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19
10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Barbara Studley.md
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@ -32,8 +32,8 @@ relations:
- type: represented
with: "[[Frank Koszorus Jr.]]"
reverse: true
start: 1991
fn: 1
start: 1987
fn: 11
- type: represented
with: "[[Paul L. Perito]]"
reverse: true
@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ Byron reported a July 29, 1984 memorandum from Carbaugh to Studley about a canno
In 1985 Studley and Singlaub arranged a private shipment of Soviet-bloc rifles, machine guns and grenade launchers to the contras, which the Courant put at $5 million and which ran from [[Poland]] to [[Honduras]], with the money moved through Swiss banks, according to Singlaub's 1987 testimony.[^1] Graham recommended the arms broker [[Werner Glatt]], whom he described as a sheep farmer and arms trader with farms in Virginia and Scotland, to Studley as an honest broker. Counsel put the arms transaction in May 1985 with delivery in July, and Graham agreed it was early in 1985.[^2]
The Courant reported that the legal opinion clearing the shipment was given by [[E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.]], then an assistant United States attorney in Washington. Barcella said that "somebody in the government came to me," that he checked with the Office of Munitions Control at the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] and the Justice Department's office of internal security, that he "orally passed that back to the person that had made the request of me," that he did not know Studley at the time, and that he did not remember signing anything. The United States attorney, [[Joseph diGenova]], said he never authorized any such opinion.[^1] In her 1991 deposition, as the Courant quotes it, Studley answered "Larry Barcella signed it" when asked who in the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] approved the shipment.[^1] She also said the shipment was "approved in writing by the justice department before we shipped it" and called it "Absolutely legitimate."[^1] Her lawyer, [[Frank Koszorus Jr.]], said he was "not at all certain that she was ever issued a written opinion."[^1] The Courant reported that Barcella left the United States attorney's office in June 1986 and went into private practice in Washington "initially at the same firm where Koszorus, Studley's lawyer, worked," and that he said he did not know Koszorus before joining it. The April 28, 1987 letter to the House committee on Studley's matter, on the letterhead of [[Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey|Finley, Kumble]], closes with Koszorus's name above the enclosure notation.[^1][^11]
The Courant reported that [[E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.]], then an assistant United States attorney in Washington, had given a legal opinion clearing the way for the shipment. Barcella said that "somebody in the government came to me," that he checked with the Office of Munitions Control at the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] and the Justice Department's office of internal security, that he "orally passed that back to the person that had made the request of me," that he did not know Studley at the time, and that he did not remember signing anything. The United States attorney, [[Joseph diGenova]], said he never authorized any such opinion.[^1] In her 1991 deposition, as the Courant quotes it, Studley answered "Larry Barcella signed it" when asked who in the [[United States Department of Justice|Justice Department]] approved the shipment.[^1] She also said the shipment was "approved in writing by the justice department before we shipped it" and called it "Absolutely legitimate."[^1] Her lawyer, [[Frank Koszorus Jr.]], said he was "not at all certain that she was ever issued a written opinion."[^1] The Courant reported that Barcella left the United States attorney's office in June 1986 and went into private practice in Washington "initially at the same firm where Koszorus, Studley's lawyer, worked," and that he said he did not know Koszorus before joining it. The Courant's account is of 1992. The earlier April 28, 1987 letter to the House committee's assistant counsel, from Koszorus on the letterhead of [[Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey|Finley, Kumble]], encloses a copy of the memorandum from Studley's file regarding North.[^11]
On October 30, 1985, Studley sent a memorandum to Lt. Col. [[Oliver North]] reporting a telephone call from a source identified only as "W." The memorandum stated that a man named [[Mario Dellamico]], described as working for an arms dealer named [[Ron Martin]], had asked for the company's help in selling Martin's arms to the Contras and had been refused, since it would be against "their law." It closed with the sentence "General John K. Singlaub has been advised of this information."[^12]
@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ Graham gave a different account. He testified that after the ship arrived Studle
The Miami Herald reported in June 1987 that the president of [[Bayshore Bank of Florida]], Petrillo, had resigned, that the bank was being sold, and that he had transferred a total of $2 million of bank funds on behalf of GeoMiliTech during 1986. The debts were unsecured, were supposed to be repaid within weeks, and remained outstanding, and the sum was nearly all of the bank's net worth that year. The newspaper reported that Petrillo left just as federal authorities, including Iran-Contra independent counsel [[Lawrence Walsh]], began investigating the transactions, and that the company acknowledged helping arrange arms supplies for the rebels. A bank director, Dr. Matthew Bradley, said the board was told of the questionable transfers about three weeks earlier. Studley told the Herald that the case involved private banking matters and refused to discuss the details. Petrillo said he had no knowledge of any arms deals, that he had left the bank solely because it was changing hands, and "There is no money missing."[^4]
Bayshore Bank of Florida, with total assets of $40.4 million, was closed on August 7, 1987 by Florida State Comptroller [[Gerald Lewis]], and the [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]] was named receiver; the FDIC transferred its insured deposits to [[Eagle National Bank of Miami]], which paid a $625,000 premium and bought $10.8 million of its assets.[^14] Petrillo pleaded guilty in September 1994 to misapplication of funds and bank fraud and was sentenced in March 1995 to one year in prison, five years' probation and $2 million in restitution. American Banker reported that he had issued letters of credit totaling more than $2 million in 1986 and 1987 to GeoMiliTech without his bank's knowledge, that he asserted in court that his actions were taken in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency, and that the United States attorney's office in Miami said the claims were "discounted in court."[^5]
Bayshore Bank of Florida, with total assets of $40.4 million, was closed on August 7, 1987 by Florida State Comptroller [[Gerald Lewis]], and the [[Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation]] was named receiver; the FDIC transferred its insured deposits to [[Eagle National Bank of Miami]], which paid a $625,000 premium and bought $10.8 million of its assets.[^14] Petrillo pleaded guilty in September 1994 to misapplication of funds and bank fraud and was sentenced to one year in prison, five years' probation and $2 million in restitution, as American Banker reported on March 31, 1995. American Banker reported that he had issued letters of credit totaling more than $2 million in 1986 and 1987 to GeoMiliTech without his bank's knowledge, that he asserted in court that his actions were taken in conjunction with the Central Intelligence Agency, and that [[Willie Fernandez]], a spokesman for the United States attorney's office in Miami, said of the claim: "All that stuff was discounted in court."[^5] The article states that Petrillo committed his crimes first at [[Florida National Bank]] and then at Bayshore, and attributes to the United States attorney's office the statement that the firm headed by Studley "was in the business of advising foreign clients on purchasing military equipment."[^5] UPI, reporting the Herald, said that the company lists retired Maj. Gen. Singlaub as an adviser.[^4] The banker Louis F. Petrillo is a different man from Dr. Louis Petrillo, a New York psychologist named in the Justice Department's 1993 report on the death of [[Danny Casolaro]].
[[Frank Bovenkerk]] and [[Michael Levi]] write that the $2 million covered two bad checks written by Studley, that Petrillo gave her a $1.5 million cashier's check from the bank, and that she tried but failed to sell about 20 percent of the company's stock to raise the $2 million.[^15] The Wall Street Journal Index for 1987 lists state regulators closing Bayshore Bank of Florida, with an overdue GeoMiliTech loan among the bank's problems.[^16] In December 1991 Byron wrote that, according to published reports, federal prosecutors in Miami had recently opened an investigation into Studley's involvement in the bank matter.[^6]
@ -102,13 +102,13 @@ The Post article does not name the consulting company. The torpedo sale in the r
Byron reported that Studley denied in the August 1991 deposition that she knew Durrani and denied that she had shipped weapons to Iran, and that she declined several requests for interviews for his article. Byron also reports that Holly B. Fitzsimmons, the assistant United States attorney in the Durrani case, said she herself had seen nothing to indicate Studley was not telling the truth.[^6] Koszorus denied that either Studley or the company had any involvement with Iran, and declined to identify the company's place of business, a spokesman, or the nature of its work.[^6] The Courant placed the deposition in the fall of 1991.[^1] The filing's certification names the defense counsel as William B. Bloss of New Haven; the Courant names him as William M. Bloss.[^1][^20]
In the Graham deposition, counsel asked whether Graham had met "her attorney, Mr. Perito," and Graham answered that the one he knew was Perito.[^2] A letter of April 28, 1987, on the letterhead of Finley, Kumble in Washington, to the House committee's assistant counsel [[Kenneth Ballen]], captioned "Re: Barbara F. Studley/GMT," refers to a telephone conference between Ballen and [[Paul L. Perito]] and encloses a memorandum from Studley's file regarding North.[^11]
In the Graham deposition, counsel asked whether Graham had met "her attorney, Mr. Perito," and Graham answered that the one he knew was Perito.[^2] A letter of April 28, 1987, on the letterhead of Finley, Kumble in Washington, to the House committee's assistant counsel [[Kenneth Ballen]], captioned "Re: Barbara F. Studley/GMT," refers to a telephone conference between Ballen and [[Paul L. Perito]] and encloses a memorandum from Studley's file regarding North.[^11] A Paul Perito, described by the *Washington Post* in July 1991 as a name partner of [[Laxalt, Washington, Perito & Dubuc]] and head of its white-collar litigation group, moved that month to the Washington office of [[Paul Hastings|Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker]]; the firm had been formed in January 1988 by partners of Finley Kumble's Washington office.[^21][^22] Koszorus signed Paul Hastings's registration papers for the Hungarian embassy in March 1993.[^23]
Byron wrote in December 1991 that GeoMiliTech was still doing business but was not listed in the Washington, D.C. telephone directory.[^6] The Courant reported in May 1992 that Studley was not called to testify before Congress and that attempts to reach her through Koszorus had been unsuccessful.[^1] American Banker's March 1995 account of the Petrillo sentencing describes her as the head of GeoMiliTech.[^5]
### The Ora Group account and Ben-Menashe
The former Israeli intelligence officer [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] writes that a 1985 contra arms deal brokered through GeoMiliTech was itemized at $3,242,000 paid to the [[Ora Group]], against $5 million that the company's own books showed received from the American side, a gap of about $1.76 million that Ben-Menashe says was never explained to him.[^21] Byron reported that a former top official of the company, whom he did not name, said that Studley and the company had tried to export arms to Iran and that the effort was aided by [[Ariel Sharon]], then Israel's defense minister.[^6]
The former Israeli intelligence officer [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] writes that a 1985 contra arms deal brokered through GeoMiliTech was itemized at $3,242,000 paid to the [[Ora Group]], against $5 million that the company's own books showed received from the American side, a gap of about $1.76 million that Ben-Menashe says was never explained to him.[^24] Byron reported that a former top official of the company, whom he did not name, said that Studley and the company had tried to export arms to Iran and that the effort was aided by [[Ariel Sharon]], then Israel's defense minister.[^6]
### Footnotes
@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ The former Israeli intelligence officer [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] writes that a 1985 c
[^8]: Mark Phythian, ed., *Under the Counter and Over the Border: Aspects of the Contemporary Trade in Illicit Arms* (Springer, 2013), p. 65.
[^9]: *Secret Military Assistance to Iran and the Contras* (National Security Archive, 1987), p. 444.
[^10]: Graham Exhibit 2, letter from John K. Singlaub to William J. Casey on GeoMiliTech letterhead, 1919 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Suite 300, Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234). Committee counsel dates the letter to August 1986.
[^11]: Letter from Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey, Washington, to Kenneth Ballen, Assistant Counsel, House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, April 28, 1987, Re: Barbara F. Studley/GMT, Memorandum re Oliver North, Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234). The signature block, as indexed in the 1988 published volume of the report (p. 1040), reads "Koszorus, Enclosure cc: Charles M. Kerr, Esq."
[^11]: Letter from Frank Koszorus Jr., Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey, Washington, to Kenneth Ballen, Assistant Counsel, House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran, April 28, 1987, Re: Barbara F. Studley/GMT, Memorandum re Oliver North, Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152840_0234), printed p. 1040. Handwritten signature above the typed name "Frank Koszorus, Jr."; "Enclosure"; "cc: Charles M. Kerr, Esq."
[^12]: Memorandum from B. F. Studley to Lt. Col. Oliver North, October 30, 1985 (Graham Exhibit 1), Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234).
[^13]: Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, ch. 15, "The Diversion," p. 269 (HathiTrust full view, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ssd?id=txu.059173017837367;seq=293).
[^14]: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, "FDIC Transfers Insured Deposits of Bayshore Bank of Florida, Miami, Florida," news release PR-139-87, August 7, 1987. https://fraser.stlouisfed.org/title/press-releases-federal-deposit-insurance-corporation-7031/fdic-transfers-insured-deposits-bayshore-bank-florida-miami-florida-641646
@ -132,4 +132,7 @@ The former Israeli intelligence officer [[Ari Ben-Menashe]] writes that a 1985 c
[^18]: Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, minority views, p. 550 (HathiTrust full view, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ssd?id=txu.059173017837367;seq=574).
[^19]: Benjamin Weiser, "Singlaub Suggested an Earlier Fund Diversion," *Washington Post*, March 20, 1987. CIA CREST document CIA-RDP90-00965R000707040014-2, https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/cia-rdp90-00965r000707040014-2
[^20]: Government's Objection to Arif Durrani's Second Request for Production of Documents, *United States v. Arif Durrani*, D. Conn., B-90-090 (TFGD) and B-86-59 (TFGD), September 9, 1991, pp. 7, 12. CIA CREST document 0001474388. https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/document/0001474388
[^21]: Ari Ben-Menashe, *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network* (Sheridan Square, 1992). Index entry "GMT" at p. 155. Sole source for the itemization of $3,242,000 and the $5 million figure.
[^21]: Sharon Walsh and Saundra Torry, "Washington, Perito Law Firm Losing Additional Attorneys; Name Partner Among Those Leaving," *The Washington Post*, July 20, 1991. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1991/07/20/washington-perito-law-firm-losing-additional-attorneys/0a7d8d2e-2958-4283-9860-874855bd0ca6/
[^22]: In re Washington, Perito & Dubuc, 154 B.R. 853 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. June 2, 1993), statement of facts, paragraphs 1 to 3 and 19. https://static.case.law/br/154/cases/0853-01.json
[^23]: U.S. Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act, registration 4772, Exhibit B, March 1, 1993. https://efile.fara.gov/docs/4772-Exhibit-AB-19930301-D1Y3N102.pdf
[^24]: Ari Ben-Menashe, *Profits of War: Inside the Secret U.S.-Israeli Arms Network* (Sheridan Square, 1992). Index entry "GMT" at p. 155. Sole source for the itemization of $3,242,000 and the $5 million figure.

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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Louis Petrillo.md Normal file
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@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
---
title: Louis Petrillo
aliases:
- Louis Petrillo
- Louis F. Petrillo
- Louis Petrillo (banker)
created: 2026-10-08
updated: 2026-10-08
category: "Business & Finance"
tags:
- Person
- BayshoreBank
- GeoMiliTech
- IranContra
- Contras
- BankFraud
- BarbaraStudley
- JohnSinglaub
summary: "Miami bank president whom the Miami Herald reported in 1987 to have moved $2 million of Bayshore Bank of Florida funds to GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp.; he later pleaded guilty to bank fraud."
location: "Miami, Florida"
relations:
- type: head_of
with: "[[Bayshore Bank of Florida]]"
role: "president"
end: 1987
fn: 2
- type: director_of
with: "[[Bayshore Bank of Florida]]"
role: "president and director"
end: 1987
fn: 3
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Florida National Bank]]"
fn: 2
- type: funded
with: "[[GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp.]]"
start: 1986
end: 1987
role: "bank funds and letters of credit"
fn: 1
- type: investigated
with: "[[Lawrence Walsh]]"
reverse: true
start: 1987
fn: 1
- type: prosecuted
with: "[[United States Department of Justice]]"
reverse: true
start: 1994
fn: 2
---
Louis F. Petrillo was the president of [[Bayshore Bank of Florida]], a bank in [[Miami]], when the [[Miami Herald]] reported in June 1987 that he had moved $2 million of the bank's money to [[GeoMiliTech Consultants Corp.]], a [[Washington, D.C.]] firm that the newspaper said bought weapons for the [[Contras]]. He later pleaded guilty to misapplication of funds and bank fraud.
### Career and departure from Bayshore
The [[United Press International]] account of the Herald's reporting described Petrillo as 46 years old, "considered an expert on international banking," and a regional chairman of the [[Florida Chamber of Commerce]].[^1] The Herald reported that he had left his post as chief executive of Bayshore just as federal authorities, including [[Iran-Contra Affair|Iran-Contra]] special prosecutor [[Lawrence Walsh]], began investigating the transactions at the small Miami bank.[^1] [[American Banker]] later reported that Petrillo committed his crimes while working first at [[Florida National Bank]] and then at Bayshore, where he was president.[^2] Bayshore's corporate filing with the [[Florida Department of State]], with annual reports for 1985, 1986 and 1987, lists Louis F. Petrillo of 10800 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, under title code PD, with Anthony S. Caserta under code C, Matthew H. Bradley under code D, and Gary B. Cole, Kenneth L. Harris and Robert Tankersley under code V.[^3]
### The GeoMiliTech transfers, 1986
The Herald's records showed that Petrillo paid out a total of $2 million of bank money on behalf of GeoMiliTech during 1986. The debts were unsecured, were supposed to be repaid within weeks, and remained outstanding. The newspaper said that the sum was nearly all of the bank's net worth that year, and that federal law limits an unsecured loan to one borrower to 15 percent of a bank's net worth.[^1] The company, which the Herald said lists retired Maj. Gen. [[John Singlaub]] as an adviser, acknowledged helping arrange rebel arms supplies.[^1] The company was run by the former Miami radio talk-show host [[Barbara Studley]].[^1]
A bank director, [[Matthew Bradley]], said the board had been told by bank executives about three weeks earlier that Petrillo had made questionable transfers on GeoMiliTech's behalf. Bradley said that payments that "exceeded his limits" had gone unpaid.[^1]
Petrillo told the Herald that he had no knowledge of any arms deals and that he had quit the bank because it was changing hands. He said, "I don't know where they're getting that," and "There is no money missing." He also said, "Somebody's blowing it all out of proportion."[^1] Studley told the Herald that the case involved private banking matters and declined to discuss the details.[^1]
### Plea, sentence and the claim of CIA backing
American Banker reported on March 31, 1995 that Petrillo, who had pleaded guilty "last September" to misapplication of funds and bank fraud, had been sentenced to one year in prison, with five years of probation and $2 million in restitution.[^2] The article said that he had issued letters of credit for more than $2 million, without his bank's knowledge, to GeoMiliTech in 1986 and 1987, and that he diverted $53,000 for personal use while at the two banks.[^2]
American Banker reported that Petrillo asserted in court that his dealings with GeoMiliTech were carried out in conjunction with the [[Central Intelligence Agency]]. [[Willie Fernandez]], a spokesman for the [[United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida|United States attorney's office in Miami]], said of that claim: "All that stuff was discounted in court."[^2]
[[Gerald J. Tobin]], a Miami lawyer who said he lost $100,000 when the bank failed, told American Banker that if the CIA claims were true, the government should compensate the 235 holders of Bayshore stock. Tobin said he intended to take Petrillo's court statements to state and federal justice officials and to request an independent counsel investigation. "I object to someone stealing my money, and that's what happened here," Tobin said.[^2] Fernandez replied that Tobin "is free to pursue any avenue he wants to."[^2]
### A different Louis Petrillo in the Casolaro record
The report of Special Counsel [[Nicholas J. Bua]] on the allegations of [[INSLAW]] identifies a "Dr. Louis Petrillo," a New York psychologist and part-time author, as the cousin of the journalist [[Danny Casolaro]]. The report states that in September 1990 he arranged for Casolaro to meet a New York City literary agent, that he attended meetings in New York in December 1990 with Casolaro, the agent and other publishing and agency representatives, that Casolaro spoke with him by telephone on August 7, 1991, and that in a letter dated August 17, 1991 he wrote that Casolaro sounded "enthusiastic" and was "looking forward to meeting with a 'source.'"[^4] He later told investigators that he believed Casolaro "could very well have committed suicide."[^4]
That Dr. Louis Petrillo, a psychologist working in New York in 1990 and 1991, and Louis F. Petrillo, the Miami bank president named in the 1987 reports and the 1994 plea, are two different men who share a name.
### Footnotes
[^1]: "Newspaper says banker involved in loans for Contra arms," United Press International, dated June 10, 1987, reporting a *Miami Herald* story published on the preceding Thursday in its early editions. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1987/06/10/Newspaper-says-banker-involved-in-loans-for-Contra-arms/9700550296000/
[^2]: "Former Miami Banker Gets Prison Term for Diverting Funds to Contras," *American Banker*, March 31, 1995. https://www.americanbanker.com/news/former-miami-banker-gets-prison-term-for-diverting-funds-to-contras
[^3]: Florida Department of State, Division of Corporations, "Bayshore Bank of Florida," Florida profit corporation, document number F64039 (filed January 21, 1982; involuntarily dissolved November 4, 1988), officer and director detail and annual reports 1985 to 1987. https://search.sunbiz.org/Inquiry/CorporationSearch/SearchResults?inquiryType=EntityName&searchNameOrder=BAYSHOREBANKOFFLORIDA&searchTerm=Bayshore%20Bank%20of%20Florida
[^4]: Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General regarding the allegations of INSLAW, Inc. (U.S. Department of Justice, March 1993), pp. 137 (August 7, 1991 call, August 17, 1991 letter, later interview), 146 (September 1990 agent meeting, "part-time author") and 148 to 149 (New York meetings of December 1990). https://archive.org/details/InslawPROMISBuaReport. Sole source for the passages so cited.

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10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Paul L. Perito.md Normal file
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---
title: Paul L. Perito
aliases:
- Paul L. Perito
- Paul Perito
- Paul Louis Perito
created: 2026-10-08
updated: 2026-10-08
category: "Law Enforcement & Legal"
tags:
- Person
- Lawyer
- Prosecutor
- IranContra
- FinleyKumble
- WhiteCollarDefense
summary: "Washington lawyer, former federal prosecutor and White House drug-policy counsel, named in an April 1987 letter on Barbara Studley's file, and a name partner of Washington, Perito & Dubuc before joining Paul Hastings in 1991."
location: "Washington, D.C."
relations:
- type: employed_by
with: "[[U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York]]"
role: "Assistant United States Attorney"
start: 1966
end: 1970
fn: 1
- type: employed_by
with: "[[House Select Committee on Crime]]"
role: "chief counsel and staff director"
start: 1970
end: 1971
fn: 1
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Special Action Office for Drug Abuse Prevention]]"
role: "chief counsel and deputy director"
start: 1971
end: 1973
fn: 1
- type: represented
with: "[[Barbara Studley]]"
start: 1987
end: 1987
fn: 3
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Laxalt, Washington, Perito & Dubuc]]"
role: "name partner, head of white-collar litigation group"
start: 1988
end: 1991
fn: 4
- type: employed_by
with: "[[Paul Hastings|Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker]]"
role: "partner, later senior counsel; chair of the Washington litigation department"
start: 1991
fn: 4
---
Paul Louis Perito (January 23, 1937 to March 22, 2020) was a Washington lawyer. A Paul L. Perito is the lawyer named in the April 28, 1987 letter on [[Barbara Studley]]'s file to the House Iran-Contra committee, and a Paul Perito was a name partner of [[Laxalt, Washington, Perito & Dubuc]] in 1991; the records found do not state in so many words that these are the same man.
### Government service
He was born in Medford, Massachusetts, graduated from Tufts University in 1960 and from Harvard Law School in 1964. From 1966 to 1970 he was an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, where he tried twenty-one cases including *United States v. Roy M. Cohn, et al.* From 1970 to 1971 he was chief counsel and later staff director of the House Select Committee on Crime, and from 1971 to 1973 chief counsel and deputy director of the White House Special Action Office on Drug Abuse Prevention.[^1]
### The Studley letter, 1987
On April 28, 1987 [[Frank Koszorus Jr.]] of the Washington office of [[Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey|Finley, Kumble]] wrote to [[Kenneth Ballen]], assistant counsel of the House Select Committee to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran: "During your telephone conference with Paul L. Perito this afternoon, you requested a copy of the memorandum from Barbara F. Studley's file regarding Oliver North."[^2] In the deposition of [[Daniel O. Graham]] on May 26, 1987, counsel asked whether Graham had met "her attorney, Mr. Perito," and Graham answered, "The one I know is Perito."[^3]
### Washington, Perito & Dubuc and Paul Hastings
The [[Washington Post]] reported on December 23, 1987 that [[Paul Laxalt]] and Robert B. Washington Jr., partners in the dissolving Finley Kumble, had announced the formation of a Washington-based firm. The bankruptcy court later found that the partnership, Washington, Perito & Dubuc, was organized in January 1988 by thirty-one partners of Finley Kumble's Washington office and others, and ceased practice in August 1991.[^4] On July 20, 1991 the Post reported that Paul Perito, "one of the firm's name partners and head of its important white-collar litigation group," was moving the following Monday with a half-dozen other lawyers to the Washington office of [[Paul Hastings|Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker]].[^5]
[[E. Lawrence Barcella, Jr.]] was described in July 1991 as a partner at Washington, Perito & Dubuc and became a partner of Paul Hastings on July 18, 1994, and Frank Koszorus Jr. signed that firm's registration papers for the Hungarian embassy from March 1993.[^6] Perito's obituary states that he was ultimately a partner and later senior counsel at Paul Hastings, where he was national co-chair of the White Collar Corporate Defense Practice Group and chair of the Litigation Department of the Washington office, and that after leaving private practice he was an officer and director of Star Scientific, Inc., whose mission the obituary gives as reducing toxins in tobacco products. He was president of the Harvard Law School Alumni Association from 2012 to 2014.[^7]
[^1]: "Paul Perito Obituary (1937 - 2020)," *The Washington Post*, March 29, 2020. https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/washingtonpost/name/paul-perito-obituary?id=2005298
[^2]: Letter from Frank Koszorus Jr., Finley, Kumble, Wagner, Heine, Underberg, Manley, Myerson & Casey, Washington, to Kenneth Ballen, April 28, 1987, Report of the Congressional Committees Investigating the Iran-Contra Affair, Appendix B, vol. 12, printed p. 1040 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234, https://archive.org/details/micro_IA41152840_0234).
[^3]: Deposition of Daniel O. Graham, May 26, 1987, Appendix B, vol. 12 (Internet Archive item micro_IA41152840_0234).
[^4]: Karlyn Barker and Kathleen Day, "Robert Washington, Laxalt Team Up to Replace Failed Law Firm," *The Washington Post*, December 23, 1987, https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1987/12/23/robert-washington-laxalt-team-up-to-replace-failed-law-firm/71c2b588-772c-47c4-acdb-68bc9bdfe123/ ; In re Washington, Perito & Dubuc, 154 B.R. 853 (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. June 2, 1993), https://static.case.law/br/154/cases/0853-01.json
[^5]: Sharon Walsh and Saundra Torry, "Washington, Perito Law Firm Losing Additional Attorneys; Name Partner Among Those Leaving," *The Washington Post*, July 20, 1991. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1991/07/20/washington-perito-law-firm-losing-additional-attorneys/0a7d8d2e-2958-4283-9860-874855bd0ca6/
[^6]: "Kinder, gentler profession urged," *Chicago Tribune*, July 23, 1991, https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/07/23/kinder-gentler-profession-urged/ ; U.S. Department of Justice, Foreign Agents Registration Act, registration 4772, Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker, Supplemental Statement for the six months ending September 30, 1994, Attachment 1, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/4772-Supplemental-Statement-19940930-DHFIFJ02.pdf ; Exhibit B, March 1, 1993, https://efile.fara.gov/docs/4772-Exhibit-AB-19930301-D1Y3N102.pdf
[^7]: "Paul Perito Obituary (1937 - 2020)," *The Washington Post*, March 29, 2020 (note 1).