Top 2 Corrupt Officer Investigations | DOUBLE EPISODE | The FBI Files

organized crime tore through the suburbs of chicago leaving violence and corruption in israel prominent officials were seduced by greed and power doing whatever was necessary to protect their interests [Music] business everyone was on the table fbi call on the fbi to weed out the corruption and to find the killer of an innocent woman [Applause] [Music] [Music] willow springs illinois seemed like any other quiet midwestern community but it was really one of the most corrupt places in the nation this tiny village nestled just outside of chicago was in the hip pocket of organized crime i'm jim calstrom former head of the fbi's new york office it was only a matter of time before corruption led to assassination and conspiracy to end it required a federal sting operation of astounding complexity [Music] the bank of a sanitary canal in a remote industrial area became the site of a gruesome crime [Music] the killers were quick and thorough nearby two police officers were out on night patrol when they heard the shots fired they became alarmed [Music] one of the officers drove towards the canal to investigate he found nothing as he searched the desolate area also on the scene was willow springs illinois police chief michael cohen i heard it earlier myself and i've already checked the area so he too saw him i got a cup the following day a prominent local attorney called police to report that his wife was missing [Music] oh mr masters we'd like to ask a few questions about your wife lieutenant howard of the cook county sheriff's department and his partner responded to the call attorney alan masters said that his wife diane had been out the night before with colleagues and friends from a local college where she worked [Music] she never came home there was no sign of her yellow account i believe he said he made calls trying to locate her until two in the morning but finally for the officers the information offered little insight excuse me lieutenant james keating of the cook county sheriff's department joined the office yeah sure we were just asking mr masters questions about his wives he asked masters if he could have a look around the house [Music] the officers continued their questioning anything else you can tell us as far as reluctantly masters offered some new information he suspected that his wife diane had been having an affair maybe the two lovers had run off together i don't know who he is or what he looks like i just have my suspicions excuse me guys i think we need to wrap this up lieutenant vanek wanted to investigate further and look around the house himself sir i think we need to take another look around in here husbands are always suspects when their wives around you there's nothing nothing sir we need to look around it's time to go let's go [Music] was upset he didn't know why keating would undermine his investigation [Music] outside keating confronted lieutenant vanna telling him to back off as far as he was concerned masters was not a suspect but vanek didn't buy it and he let keating know just as the two men were about to explode willow springs police chief michael corbett arrived at the scene like easy come on guys [ __ ] you on the same side come on keita would have the fun you're off the case forget it you're off the case man you got that the question still remained where was diane masters her disappearance grabbed the media's attention and diane if you would please she had been very active in the local community diane had worked hard to help open a shelter for battered women she was also involved in local politics and sat on the board of the moraine valley community college she did not appear to have any animals hard work and her dedication in opening this crisis center something that is needed desperately in this community but investigators began uncovering other details it was reported by diane's friends that her husband was controlling and abusive and that diane was planning to file for divorce assistant u.s attorney tom scorser followed the case we were pretty certain that what had happened here was that diane and alan in a regular had a regular marital dispute sort of ordinary dispute but that it had escalated uh into something much worse go ahead and send them in scores's investigation soon revealed that alan masters was more than just a bad husband [Music] it was rumored that allen masters had bribed local officials and police officers to secure favorable outcomes for his clients how'd it go very well very well nothing aware corruption extended right to the top of law enforcement allegedly masters frequently enlisted the help of chief corbyn [Music] [Music] it was also rumored that masters in chief corbett were involved in safeguarding some of the chicago mob's bedding and prostitution rings which were run out of show clubs throughout suburban cook county [Music] but investigators were focused only on diane's disappearance with no evidence and few leads that investigation stole unaware of alan masters or his wife's disappearance the fbi had already begun an independent investigation into the mob controlled rackets of the chicago area u.s attorney david stetler worked with the fbi to help unravel the prostitution operation at that time there were a number of topless bottomless joints that one could go to and many of them were undercover fronts for prostitution so you could go in uh you could watch the naked girls dancing on the stage and for a price you could retreat to the back either to a booth or a back room and engage in one form of sexual activity or another with the dancers the club owners knew that their customers would spend more on drinks and prospects if they could use their credit cards patrons were reluctant they did not want bills arriving at their homes or businesses with charges incurred from nightclubs the club owners found credit card transaction companies that were willing to process the charges using false but respectable business names special agent ivan harris of the fbi's chicago field office was assigned to help bring down the illegal businesses the scam was using various companies in order to launder credit cards through their business to make it appear that businessmen were actually eating at a restaurant or using a limousine service to incur the charges when in fact there were charges for prostitution larry wright was one of the credit card transaction company owners wright would pick up the week's transactions from the clubs and process them through his company national credit service or ncs one of his clients was a club owner named joseph maron whose club was a front for a mob controlled prostitution house wright wanted to expand his own operations he approached marin about setting up an illegal betting club marin was willing to help out the man who made his money [Music] wright would first need to pay protection money to local police in order not to be exposed and arrested [Music] marin was the man who could arrange that protection [Music] marin arranged the meeting at the willow springs police department [Music] it was to take place with police chief michael corbett [Music] it was believed that corbett had been hand-picked by the chicago mob boss to oversee and protect their interests in and around willow springs [Music] the word on the street of course was that no one could do anything in willow springs without the permission of the chief of police mike corbett the message also was from virtually anyone you would talk to that he was so powerful that he was so well connected that nothing could ever be done about him i just want to make sure i don't get any unexpected visits corbett agreed to help larry wright set up the new betting operation for a price not quite yet in return corbett assured he wouldn't get any hate from his office larry wright was well on his way he returned to his office at national credit service operated out of a nondescript office park location wright worked with two other staff members doing [Music] ncs was not just a credit card transaction service for illegal activities it was a front for the fbi larry wright was actually undercover special agent larry damron and he and the fbi were using ncs to work their way into the heart of the corruption in willow springs while local investigators struggle to unravel the disappearance of a prominent attorney's wife the fbi had set up an undercover operation in the town of willow springs just outside of chicago [Music] their target organized crime and the corrupt police who protected them from prosecution the undercover work was often painstaking and frustrating fbi special agent larry damron explains the difficulties inherent in undercover work during the course of the undercover operation you try to immerse yourself in what you're doing and you and you try to assume that role because it's necessary for you to do that in order to accomplish anything oftentimes you'll hear people make comments or you'll see people do things that in any other circumstance they would be arrested for immediately and so what you have to remember is you're in a role and you play that role out dameron had heard stories about how the mob resolved problems they were swift and violent and their signature was unmistakable two bullets there was no room for mistakes victor spelatro the player in chicago's organized crime approached damron at ncs victor himself wielded little power his brothers held tremendous influence within the mob's hierarchy damron was starting to move into the center of the violent chicago underworld the splatros were one of the best known names of mobsters in chicago the older brother tony was the boss in las vegas he represented the chicago outfit for their interest in las vegas had been a prominent figure and had been widely mentioned in the papers having been involved in murders and extortions and things like that agent damron quickly developed a reputation as an effective businessman and laundering money for mob operations well we got everything back here that you need all right come on back sure everything's all right spillatro knew of ncs's activities with the local nightclubs they were under his control [Music] good everything's going good with the business he told damron he would have to pay him a cut to stay in business i'm glad you appreciate what we do for you okay well that's really good damron had no objection [Music] the level that we had there is we were paying protection to a fairly important uh aspect of the mob the splatro family and so that gave us a little bit of status if you will but we had absolutely no authority or anything like that in the mob we were just workers and our value was we made them money agent damron traveled to a remote hotel where he met with fbi special agent gordon brooks who oversaw the undercover operation to ensure that damron's real identity was not compromised the two met infrequently to exchange information [Music] brooks vigilantly kept tabs on damron the investigation was as dangerous as it was complex the agent cautiously moved forward he wanted to continue expanding the fbi's undercover operations [Music] he used every opportunity he could to sell the idea of opening more betting and prostitution houses throughout suburban chicago that was all right yeah even with a go ahead from the spelatrums damron would still need permission and protection from the police [Music] he met with nightclub owner joseph merritt to hash out the details of the new clubs and secure police protection but there was a problem had been removed by the willow spring city council under suspicion of corruption marin knew another high-ranking law enforcement official who could provide the same protection as corbett lieutenant james keating cook county's vice squad supervisor tell you what you deal with u.s attorney tom scorser was not surprised by the development keating's reputation was well known you feel pretty confident about this guy jim keating was a lieutenant in the cook county sheriff's police department but if anything the rank understated his influence he was a very well-connected officer in a very corrupt department he had connections with people of higher rank who were also corrupt and so he was a key figure with corbett out of the picture the fbi shifted their focus to keating damron met with him at a restaurant outside of willow springs it allows me to really concentrate on my job keating said he'd have no problem helping damron expand his one thing we need to operations is if there's a situation that comes up but any move damron made would have to be approved by him he warned damron to play it straight with him and his people he told us that the one thing that he wouldn't tolerate was if someone double-crossed him and he said if if that happened that we'd find us with our legs on one of the streets in the area in our head on another street in the area as instructed by the fbi damron proposed another operation a club that would be a front for prostitution he gave the lieutenant the first of many payments to ensure police protection looks like a bonus for the guys before he left keating said he knew someone who might be able to help him a lawyer named alan though he had no direct dealings with alan masters damron had heard the name mentioned by chief corbett well i knew that masters was a well-known attorney on the south side of chicago that he had a tremendous reputation for being able to get things done particularly in the in the local court system and the uh the scuttlebutt was that that he wasn't reluctant to pay bribes or to deal with people however he needed to damron continued his meetings with his case supervisor special agent gordon brooks damron needed to know everything he could about allen masters and his relationship with keating and corbett the fbi and u.s attorneys quickly established a hierarchy within this ring of corruption okay you're making your way up to keating right i want you to corbett was the king in willow springs but any time he had to do something that involved the broader cook county he needed to get the permission of keating and keating always had to check with the ultimate fixer alan masters to make sure everything could be handled at the court level as the extent of alan master's criminal activity became clearer the fbi began looking closer at his possible role in his wife's disappearance the two distinct cases were beginning to overlap and damron's objectives were broadening authorities he was a suspect in the disappearance of his wife it was thought that if we could develop a relationship with him there might be something there that would come come to light and and might be of some benefit to that investigation damron learned that alan masters allegedly made payoffs to several area judges in exchange for favorable decisions now we need to have that hearing on this anderson case needs to go our way we have an understanding of that judge agents speculated that diane might have witnessed her husband's illegal activity and threatened to expose him [Music] i think now trying to elicit information about diane's disappearance damron continued his efforts to make inroads into the corruption around willow springs [Music] he met with keating several weeks later to follow up on his plan to open a show club a good manager lined up again keating mentioned that his friend allen was trying to take care of that he's a real fixer damron took the opportunity to bring up alan's wife keating said little but then added an unusual comment same plan we had with the other one probably we talked about master's wife turning up missing and keating said well she turned up missing like the day before the divorce was going to be filed that was convenient it wasn't it was convenient and chuckled about what a what a good circumstance that was damron was cautious not to probe too far fearing that keating might grow suspicious you've known this fella for a long time you've known me for a while i've worked with him before sure he can do as the meeting ended keating handed over alan master's phone number saying the lawyer [Music] he proceeded to set up the meeting with alan masters hello mr masters how are you this is larry wright speaking the attorney agreed to help push through all the necessary permits and legal documents which meant bribing officials and securing protection we've been working uh pretty hard on it for a while now also what i think of you master suggested they get together the meeting was set for the following week monday december 13th okay i'll look forward to meeting you then i think we can maybe do some business okay thanks bye before the meeting would take place however a police officer on routine patrol near the sanitary canal area in willow springs noticed something unusual tire tracks led directly into the canal he immediately called for assistance little did he know that the lid was about to come off the underworld in willow springs trucks while the fbi continued their undercover operation in the chicago suburb of willow springs an officer out on routine patrol made an alarming discovery tire tracks leading directly into the sanitary canal police officers and a dive team responded to the site overseeing the investigation was james ross an honest cop appointed by city council to replace michael corbett as the police chief in willow springs though corbett had been hosted from the department his legacy of corruption remained below the surface divers found a virtual underwater parking lot 82 cars lined the bottom of the polluted canal u.s attorney tom scorser believed he knew why the cars were there and who could make a profit by allowing it to be dumped without a police investigation [Music] those are known as insurance give-ups people who want to collect money on their car when the car is not worth very much anymore we'll find a way of losing the car and then reporting it stolen and collecting insurance my belief was that corbett had been the approver of all of the dumping of the cars in the world springs canal by nighttime a third car had been dredged up a yellow cattleman the license plate on the vehicle dgm-19 was well known in willow springs it was the tag registered to diane masters lieutenant keating the cook county sheriff's department arrived at the scene chief ross was surprised that keating a vice cop had been notified he asked keating why he was there heating had no response officers continued examining the cattle when they cried open the trunk they discovered a decomposed body [Music] ross immediately ordered that the car and the body be taken back to a city garage where they could be thoroughly examined for clues [Music] the decision not to use the police garage was well reasoned chief ross knew this case potentially had far-reaching implications and he couldn't trust his own officers the fewer people nosing around the better [Music] state police began to scour the car in the body for evidence [Music] they found 22 caliber shell casings in the trunk the keys were still in the ignition eerily the watch on the deceased body and the dashboard clock had stopped at exactly the same time 150. they removed the body for further forensic investigation the forensic team examining the body found the skull had been crushed they also discovered two bullet hole entries in the left cheekbone the bullet fragments inside the skull were removed and sent off to the fbi lab for ballistic evaluation [Music] dental records confirmed what everyone believed the body found in the trunk was diane masters the nine-month investigation into diane's disappearance was now a homicide investigation [Music] chief ross called in cook county detective john reed to work the homicide he was to team up with the fbi who was now taking over the murder investigation detective reed was not to trust even his closest friends in the department he was told that through the fbi undercover operation run out of ncs law enforcement officers were being investigated for corruption and some had ties to alan masters who is now a firm suspect in diane's murder [Music] as agent harris and detective reed initiated their murder investigation agent dameron continued his undercover uh today to set up a time and place for our meeting he called allen masters to confirm their meeting to set up the show club all day tomorrow i'm sorry busters was evasive and seemed distracted that's okay with you maybe we can maybe we can work something out then just yeah give me some time all right he canceled the meeting okay thanks damron immediately called keating with the conversation being recorded by the fbi he hoped keating would explain why masters was being invasive as i said he's pretty busy how about if you give me a call on career four weeks the keating was cryptic [Music] he instructed damron not to bother masters he had too many problems to deal with okay fine [Music] the new show club would have to wait [Music] what do you got for me damron met with agent brooks masters and keating both appeared nervous since diane's body had been discovered but that was hardly enough evidence to prosecute either of them for murder perhaps damron had overlooked something he handed over his tape recorded conversations with keating this is gonna nail him we're gonna get him can you play that again please over the next several months the u.s attorney's office cook county sheriff's department and the fbi began the process of merging the various investigations all right well the link between them was allen masters cook county lieutenant james keating and former willow springs police chief michael corbin if that's the case if we can put it it would fall on prosecutors to begin constructing a case proving that the three men and all of their activities represented an ongoing organized criminal enterprise and what we had to do in order to prosecute masters and corbett and keating for a collection of their activities including the homicide we had to show that they made up a criminal organization a mini mafia appreciate you meeting with us tonight mrs camp staff well if you guys detective reed and agent harris's first step was to question diane's friends who had been with her on the night she disappeared you said that you followed her home that night one of diane's colleagues genevieve capstaff had actually followed diane home that evening after a board meeting and so i just wanted to see so i followed her capstaff claimed everyone on the moraine community college board who worked with diane suspected that she was having an affair with an economics professor she admitted that she wanted to see if the two were going to rendezvous she followed diane to her street when diane turned to go home capstaff continued on [Music] is there anything else that you can tell further questioning revealed that all of the community college board members including diane were given a 100 000 life insurance policy as part of their employment benefits a hundred thousand dollars right right but that only covers the policy specifically stated that proceeds would be paid if a board member died while traveling to and from board meetings the policy was void when the board member entered their home that's all but we appreciate you allen masters claimed diane never arrived home that night he was therefore eligible to collect the insurance money several months before diane's body was discovered in the trunk of her car masters filed a claim with the insurance company after filling out all the paperwork he sent it off though diane's fate at that time was unclear masters had a judge declare her legally dead as a result he was about to receive 100 000. alan masters was fast becoming the fbi's prime suspect in the murder of his wife diane shortly after her body was discovered investigators learned that he had filed a claim with his wife's insurance company within a few months two checks appeared in the amount of fifty thousand dollars each if federal agents and prosecutors could prove masters was responsible for his wife's death and that he profited from it it would be one more element that showed that he and his accomplices were involved in an ongoing criminal enterprise homicide in a federal racketeering case carries much more jail time than a state charge as the investigation began to take on a clearer focus fbi agents working the undercover case received bad news listen we're gonna have to move rather quickly the washington post had gotten word of the operation we're almost at the point where we can really make some impact on the whole [Music] for u.s attorney david stetler the timing couldn't have been better all right the project had run its course and the bulk of the information anybody was ever going to get had been retrieved and to make the operation go on go on longer would have resulted in additional evidence but it also would have resulted in the evidence that had been gathered becoming more and more stale agents had meticulously pieced together the web of corruption that extended to the nightclubs under mob control now it was time to shut them down [Music] several hundred officers and agents raided over a dozen clubs throughout cook county including those in willow springs stay right here please stay right here all right behind your back [Music] inside the clubs federal agents were able to collect volumes of incriminating evidence 55 people were indicted including club owner joseph maron tony spelatro and his brother victor they were prosecuted in both the state and federal courts for extortion prostitution bribery and racketeering several deputies from the cook county sheriff's department and officers from the willow springs police department were also indicted and convicted for protecting these businesses after three years of undercover work the sting operation was now officially closed for undercover special agent larry damron it was finally time to leave the role of larry wright i would say the finish was elation and disappointment at the same time disappointment that there were so many opportunities out there to to identify other criminal activity we knew that that it was a good job that we had gathered tremendous amounts of evidence and that we had a a real insight into some of the criminal activity that was taking place that we hadn't had before alan mastis local authorities the fbi and prosecutors could now focus exclusively on the diane masters murder investigation [Music] they continued questioning her friends and associates including the man with whom she was allegedly having an affair he confirmed that he and diane had a relationship he also claimed that masters had abused diane physically mentally and also had reason to fear alan masters one night kuselniak and diane had met for drinks at a local bar he recalled that diane called home to check on her daughter instead of getting the babysitter on the phone allen unexpectedly answered alan he suspected she was with her lover i didn't know you were he was irate and began to think i was going to check on andre he vowed to destroy her [Music] chris elniak said diane returned from the phone call and was very upset he went to the bar for more drinks there a man suddenly confronted him and began firing off a series of questions oh yes i did the man never identified himself 10 12 years ago what's your name he asked where he worked [Music] though the man said little else celniak felt he had just received a threat stay away from diane [Music] and kasselniak he said that on the night of diane's disappearance she had called him and warned him not to meet her for drinks so this was an unusual move on her part i usually got together after her college board meetings lately she had been troubled by allen's behavior that they would go on to another restaurant took her advice and canceled their plans he never saw diane again [Music] agent harris and detective reed continued to develop witnesses come by they discovered that masters had hired a private investigator to keep tests we subsequently developed a cooperating individual named ted nakaza who was a private investigator with alan masters masters had requested ted nakaza to place a bug on his home telephone number because he suspected his wife diane uh was having an affair i got a few tapes okay what do you guys got for me nikaza told investigators the bug was successful in exposing diana and kuselniak's fake good news ted mikaze played back a telephone conversation captioned on tape where diane was talking in highly sexual way with the boyfriend jim caselnian according to naikaza after playing the tape allen masters declared his intention to kill diane and to get keating to make it look like an accident allen masters wanted his wife murdered and he had the resources to get away with it [Music] fbi and local authorities continued to uncover evidence against alan masters and his associates that pointed towards a conspiracy to murder allen's wife diane through a private investigator hired by alan masters diane's affair had been exposed allen's rage was out of control but investigators had no hard evidence to charge him with murder after an exhausted five-year investigation that was about to change he intended to have diane killed they uncovered a cook county sheriff's deputy who was willing to talk in paris deputy jack bachman had startling information keaney brought me into bachmann had been too afraid of the consequences of coming forward on his own he claimed that he had been approached to kill diane the offer had come through lieutenant james keaton bachmann had a series of conversations with keating and ultimately keating asked bachmann if bachmann would be interested in the job of actually stalking and killing diane masters bachmann said keating offered him 25 000 to carry out the hit and michael corbett the chief of police had already agreed to dispose of the body [Music] buckland declined the offer no sir i'm sorry i can't get involved or anything like that no no sir through keating masters had clearly solicited [Music] he said he wanted to eliminate her i said what do you mean what we were able to show is that when allen masters decided to kill his wife he simply was able to turn to the two police officers that he'd already been working with on corrupt activities and criminal activities and that made the homicide and the planning of it and the solicitation of it it made it an activity of the criminal enterprise the pieces had finally come together and diane investigators put together a likely scenario of diane master's murder allen masters had found a hitman to kill diane and her boyfriend when they met for the usual drinks after her college board meeting however diane didn't meet with kuselniak that evening you're homely tonight meeting ran late [Music] furious masters took matters into his own hands [Music] alan masses was at home babysitting their young daughter he was setting up his alibi by making long distance calls all night to prove that he was home he never expected his wife to walk in the door she did she began the process of getting undressed and he hit her with a blunt instrument two blows to the head [Music] masters then called chief corbett who came with an unknown accomplice to dispose of the body [Music] they dumped diane's body in the trunk of her cadillac corbett then drove away with the accomplice following him masters remained at home with his daughter [Music] they drove to the remote sanitary canal diane's watch was reset to throw investigators off the train should her body ever be found they then fired two shots into her head they wanted to look like a mob hit they also reset the dashboard clock to 150. allen masters made sure that he was on the phone for time to corroborate his alibi corbett and the accomplice dumped the cadillac in june of 1988 six years after diane's murder investigators brought charges against the three conspirators [Music] former police chief michael corbett was the first arrested on federal charges of racketeering bribery and conspiracy to solicit and cover up the murder of diane masters special agent ivan harris tried to elicit a confession mike corbett subsequently confessed that he was in fact the person that had put diane master's car in the canal he disavowed any knowledge knowing that she was in the trunk of the car at that time county lieutenant james keaton was arrested next on the same federal charges he too denied involvement in diane's murder [Music] and finally alan masters in addition to racketeering and bribery the indictment against ali masters charged that he planned solicited and aided and abetted the murder of his wife if you wish one prosecutors would not have enough hard evidence to charge any of the conspirators with the actual murder of diane prosecutor tom skorza was able to successfully tie all of their criminal activities together for the jury masters was convicted on all counts collecting the 100 000 insurance money after having his wife murdered also made him guilty of mail fraud he received a total of 40 years effectively to the end of his life former chief michael corbett received 20 years james keating was convicted and sentenced to over 30 years the masses case was special in my experience because there was no one single piece of evidence proving guilt what there were were a thousand little pieces that made him mosaic that was made the case intriguing it made it very difficult to present and made it a challenge to present to the jury but it made a terrific story because in the end the jury could see how one little plate piece from over here and one little piece from over there made a picture and the picture was a plot among three fellows who had been involved in a lot of criminal activity to do their ultimate criminal act murder diane masters [Music] the undercover investigation that agent damron oversaw and the work of several other fbi agents exposed a deeply rooted corruption throughout cook county and brought it to its ultimate demise by weeding out these pockets of corruption the people living in the suburbs of chicago no longer have to live with the lawlessness that threaten to destroy [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] so you got what i need on the streets of new orleans drug money bought the city's cups officers became the strong arm of drug lords brutalizing anyone who dared speak out kim with police undercover agents would have to put their lives on the line to bring down the corrupt officers [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] in a city of washington narcotics the drug lords have all the power even over the police corruption in new orleans grew like cancer eating away at public safety and threatening to destroy the city lord by easy wealth crooked cops began breaking the laws they were sworn to uphold i'm jim calstrom former head of the fbi's new york office when it became clear that the police could no longer police themselves the fbi had to get involved it was a case where the line between friends and enemies became dangerously blurred [Music] new orleans 1993 tourists packed the city looking for a good time not all of it legal cocaine was in demand and the dealers cashed in it was a violent business [Music] for protection the drug lords turned to those whose duty was to serve and protect [Music] officers lined their pockets while enforcing the will of the dealers they controlled turf-like thugs terrorizing innocent civilians agent stan hatton of the fbi's public corruption unit in new orleans was aware of the growing problem our intelligence told us that there was a great variety of corruption taking place among many different officers on the department however this the one thing that seemed to be the most pervasive was that officers were out there working with drug dealers on the street were protecting drug dealers on the street and were stealing money and drugs from drug dealers on the street one such drug dealer was terry adams known on the streets as scaboo [Music] he was a small-time operator who was being extorted by officer sammy williams so you got but this time the protection money scab who paid williams wasn't enough on christmas eve the officer demanded that scab will pay him ten thousand dollars cash by 6 pm [Music] if scaboo failed to show williams threatened to beat him and guaranteed him 20 years to life that evening at 5 00 pm special agent stan hadden was finishing up some last minute work about to go home he took one last call it was scabbu his time was running out he told haddon that he was being blackmailed but didn't have the ten thousand dollars the corrupt cop was demanding in less than an hour what are the name of the officers when kabu contacted me we realized that that was our best chance to do something about police corruption and i immediately arranged to meet him and debrief him in person there was no way we could get everything together by six o'clock i'm by the time i met with him it was 30 minutes before the deadline yeah i feel pretty good about that um hadn't and his partner quickly hashed out a plan scaboo would meet the officer as arranged but he'd be wearing an fbi wire the agents couldn't arrange ten thousand dollars on such short notice would have to convince the cop to accept smaller payments over several meetings yeah i'm pretty sure okay they could be rough well you know that you worked with them yeah assured by hadn't that he would be under constant surveillance scabbu took his position officer sammy williams was still on duty when he arrived with a prisoner cuffed in the back seat of his cruiser williams drove scaboo to a deserted spot behind a seafood market he ordered him to throw the ten thousand dollars into the trunk skaboo told williams he only had three thousand now but would pay the rest later [Music] if the copper arrested scabboo he'd never get his payoff agents hoped williams would agree to meet him again for more of the money he did and the fbi had it all on tape hadn't believed this one incident would lay the groundwork for exposing more corruption in the new orleans police department our main objective was to try and create a strategy that would enable us to prosecute as many bad officers as we possibly could in the days that followed agents along with prosecutors from the united states attorney's office began to plan their operation codenamed shattered shield assistant u.s attorney al winters would advise agents every step of the way on what would be needed to convict the dirty wraps we were involved really from day one we met with the case agents on numerous occasions and discussed exactly what we were interested in being developed as far as evidence in in the case as with most corruption cases the fbi's strongest evidence would likely come from wiretaps according to special agent karen jenkins an fbi wiretap specialist securing them isn't easy title three is a cord authorized intercept or wiretap it's very difficult to get one approved it's a lengthy process very time consuming basically we have to have approval by fbi officials to get one and beyond that we have to have the review and approval by department of justice officials finally a federal judge will make the final determination as to whether or not one is authorized after delivering two more payoffs to officer williams scaboo had won his trust now the fbi seized the opportunity to take the operation to the next phase scabbu would approach williams with a proposition the volume of drug business was going to increase and scaba would need more williams was interested in higher payoffs he would need to hire more dirty cops to handle the expansion williams took the bait scabboo met with him for another recorded payoff in mid-january 1994. don't forget but this time williams showed up with another one he turned out to be len davis sammy williams partner don't forget it wasn't surprising davis was known in the projects as a gangster with a badge [Music] both davis and williams used the coded language of the drug trade [Music] to make charges stick the fbi had to record the officers using language that a jury would understand [Music] hadden pressed skaboo to get williams and davis to use words like dope so there'd be no doubt at trial but when scabu told the cops the dope is in davis suspected something was up if you're uh if you're in the police business and somebody starts using words that are that overt and that plain that immediately makes you suspicious that this person is trying to set you up davis shoved scaboo into the car and told williams to drive the agents would be too conspicuous on the deserted streets if they pursued the cops now they would put scabbu's life at greater risk the only thing they could do was sit patiently and listen to the wire when the car came to a stop davis's rage ignited [Music] he yelled that scabba was never to say the word dope again they immediately took him to a deserted location aggressively searched him uh you can hear the velcro ripping loose on his clothes and stuff and uh that was a very tense moment davis insisted that he wouldn't go to jail for carelessness was sure he was going to die their trust was restored you understand me continued his protection deal with davis and williams for the next job the cops drove him to a store where a drop-off was to take place inside scabboo checked a bag at the [Music] he counter the ticket to an agent posing as a buyer who then retrieved the bag [Music] williams and davis watched as each transaction went down they were promised a thousand dollars for every kilo of cocaine they protected for them the deals meant easy money [Music] davis and williams met scaboo behind stores and alleyways for the protection payoffs the fbi recorded every word gradually operation shattered shield was building a solid case against police corruption the recordings continued into the spring of 1994. once agents were sure davis and williams were solidly on board the fbi prepared to expand the investigation [Music] with still more cocaine to guard williams and davis would need to recruit more dirty cops federal agents hoped to snare everyone but agents knew the officers may become suspicious of scabby's rapidly growing drug business they needed to bring in a big time dealer someone whose status as a kingpin would explain the larger shipments you like some sure okay hadn't called on one down here an fbi agent trained specifically working undercut represent a drug kingpin from from up in the east coast at that time i was in new york city and i've been contacted uh to come down to just uh be interviewed and go over the actual case a lot of times they'll they'll be looking for a certain person height weight you know color or whatever to infiltrate or get into a certain group known as jj the agent would act as scabbus cocaine supplier proposing to use new orleans as a hub to store and distribute his product nationwide i was a high level drug dealer i played that role and i had ties where my operation was in both miami and in new york city with the arrival of jj shattered shield is about to grow from a minor drug business to a booming enterprise jackson was one of the fbi's best undercover agents he was smart and experienced but his life would be in the hands of the informant scaboo who had no training jackson needed to build complete trust with scabbu or they'd both be dead the informant because he lives that world is probably the for me anyway the most important because he himself has been there he's been around these people if he's not believable it's not going to work and i think that was the big thing for me down there was to make sure that uh we were going to be believable jackson and scaboo rehearsed their roles again and again preparing for the real test with davis their story would be that they had met in the army after their stint was up they had kept in touch they hatched and rehashed details of their friendship habits fake memories that they'd have to know and when to say them they were dealing with criminals who could run thorough background checks and who were free to use deadly force we knew that whatever we had we had to keep it simple but we had to make sure that we remembered certain things the biggest thing i thought that helped us was my initials my nickname so no matter how many times they would ask him what's his name he believably said because he only knew jj in april the fbi was ready to introduce jj into the operation he arrived at a hotel carrying what was supposed to be a drug payment of one hundred thousand dollars for the first time williams and davis caught a glimpse of the big time dealer their perceptions would be critical the first encounter was in the sheraton hotel they were going to stand at a distance and just observe it was another test to see if they were willing to do what they were going to do hey i don't know how it's going to work they could arrest me right now and take me off and you know i'm down you know because this will be drug money so uh it was a test scab told the cops about jj and his plan to use new orleans as a transport hub for his cocaine business davis and williams carefully studied jj's every move jackson was creating his character before their eyes it would become his full-time identity and it would have to hold up under scrutiny everything depended on what the cops thought they had seen and if they believed the cash exchange was genuine the plan worked the cops were convinced that jj was the real deal [Music] the fbi was now poised to take operation shattered shield to the next level by the spring of 1994 the fbi's operation shattered shield targeting new orleans police officers involved in the city's drug trade was in place posing as a drug kingpin named jj undercover special agent juan jackson worked with scaboo the drug dealer turned fbi informant [Music] scaboo rented a hotel room for jj to meet officers len davis and sammy williams for the first time [Music] what's up man what's up that was showtime that was a big deal on any first meeting with any bad guys you know a million things are going through your mind i mean are you going to be believable is anything going to happen it's going to change their attitude it's either going to work from here or we're all going to go home playing the street savvy drug dealer jj insisted that everyone strip to establish trust for this first meeting jackson didn't wear a wire he didn't need to the room had been thoroughly wired by the fbi for audio and video recording then in a bold gamble jj invited them to search the room because they were cops davis and williams knew how to find a room wire but jj bet his life on the fbi's technicians the cops never found the wires [Music] jj was beginning to build trust with the officers but officers are trained to sniff out deception i mean you got to think that i'm meeting with two police officers because of the guns you also always have to remember the threat you always have to be conscious of the threat and remember exactly where they are and what they're going to do and where the weapons are with the cops convinced for the moment jj began to discuss the proposal approved by case agent stan haddon and he played the role of a big-time drug dealer from new york who was using new orleans as a transshipment point simply as a storage point where he could bring dope in leave it for a while have it guarded and protected by the officers and then thereafter have it shipped out to other points unknown for their role jj promised to pay them five thousand dollars every day the cops guarded the warehouse a real business williams and davis were enthusiastic about the plan even offering advice the cops urged jj to hire young drivers give them company uniforms with name tags and put signs on the sides of the trucks to resemble legitimate companies for the fbi the meeting was flawless the meeting went off without a hitch they bought jj's act they believed him completely and they also said the magic word cocaine which got it clearly established on tape that we were talking about the officers protecting a drug operation from that main meeting the land moved quickly the fbi found a warehouse that met their needs far from public view and rival drug dealers [Music] jj and scaboo met davis and williams for a walk-through jj and scaboo would meet with lynn davis and sami williams at the warehouse for what we call the pre-deal meet there at that meeting they would discuss when the dope was coming in how long it was going to stay in in town and how much money jj was going to pay for the officers to guard the dope once inside davis told j.j that he had half a dozen more officers lined up to guard the cocaine shipments they would work in 10-hour shifts uniform police outside guarding payloads of cocaine inside up to a quarter of a million dollars worth in each level at that june meeting came the first big payments from jj more than ten thousand dollars [Music] everything is going smoothly but one aspect of the warehouse plan bothered assistant u.s attorney al winters basically what we told the agents unless we had evidence irrefutable evidence that these people knew they were guarding cocaine we couldn't prosecute it because the cops stood guard outside the warehouse they could later claim they didn't know that drugs were inside i think having some sort of video or hadn't had to find a way to prove davis's recruit saw the drug [ __ ] his team mulled over ways to bring the drugs into plain views the officers would have to be recorded seeing and discussing the shipment shipments were delivered to the warehouse one weekend every month according to schedule then in mid-july the fbi sent a shipment that the guards didn't expect with one load already in the warehouse an fbi agent dressed as a courier brought another shipment the driver shocked the guard cops by unloading the cocaine in plain sight this was too overt for len davis's crew they didn't want to see drugs at all they didn't want the vehicles outside the warehouse unloading drugs and stuff where the officers could actually see it quickly the cops called sammy williams on a cell phone jj had given him williams called jj and jj and scaboo raced to the warehouse jj responded like a hot-headed drug dealer i was arguing with this guy we were actually screaming at each other what are you doing we you know you know where are you whatever and he's observing this because the police officer calling lynn telling him all what's going on and how this doesn't look good to the cops this whole drug operation is starting to look dangerously unprofessional concerned the driver made another call [Music] sammy williams arrived to straighten out the problem okay okay see what i got to deal with he asked that the cops escort the van to the city limits right away despite the risk the episode worked it showed that the cops knew what was inside the warehouse right what's going on all right and it was all videos [Music] but the episode raised doubts for the cops either jj was an amateur or he was part of a sting either way they'd be watching him more closely [Music] shattered shield wore on into the summer as all of new orleans baked about 100 in august guarding the warehouse proved hard duty the cops complained of the wear and tear on their engines from running the air conditioning all day in the heat they wanted a vehicle that was more comfortable that could also endure the long hours perhaps a van the officers asked glenn davis to provide one and davis brought their request to jj for the investigation it was a huge break the sweaty cops had just handed the fbi a golden opportunity it was a stroke of luck one day lynn approached me and said that the officers were complaining that they're running their cars in air condition the cars are starting to overheat you know they're burning gas you know on and on once we were able to rent the van and and put the listing device inside we were able to hear a lot more conversations the fbi quickly filed the paperwork to get court authorized wiretaps for the van technicians carefully installed state-of-the-art microphones they had to yield top sound quality for months with no maintenance the van was a perfect trojan horse for getting inside information i picked this out myself dude because jj had so completely won davis's trust davis told the cops that he himself had rented the van he vouched okay that calmed their fears i picked it out myself what do you think lynn davis didn't want anyone upsetting his flow of payments the fbi would soon learn just how ruthlessly davis guarded his interests after three months of shattered shield more and more new orleans cops came under the fbi's investigation glenn davis and undercover agent jj met often to discuss drug shipments and payoffs for police protection davis made frequent threats they'll tell you we run this city we do whatever we want to do they let me know that very many times if they feel like they want to shut it down they'll shut it down but dave jj knew that as long as the money flowed he would never shut the operation davis called the shots for the other officers he recruited and set the schedules using his cell phone but he complained about his bill so jj offered davis a new cell phone free of charge it was one more way the fbi could record the cops knowing involvement in drug trafficking eyes the wires the fbi had planted in the warehouse van were paying off one night two guards on the graveyard shift brought prostitutes to the van the wires picked up everything even the cops sexual indiscretions when jenkins heard this she immediately phoned jj the situation was a chance to catch the cops off balance jj called davis to complain and to see what they'd get on tape he told davis he had checked out the warehouse and found that the cops weren't protected jj wasn't paying cops to have sex he ordered davis to straighten things out davis arrived in a fury his henchmen were threatening to ruin his whole operation was upset lynn was a businessman through lynn wanted it to work exactly one way and he was really upset that i was upset and uh he got up he got up he came out there and and just kicked everybody out jj's call brought davis down on him hard that night but the episode triggered deep suspicions among the dirty cops [Music] they now felt sure that jj was the problem and believed they could run the operation better themselves they discussed ways to kill jj their plans alarmed agent karen jenkins when i heard those conversations were they were threatening to do harm to our undercover agent it sent a chill down my spine it scared me before i came to new orleans so i had worked with jj in another office so i knew him personally and i was very concerned despite the threats to his life jj was resolute keeping the cops engaged with plans to further expand the operation he promised davis that the largest ship would arrive before christmas after that he would move the deliveries to another part of the city jj had to draw out more evidence on tape without making davis suspicious he was very careful he watched everything he paid attention to everything i said there were conversations where we'd talk and i'd use the word cocaine he would count the times i used he would tell him jet you said cocaine five times jay you said kilos five times so i had to be careful at the same time haddon and his team had to defuse another plot they over find all of our enemies the cops were threatening to kill the couriers and steal the cocaine the agents scrambled delivery times and mapped new routes to and from the warehouse to keep the cops off balance with so many dirty cops the fbi couldn't make a clean sweep from the outside alone agents would need someone powerful in the police force to be a strong ally despite the danger of leaks they decided to seek help from within the new orleans police department october 1994 brought fresh changes to new orleans in a new police chief richard pennington so how do you like our first pennington was an outsider from washington d.c hired in the hopes of reforming the crescent city's crooked police force since you're just moving in actually once you have a have a seat the fbi invited the new chief for a good meeting then hadden introduced jj he informed pennington that operation shattered shield was uncovering corruption deep in the force that he was about to head his name is uh his cooperation would be critical for the success of operation shattered shield [Music] on the streets of new orleans davis and williams were still on active duty cruising their territory len davis had a long list of public complaints against him during their rounds one night that october davis and sammy williams patrolled the desire housing project seeing the pair of cops approach two youths took flight williams chased one teenager down bludgeoned him and left him bleeding in the street [Music] at that moment kim groves the victim's aunt decided that police had terrorized their neighborhood long enough who's going to pay the bill the next day a 32 year old mother of three filed a complaint against len davis and his partner she cited the pair for police violence an officer alerted davis about the complaint do you want to know his name officer davis do you know him assistant u.s attorney mike mcmahon saw the report she reported not only sammy williams who did the actual brutality but len davis as well who had nothing to do with that pistol whipping and at that point glenn davis became enraged for davis grove's complaint came at the worst possible time it would bring unwanted attention just as the new police chief was coming on board i know what i want to do len davis vowed to get revenge the same day that kim groves filed her complaint richard pennington was sworn in as new orleans new chief of police that marked the start of shattered shield's final phase the shift from an fbi effort to a partnership with a city desperate to clean house that very night agent jenkins recorded several conversations that would show just how rotten some of the city's men in blue had become [Music] the first call was cryptic hours after pennington was sworn in len davis made a call on his cell phone he gave an order to an unknown man [Music] the fbi taped the conversation but because david spoke in modified police code agents didn't know what it meant while they attempted to decipher it agents recorded a second more disturbing call this time the unknown man called davis [Music] as they spoke a police dispatcher announced a murder in the desire housing project the victim's name kim groves when davis heard the news he cried rock-a-bye it was the triumphant cry of a killer when he later heard it the call shocked assistant u.s attorney mike mcmahon as soon as he confirmed the name of kim groves davis shut off the radio and then on the the wiretap conversation over the cell phone just exalted in a primal scream of delight that indeed kim groves was dead when agents reviewed the tapes and checked the phone records they discovered that the man who spoke to davis was paul hardy [Music] davis had asked hardy for authority a police code normally used to report a homicide but that night davis used it as an order for the murder of kim groves canvassing the projects agents quickly learned that hardy is a known brother with the help of two accomplices hardy acted quickly and for just 300 as he sped away over a bridge hardy threw the barrel of the gun into the canal and handed the body of the gun to an accomplice for safekeeping what's up man when the fbi realized davis's role in the murder agents grew more concerned for jj's safety jj met with davis soon afterward he looked carefully for signs that davis was anxious or upset he saw none the murder of kim grove seemed to have relaxed davis look let me call you back j.j still had to play his part the role of a drug lord though uneasy he was careful not to talk about the murder i appreciate it thanks a lot i wanted to ask a lot of questions about it i couldn't what i had asked him was is anything different happening since the last time i was here he said no and we went on just like nothing ever happened is he a cold-blooded killer i could probably do you in a minute yeah having seen what davis and his cops could do jj had every reason to believe that he could be next he was unaware that they were already planning ways to kill him days after len davis ordered the murder of kim groves the fbi learned of more threats by davis men a new orleans police officer assisting in operation shattered shield received an anonymous threat it came with kim grove's obituary [Music] the message was clear death would come to those who taught learned of still more threats against jj and the other agents [Music] agent jenkins had recorded five cops at the warehouse plotting to kill the couriers in jj then they would steal the cocaine and sell it themselves hadden had no choice the fbi had to wrap up the operation before it was too late once we realized that the lives of our undercover agency at serious risk then we had to react to it we had to do something the fbi needed to move up their plans for the big shipment jj had promised to davis a cocaine shipment so large that it would require a half dozen more cops to bargain but hadn't needed a location unfamiliar to the cops a place where the fbi could mobilize quickly he and his team scouted the mardi gras truck stop on elysian fields avenue [Music] the spot had good highway access it also posed little risk to the public in the event of a shootout the cocaine would arrive on an 18-wheeler then be loaded into cars and escorted by the cops out of the city every detail had to be mapped out the plan would require the coordination of 85 agents positioned strategically along the routes when davis put out the word about a huge november 18th shipment he enticed new recruits [Music] as a load of cocaine worth a quarter of a million dollars arrived davis williams and their crew stood ready as protection agents posing as drivers moved the shipment from the command center haddon and jenkins kept watch of the whole operation there were hundreds of ways the truck stop scenario could go wrong with the undercover agent's lives on the line there was no margin for error the cocaine was divided in two loaves williams escorted one davis followed the other they shepherded the couriers to the edge of town shielding them from other drug gangs and from the law to make it easier for our surveillance we had one of the courier cars go to the east and one go to the west because we had two complete surveillance teams operating simultaneously and we didn't want the two to get crossed up with each other the operation went off without a hitch six additional cops were videotaped in the act of drug trafficking the fbi was about to enter the last phase of shattered shield arresting the corrupt cops who would kill anyone who opposed them after the big truck stop operation fbi agents moved quickly on the murder of kim groves they searched the house of the hitman paul hardy there agents found an unauthorized copy of a guide to police codes the same codes that davis used when he ordered grove's murders [Music] another search at the home of one of hardy's accomplices turned up the murder weapon a nine millimeter handgun [Music] the two investigations shattered shield and the murder were closing at the same time [Music] for the ringleaders the fbi took no chances agents came to lend davis's house the next day he was off duty for davis partner sammy williams agents would use a different approach hadden wanted to flip williams to the prosecution side at that point it worked and they decided okay let's uh throw another curveball and then i said spring juan so they brought me into the door and i introduced myself especially the juan jackson the fbi you could see the the color leave his face his world just came crashing down sammy williams turned government witness his testimony would later prove crucial for getting convictions hadn't his team had no time to lose before news of davis and william's arrests could spread they had to deliver the rest of the gang to justice dozens of armed men in uniform the strategy we were to employ was to arrest lynn davis on december the 5th and then on december the 6th we had all of these officers appear before federal grand jury and then on december 7th the grand jury ordered all these officers to come to the fbi office to give handwriting exemplars len davis's recruits arrived at the fbi's office to give handwriting samples for analysis together with 60 fellow officers since the drug ring involved no written records and so many officers provided writing samples the crooked cops suspected nothing like the others before it the fbi's ruse worked one by one more than a dozen dirty cops of new orleans were arrested that was a safe way to do it because obviously all these officers were armed and they were facing very serious charges and and that was a way to do it to avoid any potential for any bloodshed or any unwanted uh resistance by the officers in court the fbi's recordings build a solid case against the officers the videos and audio tapes spoke louder than the code words and erased all doubts the jurors might have had agent karen jenkins knew the evidence was strong the jury was able to hear for themselves what the officer said they were able to see for themselves what they were doing because of the videos that we had that wasn't me it could have been anybody as prosecutor al winters had predicted early in the investigation davis tried to talk his way out of it police officers know what that is it's a homicide even after all the safeguards we took davis's defense at the trial was that he was conducting his own undercover operation that uh it was not really done according to the book but you know he was a a poor uh a cop and didn't have a lot of training but he was trying to conduct his own undercover operation davis never admitted any wrongdoing he didn't need to the audio and videotape spoke for themselves faced with a prospect of convicting those sworn to protect them the citizens of the jury listened intently the tapes were were chilling and as those tapes were played the courtroom was as silent as as a cathedral as the jury reached the verdict yes your honor we have will the defendant please stand the jury deliberated just 15 minutes we the jury find the defendant guilty of murder in the first degree and hereby sentence the defendant len davis was sentenced to death for his role in kim grove's murder which was later commuted to life in two other trials davis and his co-conspirators received 18 convictions for drug trafficking 15 officers were headed for prison because he cooperated with prosecutors sammy williams was sentenced to just five years he would never again i wear a badge that you have irrevocably stained that uniform you once wore but i must reluctantly recognize that other crimes can only be solved with cooperation of people like you quote dismissed for the big easy hadden's case brought a long hard look in the mirror you know i think that the city of new orleans has been very tolerant of all sorts of of conduct which might be considered improper in other parts of the country it's part of the culture here and i'm a louisiana native but i think this was a wake-up call to the citizens of new orleans that there was a serious problem within the nopd and that problem had to be addressed you know you take an oath and i think that when you do that there's no excuse for anything else i think we helped i think that uh now their focus is different i think hiring i think pay scale i think everything about what the new orleans police department's about is different under chief pennington the new orleans police department revamped its practices and fired more rogue cops the big easy had cleaned house the department and the fbi continue to work together to bring justice to the city's streets [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you

Channel: The FBI Files

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Keywords: FBI, FBI Files, FBI Documentary, Documentary, Crime, Crime Documentary, Crime Patrol, True Crime, True crime daily, Unsolved, Crime Stories, Crime Documentaries Full Episodes, Full Episode, unsolved true crime, fbi files full episodes, we got him, mystery, solved, investigation, police, criminal, prison, jail

Id: dmI5g3yBzw8

Length: 100min 25sec (6025 seconds)

Published: Sat Apr 09 2022