video  camera
 was  not working because it was struck by lightning. To prove the
 video camera was not working they presented a repair receipt  for
 the video camera.
 
 
 ROBERT KRONER'S OBSTRUCTION OF JUSTICE
 
 10. I had a reliable informant for months. He called  me  on  the
 telephone  one  night  to  inform  me  that someone in Struthers,
 Mahoning County, Ohio who wanted to pay  me  a  large  amount  of
 money if I would not include certain places in my raid on illegal
 gambling facilities. My informant asked me to meet with him in  a
 donut shop on Youngstown-Poland Road.
 
 11. Because this informant told me months before that he  was  an
 informant   for  FBI  SA  Robert  Kroner,  I  didn't  trust  him.
 Therefore, before I met with  this  informant  I  telephoned  the
 Youngstown,  Ohio Police Department's special investigations unit
 (SIU). I spoke with Officer  Robin  Lees  requesting  that  I  be
 "wired"  when  I  met  and spoke with this informant at the donut
 shop. I felt that I could be "set-up". Officer Robin Lees  agreed
 to me being "wired" and said he would help me.
 
 12. While I met with my informant  Officer  Robin  Lees,  another
 officer  named Guzzy and four other officers were parked in a van
 across the street tape recording everything my informant told  me
 over  a 30 to 40 minute period of time. The main topic of what my
 informant told me was the setting of a meeting  with  individuals
 in  Struthers,  Ohio  who  wanted  to give me money so they could
 relax on weekends knowing that  I  wouldn't  be  around  with  my
 gambling  raiding  team arresting people for illegal gambling. My
 raiding team had recently raided over 12 establishments.  Because
 Charlie  Carabbia  was  now  missing, Joey Naples, along with the
 Pittsburgh,  Pennsylvania  organized  crime   family   controlled
 Struthers, Ohio with only few negotiated exceptions.
 
 13. Immediately after my meeting with  my  informant  Robin  Lees
 gave  me the audio tape recording of my informant and my meeting.
 Because it was late in the day and because I never had a  key  to
 the evidence locker at the Mahoning County Sheriff Department the
 S.I.U. put the audio tape recording in their evidence locker  for
 me so that I could use it as evidence later.
 
 14. Sometime between the  night  the  audio  tape  recording  was
 placed  in  the  S.I.U.   evidence locker and the next day, Robin
 Lees contacted FBI SA Robert Kroner and  informed  him  about  my
 meeting with my informant, the audio tape recording and the plans
 of the investigation  which  included  the  "payoff"  meeting  in
 Struthers,  Ohio by members of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Mafia
 family.
 
 15. Shortly after, my informant telephoned me. In an  irate  tone
 of  voice he told me he was angry with me because I wore a "wire"
 during our conversation at the donut shop. He  also  informed  me
 that  FBI SA Robert Kroner telephoned him to tell him that he had
 the audio tapes and that if he helped me in any way that he would
 be indicted.
 
 16. After the above  mentioned  telephone  conversation  with  my
 informant I went to the Mahoning County, Ohio Prosecutor's Office
 and met with Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Bailey.  I  gave  him
 the  facts  in  support  of FBI SA Robert Kroner's obstruction of
 justice.  Assistant Prosecutor Bailey began  creating  an  arrest
 warrant for me but stopped when I informed him that Robert Kroner
 was an FBI
 
 17. I then went to the Youngstown  Police  Department's  Internal
 Affairs  Office  where  I filed a complaint against Officer Robin
 Lees because he gave the audio tape recording to  FBI  SA  Robert
 Kroner,  which  put  my  life in danger. Internal Affairs Officer
 Lewis refused to help me. However, FBI SA Robert Kroner  returned
 the  audio  tape  recording  to  Officer  Robin  Lees who in turn
 attempted to give it back to me. I refused to  accept  the  audio
 tape  recording  because  of the break in the chain of custody of
 evidence and because  of  the  potential  altering  of  evidence.
 Officer  Lenny Skelinski got the audio tape recording, along with
 a copy of a receipt signed by Officer Robin Lees.  Officer  Lenny
 Skelinski  put  the  audio  tape recording in the Mahoning County
 Sheriff  Department's  evidence  locker  and  logged  it  in   as
 evidence. FBI SA Robert Kroner wanted me neutralized.
 
 18. I then contacted the Office of Professional Responsibility in
 Washington,  DC,  and  informed  them  of  FBI SA Robert Kroner's
 illegal actions, those being the obstruction of justice.
 
 19. Based on my personal experience, the hereinabove written  and
 information  given  to me by Youngstown, Ohio Police Department's
 SIU Officer Joe Krupa, who was a senior member of the SIU, who  I
 trusted  that  the  Youngstown  Police Department did not conduct
 gambling raids or sports betting raids, I concluded that  FBI  SA
 Robert  Kroner  and  FBI  SA  Larry Lynch, through the Youngstown
 Police Department, other sources and its  special  investigations
 unit  attempted to control my gambling raids so that I could only
 arrest the opposition for who the FBI had allied with their  ally
 being  Joey  Naples. SIU officer Joe Krupa, in my opinion, was an
 honest police officer who went "by the book" which  compelled  me
 to help him.
 
 20. I assert that FBI SA  Robert  Kroner  telephone  conversation
 with  my  informant  during which he informed by informant that I
 was wearing a "wire" at the  donut  shop  could  have  gotten  me
 killed.  I  further  assert  that FBI SA Robert Kroner abused his
 Federal power to serve his personal interest. On or  about  March
 21,  1988, close to midnight, I was shot at, at point blank range
 by a person with a 12-gauge shotgun while I was  in  my  unmarked
 official  vehicle.  The  shot  barely  missed  me.  The  headrest
 directly to the right of my head was severely  damaged  from  the
 shotgun  blast.  After  this  incident  I was diagnosed as having
 chronic stress disorder. I was not permitted to return  to  work.
 One  month  later  I  was  indicted for violation of Federal Rico
 statutes. The person who shot at me with a 12-gauge  shotgun  was
 never  identified  or  found. I realized at this point that I was
 "over my head" with no one to help me. I could not seek help from
 the FBI because certain FBI agents could not be trusted. I do not
 have total mistrust of the FBI. I only mistrust certain local FBI
 special  agents  who I believe are under the control of organized
 crime.
 
 
 THE LOUNGE INCIDENT
 
 21. During the 1980's a restaurant known as the Gatsby Lounge  in
 Austintown,  Mahoning  County,  Ohio  was  frequented by a higher
 class of drug dealers. A person who went  to  the  Gatsby  Lounge
 fell under my narcotics surveillance. This person talked to Chief
 Frank Carbon who  in  turn  talked  to  me.  Chief  Frank  Carbon
 informed  me  that the person who I had under surveillance at the
 Gatsby Lounge wanted to pay me 2,000 per month to "back off"  his
 establishment  (  a  Lebanese  restaurant and known drug house in
 Austintown Township which I closed down  one  week  earlier).  If
 $2,000 was not enough I was to let him know. I suspected that the
 person who I first saw at the Gatsby  Lounge  was  dealing  drugs
 because  of the amount of the attempted "payoff" and surveillance
 of this person being seen with known drug dealers.
 
 22. Having been informed of the attempted "pay  off"  I  informed
 Mahoning  County,  Ohio  Sheriff Nemeth of the attempted "payoff"
 who  told  me  to  give  the  information  to  the  FBI.   I  had
 reservations  about giving the information to the FBI. After some
 delay I gave the information about the attempted "payoff" to  FBI
 SA's  Friedman  and  Plunkett.  Both  agents  told  me  not to do
 anything  because  they  already  had  an  FBI  agent  from   the
 Pittsburgh,   Pennsylvania   office  working  undercover  at  the
 Lebanese drug house. I didn't believe what FBI SA's Friedman  and
 Plunkett  told me because FBI agents do not tell other FBI agents
 what operations they are working  on.  Therefore,  the  immediate
 question  in  my mind was. Why would they tell me about a current
 operation? I wanted away  from  these  FBI  agents  without  them
 knowing I wanted away from them.
 
 23. During the same  conversation  with  FBI  SA's  Friedman  and
 Plunkett,  Plunkett  again lied to me when he told me that he did
 not know an informant by the name of Bobby Armstrong  I  knew  he
 knew  about  Bobby Armstrong because of a conversation I had with
 him five (5) years ago about Bobby Armstrong. I then asked myself
 what am I doing with these people? Something is wrong here!
 
 
 FBI CONTROLLED SIU
 
 24. SIU Officer  Joe  Krupa  secretly  asked  me  to  submit  for
 approval  of  a search warrant to be served on the Diamond Tavern
 in Campbell, Mahoning County, Ohio which  at  the  time  was  the
 illegal  numbers  hub  for  the  whole  organization.  I received
 approval for the search warrant.  I  personally  invited  Special
 Agent  Don Harris of the Internal Revenue Service to accompany us
 on this raid. I did this to Protect Officer  Krupa  and  me  from
 future retaliation because this was a Joey Naples' stronghold.
 
 25. I took Internal Revenue Agent  Don  Harris  with  me  to  the
 Diamond   Tavern   along  with  approximately  15  officers  from
 Youngstown Police Department's SIU and Mahoning County  Sheriff's
 Department,  Lowendowsky who used a camera to film the serving of
 the search warrant and any arrests. FBI SA  Robert  Kroner  later
 told me that the only reason I "hit" the place was to increase my
 monthly "package." Robert Kroner should have known better than to
 make  an  allegation  like  that  because  if  I was going to put
 pressure on a place like the Diamond Tavern why would I bring  an
 IRS  agent  with me? How could I possibly fix something where the
 IRS was included? Indirectly, I found that FBI SA  Robert  Kroner
 knew  this  was a Joey Naples operation and was upset with me for
 raiding the Diamond Tavern.
 
 26. Youngstown Police Department Officer Joe Krupa, a  member  of
 the  SIU  informed  me  that  SIU  was working with FBI SA Robert
 Kroner and FBI SA Larry Lynch. SIU officer gave  me  the  illegal
 gambling  targets to raid. It was quite apparent that the targets
 I  was  given  by  SIU  to  raid  where  limited  to  people  and
 establishments  involved  in  illegal  numbers  gaming  and small
 football pools. The  SIU  did  not  raid  illegal  sport  betting
 operations  nor  did  they ask for my assistance in raiding large
 illegal  sport  betting  operations.  The  main  target  of   the
 Youngstown  Police Department SIU and FBI was the illegal numbers
 operation of Michael "Syrak" Serrecchio, a one time  Joey  Naples
 rival.  I  continued  to  arrest  people for sports betting. What
 appeared strange was the Youngstown Police Department's SIU would
 be involved in every raid except the raids conducted in their own
 city. FBI SA Robert Kroner controlled and suppressed information,
 manipulated  both the SIU and me to conduct only certain gambling
 arrest raids, none of which were directed at Joey Naples' illegal
 gambling  enterprise.  At  the  time it was common knowledge that
 Lenny Strollo and Joey Naples were growing  apart  because  Lenny
 Strollo  was  against narcotics while Joey Naples was involved in
 narcotics. It should also be noted  that  at  this  time  Randall
 Wellington  was  also  chief  of police of Youngtown, Ohio, and a
 personal friend of FBI SA Robert Kroner.
 
 INDICTED & CONVICTED
 
 27. I was indicted and convicted for taking a  bribe  from  Lenny
 Strollo.  I never took a bribe from Lenny Strollo or anyone else.
 This fact was revealed  during  a  subsequent  and  related  plea
 bargain  hearing in which Lenny Strollo under oath testified that
 he never paid me a bribe. I also learned after my conviction that
 my  attorney Stewart Mandel was associated with Lenny Strollo. My
 attorney, Stewart Mandel, might have acted  for  the  benefit  of
 others  to  help  them  so  that  I  could  not timely reveal the
 hereinabove written, the truth. Stewart Mandel was later indicted
 and  convicted  of income tax violations in connection with Lenny
 Strollo. I still believe Stewart Mandel is a good attorney who  I
 consider a friend.
 
 28. James A. Traficant, Jr., and I were never  political  allies.
 However,  I  have  always  respected  him,  therefore,  I give my
 permission to him to use this affidavit in any way that he  deems
 appropriate.
 
 
 
 
   Published in the Dec. 18, 2000 issue of The Washington Weekly
           (http://washington-weekly.com) Copyright 2000
  


-> To unsubscribe send email to snetnews-unsubscribe@topica.com

___________________________________________________________
T O P I C A  http://www.topica.com/t/17
Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Your Favorite Topics