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@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ relations:
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role: "performer"
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fn: 2
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created: 2026-09-23
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updated: 2026-09-23
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updated: 2026-10-15
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---
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Georgina Spelvin is an American performer who appeared on [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] in *[[The Pajama Game]]* and toured in musical productions through the 1950s and 1960s before starring, at 36, in [[Gerard Damiano]]'s *[[The Devil in Miss Jones]]* (1973), for which she had first been hired as the cook on the set; she had applied for that job because the anti-war film collective she had started needed money for the rent on its editing space.[^1] She lived and worked in [[New York City]] for two decades before moving to [[California]] in the mid-1970s, and in 2006 published a memoir, *The Devil Made Me Do It*.[^1]
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@ -25,4 +25,4 @@ In February 1973 she appeared in *[[The Erotic Memoirs of a Male Chauvinist Pig]
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[^1]: West, Ashley. "Georgina Spelvin: The Devil, Miss Jones and the New York Years," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 11, May 19, 2013. https://www.therialtoreport.com/2013/05/19/georgina-spelvin/
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[^2]: West, Ashley. "Unknowing Ray Horsch, Episode 2: Performance," *The Rialto Report,* Podcast 172, September 20, 2026 (republishing interviews recorded in 2013). https://www.therialtoreport.com/2026/09/20/ray-horsch-3/
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[^3]: "How a pornographer's violent fantasies blurred fact and fiction as cops searched Olney house for missing women," *The Philadelphia Inquirer,* August 2, 2026. https://www.inquirer.com/news/a/raymond-eugene-horsch-olney-philadelphia-missing-women-history-20260802.html
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[^4]: Morthland, John. "Porn Films: An In-Depth Report," *Take One,* vol. 3, no. 6 (March-April 1973), pp. 11-15. https://archive.org/details/take-one-1973-03
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[^4]: Morthland, John. "Porn Films: An In-Depth Report," *Take One,* vol. 3, no. 6 (March-April 1973), pp. 11-17 (Sumner sentence at p. 16). https://archive.org/details/take-one-1973-03
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@ -14,14 +14,14 @@ relations:
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- type: partner_of
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with: "[[Marleen De Cokere]]"
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role: "companion"
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fn: 4
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fn: 6
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- type: director_of
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with: "[[Achats Services Commerces]]"
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start: 1994
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role: "de facto manager"
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fn: 1
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created: 2026-04-28
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updated: 2026-10-09
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updated: 2026-10-15
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---
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Michel Nihoul, a Brussels businessman and fraudster, was arrested in August 1996 in the investigation of [[Marc Dutroux]] and for years was held to be the man who connected Dutroux to a protected network. The Belgian parliamentary commission of inquiry into the Dutroux affair devoted a section of its 1998 report to "the relational network of M. Nihoul."[^1]
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@ -34,23 +34,29 @@ From 1981 he was a client of a sex club at 145 rue des Atrébates in Etterbeek,
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Through the Confrérie des Maîtres Brasseurs, the free radio Radio Activité, of which he was the driving force, and his firm J.-M. Nihoul et Associés, he cultivated politicians and officials and sold interventions for parole, pardons, prison leave and residence permits, for which he said he had earned about 500,000 francs; a magistrate appointed him a real estate expert without qualifications. With the suspended lawyer [[Annie Bouty]] and her Cadreco association he arranged residence papers for foreigners, among them Nigerians. The commission had indications that at the end of the 1980s he organized the political campaigns of several young lawyers who later faced disciplinary or criminal proceedings. It could not establish whether his ties to politicians were as close as he claimed, noting that he boasted of having "le bras long comme le Danube," and it found no substance in his claim to be protected by a Brussels investigating judge.[^1]
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The Belgian [[Chamber of Representatives]] commission's supplementary report of February 16, 1998 stated as its general conclusion that there were indications that both Dutroux and Nihoul, separately or together, had engaged in polycriminal activity (fraud, drug trafficking, abduction and rape of children followed by murders, trafficking in human beings, car trafficking) and that the networks they set up had benefited at various levels from an indirect protection arising from individual or collective erosion of the norm or corrupt conduct. The same conclusion stated that the commission had found no indication that these criminal circles enjoyed, within the police, the magistracy, the administration or the political world, protection that could by itself explain the failures, delays and anomalies of the investigations, and that the serious gaps arose chiefly from professional failings and structural defects of the criminal justice system.[^3]
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The same report stated, on the Nihoul circle in particular, that it had not acquired proof that Nihoul and Annie Bouty had enjoyed protection in the fraud files, and that Nihoul's claim of protection by a Brussels investigating judge was found to be untrue.[^4]
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### Informant
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In 1995 and 1996 Nihoul was an informant of the gendarmerie's BSR in Dinant; the gendarmerie had registered him as a coded informant. In May 1995 he passed on information, obtained through [[Michel Lelievre|Michel Lelièvre]], about a stolen car and collected a 30,000-franc reward from the insurer Royale Belge; he later introduced Lelièvre to his handlers. The BSR took no action against Lelièvre in the first half of 1996, though he was wanted to serve a prison sentence and though, the commission found, there were indications that the BSR knew he and Dutroux had stolen a truck in 1995; Nihoul had asked his handler to leave Lelièvre alone. "In the end," the commission wrote, "it was the informant who directed his handlers and not the reverse." Its first report had listed eight indications of protection for Nihoul, among them witnesses who testified under oath that two associates from the entourage of a former minister protected him, and his hold as an informant over a policeman who failed to arrest Lelièvre before Lelièvre took part in the abductions of two girls aged 12 and 14. The commission concluded that "the Nihoul movement" had operated amid "the relaxation of norms and corrupting behavior" and in that sense had received and granted protection, "rarely in a very spectacular way and, most of the time, in the context of services between friends."[^1]
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### ASCO and the Dutroux Case
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[[Achats Services Commerces]] (ASCO) was founded on July 2, 1991, at Wasmes by the operator of Le Dolo, Nihoul's companion and a third Dolo client, went into voluntary liquidation on June 23, 1995, and was declared bankrupt by the commercial court of Mons on October 9, 1995; Nihoul was at least its de facto manager in 1994, and the commission linked the company to the reports of white Mercedes cars.[^1] He had met Dutroux a year before his arrest through Lelièvre, to whom he sold drugs. [[Michelle Martin]] told investigators that Dutroux had been in frequent contact with Nihoul around the abduction of a 14-year-old girl, and Dutroux said Nihoul was looking for girls for a Belgian prostitution network. Nihoul was led from the courthouse at Neufchâteau on August 16, 1996, to shouts of "à mort." His companion [[Marleen De Cokere]] was arrested in late September. His warrant in the Dutroux case was lifted in January 1997.[^3][^4] In an interview with *Der Spiegel* in 2001, in his two-room flat in Jette with De Cokere beside him, Nihoul said of children, "I never did anything with children. I love children," and that Dutroux had taken the girls "for his own consumption." The magazine reported that the investigation files showed Dutroux had asked his advice on getting into the trade in girls and that Nihoul had advised him to organize sadomasochistic parties, which Nihoul said he had understood to mean adults. He spoke of the group-sex parties he and De Cokere had organized, "but with style," attended by influential politicians and officials at Le Dolo and Faulx-les-Tombes, and said: "Ich habe die Regierung in der Hand" (I have the government in hand). For 20,000 marks more he offered "a sitting minister who is involved in a murder," and, for a six-figure sum, a photograph of the then Prince Albert with a naked sixteen-year-old taken on the second floor of the Mirano club twenty years earlier.[^5] [[Regina Louf]], the witness X1, alleged that he organized parties at which children were abused; the prosecutors-general closed the files opened on her testimony in April 1998.[^6]
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[[Achats Services Commerces]] (ASCO) was founded on July 2, 1991, at Wasmes by the operator of Le Dolo, Nihoul's companion and a third Dolo client, went into voluntary liquidation on June 23, 1995, and was declared bankrupt by the commercial court of Mons on October 9, 1995; Nihoul was at least its de facto manager in 1994, and the commission linked the company to the reports of white Mercedes cars.[^1] He had met Dutroux a year before his arrest through Lelièvre, to whom he sold drugs. [[Michelle Martin]] told investigators that Dutroux had been in frequent contact with Nihoul around the abduction of a 14-year-old girl, and Dutroux said Nihoul was looking for girls for a Belgian prostitution network. Nihoul was led from the courthouse at Neufchâteau on August 16, 1996, to shouts of "à mort." His companion [[Marleen De Cokere]] was arrested in late September. His warrant in the Dutroux case was lifted in January 1997.[^5][^6] In an interview with *Der Spiegel* in 2001, in his two-room flat in Jette with De Cokere beside him, Nihoul said of children, "I never did anything with children. I love children," and that Dutroux had taken the girls "for his own consumption." The magazine reported that the investigation files showed Dutroux had asked his advice on getting into the trade in girls and that Nihoul had advised him to organize sadomasochistic parties, which Nihoul said he had understood to mean adults. He spoke of the group-sex parties he and De Cokere had organized, "but with style," attended by influential politicians and officials at Le Dolo and Faulx-les-Tombes, and said: "Ich habe die Regierung in der Hand" (I have the government in hand). For 20,000 marks more he offered "a sitting minister who is involved in a murder," and, for a six-figure sum, a photograph of the then Prince Albert with a naked sixteen-year-old taken on the second floor of the Mirano club twenty years earlier.[^7] [[Regina Louf]], the witness X1, alleged that he organized parties at which children were abused; the prosecutors-general closed the files opened on her testimony in April 1998.[^8]
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At the trial in Arlon in 2004, Dutroux accused Nihoul of being his link to a ring kidnapping girls for prostitution, which Nihoul denied. Véronique Laurent, convicted of ordering the killing of her husband, [[Michel Piro]], testified that Nihoul had come to their bar, La Terrasse, four or five times.[^7] Only seven of the twelve jurors found him guilty of the abductions, and the professional judges acquitted him of every charge connected with the children; the court had returned the jury to consider a lesser charge of complicity in the kidnappings, on which it acquitted him, and the jury convicted him of membership of a gang that smuggled drugs and people into Belgium.[^8] On June 22, 2004, he was sentenced to five years for drug trafficking and criminal association. He left Saint-Gilles prison on parole on April 28, 2006, and retired with his companion to the Belgian coast, where he died on October 23, 2019.[^3][^8]
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At the trial in Arlon in 2004, Dutroux accused Nihoul of being his link to a ring kidnapping girls for prostitution, which Nihoul denied. Véronique Laurent, convicted of ordering the killing of her husband, [[Michel Piro]], testified that Nihoul had come to their bar, La Terrasse, four or five times.[^9] Only seven of the twelve jurors found him guilty of the abductions, and the professional judges acquitted him of every charge connected with the children; the court had returned the jury to consider a lesser charge of complicity in the kidnappings, on which it acquitted him, and the jury convicted him of membership of a gang that smuggled drugs and people into Belgium.[^10] On June 22, 2004, he was sentenced to five years for drug trafficking and criminal association. He left Saint-Gilles prison on parole on April 28, 2006, and retired with his companion to the Belgian coast, where he died on October 23, 2019.[^5][^10]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Chambre des Représentants de Belgique. *Enquête parlementaire sur la manière dont l'enquête, dans ses volets policiers et judiciaires, a été menée dans l'affaire Dutroux-Nihoul et consorts,* rapport complémentaire, Doc. 713/8-96/97, February 16, 1998, section 4, "Le réseau relationnel de M. Nihoul," pp. 126-145, and the list of indications from the report of April 14, 1997 (Doc. 713/6-96/97, pp. 186-188). https://www.dekamer.be/kvvcr/pdf_sections/comm/dutroux/49K0713008.pdf
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[^2]: "Michel Nihoul: Lügner, Betrüger, Frauenheld, aber kein Pädophiler." dpa, *Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung,* FAZ.NET, May 17, 2004.
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[^3]: "Michel Nihoul est décédé." *La Libre Belgique,* October 23, 2019; translated from the French. https://www.lalibre.be/belgique/societe/michel-nihoul-est-decede-5db04ec39978e218e36b29be
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[^4]: "Belgian pedophile case." United Press International, September 24, 1996. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/09/24/Belgian-pedophile-case/1297843537600/
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[^5]: Smoltczyk, Alexander. "Im Netz der Dossiers." *Der Spiegel,* no. 42/2001, October 14, 2001; quotations translated from the German. https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/im-netz-der-dossiers-a-c9fe5b47-0002-0001-0000-000020353850
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[^6]: Sénat de Belgique. Proposition visant à instituer une commission d'enquête parlementaire chargée d'enquêter sur l'éloignement de deux enquêteurs de la cellule d'enquête bruxelloise « Neufchâteau », déposée par M. Frans Lozie, Doc. 2-563/1, October 9, 2000.
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[^7]: Hovine, Annick. "La cour d'assises fait la tournée des bars de Charleroi." *La Libre Belgique,* April 28, 2004.
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[^8]: Associated Press. "Notorious child rapist-murderer convicted." NBC News, June 17, 2004. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/5233011 ; "'Most hated' Belgian in jail for life." Al Jazeera, June 22, 2004. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/6/22/most-hated-belgian-in-jail-for-life
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[^3]: Belgian Chamber of Representatives, supplementary report, Doc. 713/8-96/97, February 16, 1998, section 6, "Conclusions generales," pp. 148-149, translated from the French. https://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/49/0713/49K0713008.pdf
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[^4]: Belgian Chamber of Representatives, supplementary report, Doc. 713/8-96/97, February 16, 1998, section 5.2, "Conclusion: Nihoul et consorts ont-ils beneficie de protections?," p. 143, translated from the French. https://www.dekamer.be/FLWB/PDF/49/0713/49K0713008.pdf
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[^5]: "Michel Nihoul est décédé." *La Libre Belgique,* October 23, 2019; translated from the French. https://www.lalibre.be/belgique/societe/michel-nihoul-est-decede-5db04ec39978e218e36b29be
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[^6]: "Belgian pedophile case." United Press International, September 24, 1996. https://www.upi.com/Archives/1996/09/24/Belgian-pedophile-case/1297843537600/
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[^7]: Smoltczyk, Alexander. "Im Netz der Dossiers." *Der Spiegel,* no. 42/2001, October 14, 2001; quotations translated from the German. https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/im-netz-der-dossiers-a-c9fe5b47-0002-0001-0000-000020353850
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[^8]: Sénat de Belgique. Proposition visant à instituer une commission d'enquête parlementaire chargée d'enquêter sur l'éloignement de deux enquêteurs de la cellule d'enquête bruxelloise « Neufchâteau », déposée par M. Frans Lozie, Doc. 2-563/1, October 9, 2000.
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[^9]: Hovine, Annick. "La cour d'assises fait la tournée des bars de Charleroi." *La Libre Belgique,* April 28, 2004.
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[^10]: Associated Press. "Notorious child rapist-murderer convicted." NBC News, June 17, 2004. https://www.nbcnews.com/id/5233011 ; "'Most hated' Belgian in jail for life." Al Jazeera, June 22, 2004. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2004/6/22/most-hated-belgian-in-jail-for-life
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@ -6,10 +6,17 @@ tags:
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- Military
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- The_Finders
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- Washington_DC
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summary: "Marion Pettie (1920-2003) was the founder and 'Game Caller' of The Finders communal group, a retired Air Force Master Sergeant with family CIA connections whose group was investigated for child trafficking in 1987 before the federal inquiry was closed after CIA acknowledged an interest."
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summary: "Marion Pettie (1920-2003) was the founder and Game Caller of The Finders, a retired Air Force master sergeant whose group was investigated in 1987 before the inquiry closed."
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born: 1920
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died: 2003-10-24
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location: "Washington, D.C. / Culpeper, Virginia"
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updated: 2026-10-15
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relations:
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- type: founded
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with: "[[The Finders]]"
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start: 1971
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role: founder and Game Caller
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fn: 2
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---
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Marion David Pettie (1920-2003) was the founder and leader of [[The Finders]], a Washington D.C.-based communal group that came under federal investigation in February 1987 following the arrest of two members who were transporting six malnourished children in a van in Tallahassee, Florida. A retired [[U.S. Air Force]] Master Sergeant with documented family connections to the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] and its proprietary airline [[Air America]], Pettie functioned within the group as the "Game Caller," the title used both by adult members and by the children under the group's care, for approximately three decades until the group's announced dissolution in 1987.[^1][^2]
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An anonymous three-page investigative memo of unknown provenance, circulated among researchers during the 1990s, alleged a more formal intelligence relationship. The memo claimed that in 1946 Pettie served as chauffeur to General [[Ira Eaker]], then commanding general of Army Air Forces in the Mediterranean Theater, and that newspaper publisher [[Charles Marsh]] subsequently arranged for Pettie to receive counterintelligence training. The memo further alleged that Colonel [[Leonard N. Weigner]] of the USAF directed Pettie to retire from active duty and surround himself with "kooks" in order to provide cover for intelligence recruitment and the infiltration of counterculture movements, with Major [[George Varga]] serving as Pettie's case officer until Varga's death in the 1970s.[^2]
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Weigner died in September 1990. His Washington Post obituary confirmed a career in Air Force intelligence and the CIA.[^2] The memo's specific claims regarding Weigner as Pettie's handler and Marsh as a facilitator are unverified and not corroborated by any accessible primary source. The same body of conspiracy-press reporting further claims that under Varga's direction Pettie ran a network of recruited agents in Europe, including a Dr. [[Keith Arnold]] recruited in Paris in 1958 and taken to [[Moscow]] in 1959 or 1960, who later operated from [[Hong Kong]] under [[Rockefeller Foundation]] cover; these claims rest on the same uncorroborated sources.[^6]
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Pettie's own account, as recorded in Tobe Terrell's memoir The Gamecaller, described his Air Force service as chauffeur work for the Secretary of the Air Force and said that General Ira Eaker offered him a chance to attend intelligence school in Germany.[^3]
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Pettie consistently denied CIA employment in public statements. In the most direct formulation, given to journalist Eddie Dean in 1996: "The reason the CIA wouldn't hire me is that they wouldn't have the control factor over me."[^2] In a 1993 interview with U.S. News & World Report, however, Pettie confirmed that his wife [[Isabelle Pettie]] "once worked for the Central Intelligence Agency" and that his son [[George Pettie]] worked for Air America, the CIA proprietary airline that operated in Southeast Asia during the [[Vietnam War]].[^3]
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Weigner died in September 1990. His Washington Post obituary confirmed a career in Air Force intelligence and the CIA.[^2] The memo's specific claims regarding Weigner as Pettie's handler and Marsh as a facilitator are unverified and not corroborated by any accessible primary source. The same body of conspiracy-press reporting further claims that under Varga's direction Pettie ran a network of recruited agents in Europe, including a Dr. [[Keith Arnold]] recruited in Paris in 1958 and taken to [[Moscow]] in 1959 or 1960, who later operated from [[Hong Kong]] under [[Rockefeller Foundation]] cover; these claims rest on the same uncorroborated sources.[^4]
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Pettie consistently denied CIA employment in public statements. In the most direct formulation, given to journalist Eddie Dean in 1996: "The reason the CIA wouldn't hire me is that they wouldn't have the control factor over me."[^2] In a December 1993 interview with U.S. News & World Report, Pettie said that the CIA's interest in the Finders might stem from the fact that his "late wife once worked for the agency" ([[Isabelle Pettie]]) and that his son [[George Pettie]] had worked for "a CIA proprietary firm, Air America," the CIA proprietary airline that operated in Southeast Asia during the [[Vietnam War]]. He said the group had never been connected to the CIA and had never been involved in child abuse, pornography, Satanism or animal slaughter.[^5]
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### The Finders and the Game Caller Role
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He described no formal membership requirements: "Nobody signs anything." His stated personal philosophy, offered to Eddie Dean, was "to know everything and do nothing."[^2] The group blended Taoism with New Age and Human Potential Movement concepts, and members pooled finances into what [[Robert Gardner Terrell]] called the "Invisible Bank."[^1]
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Beginning around 1980, children in the group were raised communally rather than by biological parents. Pettie described this practice as replicating what he believed were original Native American child-rearing traditions. Children were not enrolled in conventional schools and were removed from their parents for months during group-organized travel described as educational.[^4]
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Beginning around 1980, children in the group were raised communally rather than by biological parents. Pettie described this practice as replicating what he believed were original Native American child-rearing traditions. Children were not enrolled in conventional schools and were removed from their parents for months during group-organized travel described as educational.[^6]
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In his 1998 interview with Steamshovel Press, Pettie described a close 1960s connection to [[Timothy Leary]], saying Leary sent people to a communal property Pettie ran in the mountains near Culpeper called the [[Free State]] and that Leary gave him [[LSD]], which Pettie claimed he kept in his refrigerator without ever taking.[^6]
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In his 1998 interview with Steamshovel Press, Pettie described a close 1960s connection to [[Timothy Leary]], saying Leary sent people to a communal property Pettie ran in the mountains near Culpeper called the [[Free State]] and that Leary gave him [[LSD]], which Pettie claimed he kept in his refrigerator without ever taking.[^4]
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### The John Cox Connection
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An unsigned investigative memo circulated in the mid-1990s, of unknown provenance, claimed that Pettie recruited computer specialist [[John J. Cox]], described as the founder of [[General Scientific Corporation]] in Rockville, Maryland, in 1979. The memo alleged Cox trained Finders members in computer programming and communications, and took members to Costa Rica and Panama in 1980-81. MPD Intelligence documents in the 2019 FBI Vault release offer a different account, describing The Finders as having "attempted to infiltrate" General Scientific rather than having been recruited through it. The company name appeared in a December 1993 Secretary of State query generated during the DOJ reinvestigation. The two accounts have not been reconciled in accessible sources.[^5]
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An unsigned investigative memo circulated in the mid-1990s, of unknown provenance, claimed that Pettie recruited computer specialist [[John J. Cox]], described as the founder of [[General Scientific Corporation]] in Rockville, Maryland, in 1979. The memo alleged Cox trained Finders members in computer programming and communications, and took members to Costa Rica and Panama in 1980-81. MPD Intelligence documents in the 2019 FBI Vault release offer a different account, describing The Finders as having "attempted to infiltrate" General Scientific rather than having been recruited through it. The company name appeared in a December 1993 Secretary of State query generated during the DOJ reinvestigation. The two accounts have not been reconciled in accessible sources.[^7]
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### The 1987 Investigation
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The February 1987 arrests of [[Douglas Ammerman]] and [[James Michael Holwell]] in Tallahassee while transporting six malnourished children prompted searches of The Finders' Washington D.C. warehouse at 1307 Fourth Street NE and the Glover Park duplex. Investigators found extensive computer networks with satellite communications, files describing methods for obtaining children, and telex communications referencing international operations. U.S. Customs Special Agent [[Ramon J. Martinez]] documented the contents in reports dated February 7 and April 13, 1987.[^1][^5]
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The February 1987 arrests of [[Douglas Ammerman]] and [[James Michael Holwell]] in Tallahassee while transporting six malnourished children prompted searches of The Finders' Washington D.C. warehouse at 1307 Fourth Street NE and the Glover Park duplex. Investigators found extensive computer networks with satellite communications, files describing methods for obtaining children, and telex communications referencing international operations. U.S. Customs Special Agent [[Ramon J. Martinez]] documented the contents in reports dated February 7 and April 13, 1987.[^1][^7]
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An MPD report filed February 19, 1987 by Sgt. [[John H. Stitcher Jr.]] described a CIA official acknowledging Isabelle Pettie's CIA employment and stating that the investigation had been "treading on their toes," that the CIA had "had someone working on the case since it first broke," and that the agency had a "vested interest" in the group. The FBI's Foreign Counterintelligence Division classified MPD reports Secret and directed MPD not to brief the FBI's own Washington Field Office. A separate April 13, 1987 MPD Intelligence Division report concluded the group "is and has been utilized by the Central Intelligence Agency as a disinformation service." All charges against the two arrested men were eventually dropped.[^1][^5]
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An MPD report filed February 19, 1987 by Sgt. [[John H. Stitcher Jr.]] described a CIA official acknowledging Isabelle Pettie's CIA employment and stating that the investigation had been "treading on their toes," that the CIA had "had someone working on the case since it first broke," and that the agency had a "vested interest" in the group. The FBI's Foreign Counterintelligence Division classified MPD reports Secret and directed MPD not to brief the FBI's own Washington Field Office. A separate April 13, 1987 MPD Intelligence Division report concluded the group "is and has been utilized by the Central Intelligence Agency as a disinformation service." All charges against the two arrested men were eventually dropped.[^1][^7]
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### Post-1987 and Final Years
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A 1996 court appearance involved Pettie being unable to locate a briefcase containing approximately two million dollars in land deed documents. Robert Gardner Terrell announced the group's dissolution on March 11, 1987, though activity was observed at the former warehouse address as late as October 1991.[^1]
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Pettie gave no extended public interviews after 1996. He died on October 24, 2003, in Culpeper, Virginia.[^2]
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He died on October 24, 2003, in Culpeper, Virginia.[^2] Tobe Terrell's memoir dates his death to October 2003 and records that Terrell took Pettie the first draft of the book on his deathbed, where Pettie told him that what Terrell had written "sounds more like me than I sound like myself."[^3]
|
||||
|
||||
### Family
|
||||
|
||||
- Isabelle Pettie (wife, deceased by 1987): Confirmed CIA employee, approximately 1950-1971 per the Stitcher MPD report. Held passports to North Korea, North Vietnam, and the Soviet Union.[^5]
|
||||
- George Pettie (son): Worked for Air America. Had broken contact with his father by 1985 and was operating a home inspection business in Northern Virginia at the time of the 1987 investigation. He described the circa-1971 Glover Park gatherings as "the beginning of a new life" for his father and followers.[^3]
|
||||
- Isabelle Pettie (wife, deceased by 1987): Confirmed CIA employee, approximately 1950-1971 per the Stitcher MPD report. Held passports to North Korea, North Vietnam, and the Soviet Union.[^7]
|
||||
- George Pettie (son): Worked for Air America. Had broken contact with his father by 1985 and was operating a home inspection business in Northern Virginia at the time of the 1987 investigation. He told the Washington Post on February 7, 1987 that his father, then 66, had retired from the Air Force in 1956 as a master sergeant, that the two had not spoken in two years, and that around 1971 Pettie gathered his followers at the W Street house: "That was the beginning of a new life for him."[^8]
|
||||
|
||||
### Footnotes
|
||||
|
||||
[^1]: Dovey, S. (2023). *Eye of the Chickenhawk*. United States: Thehotstar.
|
||||
[^2]: Dean, Eddie. "Finders' Keeper." Washington City Paper, May 24, 1996. https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/287890/finders-keeper/.
|
||||
[^3]: Witkin, Gordon, Peter Cary, and Angel Martinez. "Through a glass, very darkly: Cops, spies and a very odd investigation." U.S. News & World Report, December 27, 1993 / January 3, 1994.
|
||||
[^4]: Fisher, Marc and John Mintz. "Finders Group Has Its Roots in Popular '60s Hippie Refuge." Washington Post, February 7, 1987.
|
||||
[^5]: FBI Vault, "The Finders," FOIA case number 1372462-0, vault.fbi.gov/the-finders (released November 2019). Also: Martinez, Ramon J. U.S. Customs Service Reports, February 7, 1987 and April 13, 1987. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/ted-gunderson-fbi-the-finders.
|
||||
[^6]: Kenn Thomas and Len Bracken, "The Finders' Keeper," Steamshovel Press #16, 1998; A.B.H. Alexander, "Sex, Drugs, the CIA, MIND CONTROL and Your Children," PROBE, c. 1996. These conspiracy-press sources make additional, largely uncorroborated claims about Pettie's intelligence role and cultural-infiltration activities.
|
||||
[^3]: Terrell, Tobe. *The Gamecaller*. Old Rag Publishing, Gainesville, Florida, 2009. https://archive.org/details/TheGamecaller
|
||||
[^4]: Kenn Thomas and Len Bracken, "The Finders' Keeper," Steamshovel Press #16, 1998; A.B.H. Alexander, "Sex, Drugs, the CIA, MIND CONTROL and Your Children," PROBE, c. 1996. These conspiracy-press sources make additional, largely uncorroborated claims about Pettie's intelligence role and cultural-infiltration activities.
|
||||
[^5]: Witkin, Gordon, Peter Cary, and Angel Martinez. "Through a glass, very darkly: Cops, spies and a very odd investigation." U.S. News & World Report, December 27, 1993 / January 3, 1994.
|
||||
[^6]: Fisher, Marc and John Mintz. "Finders Group Has Its Roots in Popular '60s Hippie Refuge." Washington Post, February 7, 1987.
|
||||
[^7]: FBI Vault, "The Finders," FOIA case number 1372462-0, vault.fbi.gov/the-finders (released November 2019). Also: Martinez, Ramon J. U.S. Customs Service Reports, February 7, 1987 and April 13, 1987. Internet Archive, https://archive.org/details/ted-gunderson-fbi-the-finders.
|
||||
[^8]: Fisher, Marc, and John Mintz. "Finders Group Has Its Roots in Popular '60s Hippie Refuge." Washington Post, February 7, 1987. https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1987/02/07/finders-group-has-its-roots-in-popular-60s-hippie-refuge/2d6b5d9d-904f-4acd-a371-f560fca68b39/
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ born: 1927-10-16
|
|||
died: 2000-02-11
|
||||
location: Vienna, Austria
|
||||
created: 2026-06-03
|
||||
updated: 2026-06-04
|
||||
updated: 2026-10-15
|
||||
---
|
||||
Martin Orne was a psychologist and psychiatrist born in Vienna, Austria, who emigrated to the [[United States]] after the Nazi annexation and completed his B.A. at [[Harvard University]] in 1948. He studied briefly at the [[University of Zurich]] on a Fulbright fellowship, working with [[Carl Jung]], then took his M.D. at [[Tufts University]] in 1955 and his Ph.D. in psychology at Harvard in 1958. In 1961 he founded the Institute for Experimental Psychiatry and directed it throughout his subsequent career. He joined the faculty of the [[University of Pennsylvania]] in 1964, where he served as professor of psychiatry and psychology until his retirement in 1996, and edited the *International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis* from 1962 to 1992.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -61,4 +61,4 @@ He chaired the [[American Medical Association]] committee whose 1985 report in *
|
|||
[^5]: Martin T. Orne, "The potential uses of hypnosis in interrogation," in Albert Biderman and Herbert Zimmer, eds., *The Manipulation of Human Behavior*. John Wiley and Sons, 1961. pp. 169-215.
|
||||
[^6]: Martin T. Orne, "On the social psychology of the psychological experiment," *American Psychologist*, 1962, 17, 776-783; Martin T. Orne and Frederick J. Evans, "Social control in the psychological experiment: Antisocial behavior and hypnosis," *Journal of Personality and Social Psychology*, 1965, 1(3), 189-200; Martin T. Orne, "The simulation of hypnosis: Why, how, and what it means," *International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis*, 1971, 19, 183-210.
|
||||
[^7]: Martin T. Orne, David F. Dinges, and Emily Carota Orne, "On the differential diagnosis of multiple personality in the forensic context," *International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis*, 1984, 32(2), 118-169. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00207148408416005
|
||||
[^8]: Martin T. Orne, "On the use and misuse of hypnosis in court," *International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis*, 1979, 27(4), 311-341; American Medical Association, "Scientific Status of Refreshing Recollection by the Use of Hypnosis," *JAMA*, 1985; False Memory Syndrome Foundation Newsletter, March/April 2000, 9(2).
|
||||
[^8]: Martin T. Orne, "On the use and misuse of hypnosis in court," *International Journal of Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis*, 1979, 27(4), 311-341; American Medical Association, "Scientific Status of Refreshing Recollection by the Use of Hypnosis," *JAMA*, 1985; False Memory Syndrome Foundation Newsletter, March/April 2000, 9(2). https://web.archive.org/web/2002/http://www.fmsfonline.org/fmsf00.304.html
|
||||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
@ -49,28 +49,33 @@ relations:
|
|||
start: 1991
|
||||
end: 1993
|
||||
role: "special counsel's inquiry into his INSLAW allegations"
|
||||
fn: 14
|
||||
fn: 19
|
||||
- type: prosecuted
|
||||
with: "[[Department of Justice]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 1991
|
||||
end: 1992
|
||||
role: "federal narcotics prosecution in Tacoma, Washington; convicted January 1992"
|
||||
fn: 29
|
||||
fn: 34
|
||||
- type: represented
|
||||
with: "[[Thomas Olmstead]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 1992
|
||||
end: 1992
|
||||
role: "trial counsel in Tacoma"
|
||||
fn: 29
|
||||
fn: 34
|
||||
- type: represented
|
||||
with: "[[John Rosellini]]"
|
||||
reverse: true
|
||||
start: 1991
|
||||
end: 1991
|
||||
role: "attorney after the March 1991 arrest, at the time of the April 1991 congressional interview"
|
||||
fn: 24
|
||||
fn: 29
|
||||
- type: partner_of
|
||||
with: "[[Ben Kalka]]"
|
||||
start: 1982
|
||||
role: "business ties at R & R Research, per Seymour"
|
||||
fn: 14
|
||||
---
|
||||
[[Michael Riconosciuto]] is a computer scientist and convicted methamphetamine manufacturer who claimed to have modified [[PROMIS]] software for a joint venture between the [[Wackenhut Corporation]] and the [[Cabazon Indian Reservation|Cabazon]] band near Indio, California. He was a central source for [[Danny Casolaro]]'s investigation into what Casolaro called the [[The Octopus|Octopus]]. The Justice Department special counsel [[Nicholas J. Bua]] wrote that he "can fairly be described as the key witness against Brian," meaning [[Earl Brian]]. He was convicted in Tacoma, Washington, in January 1992 on drug charges that he said were a government frame-up.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -90,45 +95,53 @@ Riconosciuto told [[Spy]] magazine in 1992 that he "met with George Wackenhut an
|
|||
|
||||
The Bua report found that the former tribal chairman [[Arthur Welmas]] and his wife never saw or met Earl Brian at the reservation, and that [[Sam Cross]], the Indio police chief during those years, said he had been in the mobile trailer behind the casino and saw no computer equipment in it. John Philip Nichols told investigators the PROMIS allegations were fabricated, and the report noted that Nichols had a motive to call Riconosciuto a liar, but that "everything Nichols told us was consistent with the great weight of the evidence we obtained from other sources."[^13]
|
||||
|
||||
### Kalka and the 1982 sting
|
||||
|
||||
In a statement dated February 16, 1984, Riconosciuto wrote that Nichols directed him to have [[Philip Arthur Thompson]] recover "[all] of Kalka’s assets." The statement lists a semi-truck loaded with amphetamine production chemicals and a red Datsun with a portable refrigerator containing acid, both located in the [[Oakland, California|Oakland]] area.[^14] An audio tape on which Riconosciuto narrated, played by Zokosky to Seymour's source, said that [[Ben Kalka]] handled an LSD operation in [[Fresno]].[^15]
|
||||
|
||||
In a transcribed interview with Gunderson, Riconosciuto said that Kalka had paid the [[Hells Angels|Hell's Angels]] a quarter of a million dollars to kill him after December 1981, that Kalka was "a fugitive from justice" hiding in Colorado when [[Paul Morasca]] gathered the company's raw materials, and that he had persuaded Kalka to have the phenylacetic acid screened, during which he introduced a heavy-metal micro-tagging material.[^16] An INSLAW memorandum of July 18, 1990 states that Riconosciuto's intended Los Angeles attorney in the spring of 1982, [[Harland Braun]], had a conflict because he represented Kalka.[^17] A letter dated April 13, 1982, signed by Phyllis Riconosciuto and [[Jimmy Hughes]], arranged bodyguards for Riconosciuto until he entered FBI protective custody at the Oakland office.[^18]
|
||||
|
||||
### PROMIS claims and the House Judiciary investigation
|
||||
|
||||
Riconosciuto said that Brian made a copy of the proprietary PROMIS software available to him through Wackenhut, after acquiring it from [[Peter Videnieks]], a [[Department of Justice|Justice Department]] contracting official. He said his modifications were intended to facilitate worldwide implementation of PROMIS in law enforcement and intelligence agencies, including adaptations for the [[Royal Canadian Mounted Police|RCMP]] and the [[Canadian Security Intelligence Service|CSIS]] in [[Canada]].[^5] Seymour treats this as the central element of the PROMIS software scandal.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
Riconosciuto's first claims reached [[Bill Hamilton|William and Nancy Hamilton]], the owners of [[INSLAW]], in May 1990. On a conference call that a reporter for one of [[Lyndon LaRouche]]'s publications arranged, he told the Hamiltons that he and Brian were hired as consultants to Wackenhut Research, that he and Brian traveled to Iran in 1980 and paid a $40 million bribe to prevent the release of American hostages before the November 1980 election, and that he still had a copy of the PROMIS source code. The Bua report summarizes the Hamiltons' memoranda of that call, and says that four of his statements about PROMIS could be established with accuracy, three under oath and one in the Hamiltons' notes.[^14]
|
||||
Riconosciuto's first claims reached [[Bill Hamilton|William and Nancy Hamilton]], the owners of [[INSLAW]], in May 1990. On a conference call that a reporter for one of [[Lyndon LaRouche]]'s publications arranged, he told the Hamiltons that he and Brian were hired as consultants to Wackenhut Research, that he and Brian traveled to Iran in 1980 and paid a $40 million bribe to prevent the release of American hostages before the November 1980 election, and that he still had a copy of the PROMIS source code. The Bua report summarizes the Hamiltons' memoranda of that call, and says that four of his statements about PROMIS could be established with accuracy, three under oath and one in the Hamiltons' notes.[^19]
|
||||
|
||||
On April 4, 1991, Riconosciuto gave a sworn statement to [[House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]] investigators. The committee's report says he connected his work on PROMIS to Brian and Videnieks, and that during a luncheon attended by Brian, Videnieks, [[Jimmy Hughes]], and himself, the enhanced software was loaded into the trunk of his car.[^15] He also said he had two copies of a tape of his February 1991 conversation with Videnieks, and that DEA agents seized them at his arrest.[^15] He gave the committee access to a storage facility holding computer tapes and documents. A General Accounting Office analysis for the committee found that only one of five magnetic media could be read, that it held a corporate data file of accounts, and that a later review found one readable tape containing instructions for a word-processing modification and no PROMIS versions.[^16]
|
||||
On April 4, 1991, Riconosciuto gave a sworn statement to [[House Committee on the Judiciary|House Judiciary Committee]] investigators. The committee's report says he connected his work on PROMIS to Brian and Videnieks, and that during a luncheon attended by Brian, Videnieks, Jimmy Hughes, and himself, the enhanced software was loaded into the trunk of his car.[^20] He also said he had two copies of a tape of his February 1991 conversation with Videnieks, and that DEA agents seized them at his arrest.[^20] He gave the committee access to a storage facility holding computer tapes and documents. A General Accounting Office analysis for the committee found that only one of five magnetic media could be read, that it held a corporate data file of accounts, and that a later review found one readable tape containing instructions for a word-processing modification and no PROMIS versions.[^21]
|
||||
|
||||
The Bua report traced a series of contradictions in his accounts. In his affidavit he said he had received a single copy of PROMIS from Brian. At trial he said he had received three versions from Nichols. In the affidavit he dated his PROMIS work to 1983 and 1984 in Indio, Silver Spring, Maryland, and Miami, Florida. At trial he placed it between late 1981 and early 1983, mentioned only Indio, and did not mention Maryland or Miami.[^17] The report noted that Inslaw did not sign its implementation contract until March 1982 and did not produce an enhanced version to DOJ until April 20, 1983, and that "it would have been physically impossible for anybody from DOJ to produce anything but a public domain version of PROMIS in November 1981."[^17]
|
||||
The Bua report traced a series of contradictions in his accounts. In his affidavit he said he had received a single copy of PROMIS from Brian. At trial he said he had received three versions from Nichols. In the affidavit he dated his PROMIS work to 1983 and 1984 in Indio, Silver Spring, Maryland, and Miami, Florida. At trial he placed it between late 1981 and early 1983, mentioned only Indio, and did not mention Maryland or Miami.[^22] The report noted that Inslaw did not sign its implementation contract until March 1982 and did not produce an enhanced version to DOJ until April 20, 1983, and that "it would have been physically impossible for anybody from DOJ to produce anything but a public domain version of PROMIS in November 1981."[^22]
|
||||
|
||||
The Bua report called him "a totally unreliable witness in connection with the allegations he has made about the alleged theft of PROMIS software," and wrote that his "story about PROMIS reminds us of a historical novel; a tale of total fiction woven against the background of accurate historical facts."[^18] The report listed other claims for which it "came across no credible witness who could confirm any of this": work with the CIA, a radio detonator device used to overthrow the Allende government in Chile, patents on revolutionary devices, recovery of computer data from computers damaged in the overthrow of the Shah, handling of the October Surprise payments, and persuading organized crime members associated with Tony Accardo not to commit a murder. It also stated that "Most people who know Riconosciuto told us that he displays a high degree of familiarity with scientific and technical concepts," that NCIC records indicated burglary and bail jumping convictions from the early 1970s, and that during the almost year he was out of prison after his first call to the Hamiltons he never produced the 1099 forms, the photographs of him with Brian in Iran, or the version of PROMIS he said he would give them.[^19] The report states that Riconosciuto said [[Wayne Reeder]] arrived at the September 1981 demonstration with Brian. A 1991 Riverside County investigator's report that named Brian was prepared from Riconosciuto's jail interview and from license-plate records supplied by a former Indio officer. The Bua report found that the registration notes referred only to Reeder.[^20]
|
||||
The Bua report called him "a totally unreliable witness in connection with the allegations he has made about the alleged theft of PROMIS software," and wrote that his "story about PROMIS reminds us of a historical novel; a tale of total fiction woven against the background of accurate historical facts."[^23] The report listed other claims for which it "came across no credible witness who could confirm any of this": work with the CIA, a radio detonator device used to overthrow the Allende government in Chile, patents on revolutionary devices, recovery of computer data from computers damaged in the overthrow of the Shah, handling of the October Surprise payments, and persuading organized crime members associated with Tony Accardo not to commit a murder. It also stated that "Most people who know Riconosciuto told us that he displays a high degree of familiarity with scientific and technical concepts," that NCIC records indicated burglary and bail jumping convictions from the early 1970s, and that during the almost year he was out of prison after his first call to the Hamiltons he never produced the 1099 forms, the photographs of him with Brian in Iran, or the version of PROMIS he said he would give them.[^24] The report states that Riconosciuto said [[Wayne Reeder]] arrived at the September 1981 demonstration with Brian. A 1991 Riverside County investigator's report that named Brian was prepared from Riconosciuto's jail interview and from license-plate records supplied by a former Indio officer. The Bua report found that the registration notes referred only to Reeder.[^25]
|
||||
|
||||
The House committee wrote that Riconosciuto "could not provide evidence other than his eyewitness account" of Brian's involvement in the PROMIS conversion at the reservation, that Brian "flatly contradicts" the claims in his own sworn statement, and that the committee was "not in a position to make findings of fact on Dr. Brian's role" but "would strongly recommend that further investigation be given" to it. In a footnote the committee recorded that a Riverside County District Attorney's Office Special Operations Report of October 10, 1991 placed Brian, with Riconosciuto and others, at the weapons demonstration at the Lake Cahuilla gun range in Indio on the evening of September 10, 1981, and that Welmas was quoted in the Washington Business Journal of March 30, 1992 as saying, "Brian must have been involved. His name was mentioned and discussed on a daily basis."[^21]
|
||||
The House committee wrote that Riconosciuto "could not provide evidence other than his eyewitness account" of Brian's involvement in the PROMIS conversion at the reservation, that Brian "flatly contradicts" the claims in his own sworn statement, and that the committee was "not in a position to make findings of fact on Dr. Brian's role" but "would strongly recommend that further investigation be given" to it. In a footnote the committee recorded that a Riverside County District Attorney's Office Special Operations Report of October 10, 1991 placed Brian, with Riconosciuto and others, at the weapons demonstration at the Lake Cahuilla gun range in Indio on the evening of September 10, 1981, and that Welmas was quoted in the Washington Business Journal of March 30, 1992 as saying, "Brian must have been involved. His name was mentioned and discussed on a daily basis."[^26]
|
||||
|
||||
### The 1991 affidavit, arrest and congressional interview
|
||||
|
||||
The affidavit describes a February 1991 telephone call in which Videnieks told Riconosciuto that it would be beneficial to refuse a committee request for an interview. It also says that if he cooperated, he would be punished, with the indictment of Riconosciuto for savings and loan fraud and perjury among the punishments.[^22] Bua reports that Brian and Videnieks each "categorically and under oath denied" the allegations, and that both said they had never met Riconosciuto or each other and had never been to Indio. The report stated: "We found both men to be credible witnesses, both in their demeanor and in the substance of their statements."[^23]
|
||||
The affidavit describes a February 1991 telephone call in which Videnieks told Riconosciuto that it would be beneficial to refuse a committee request for an interview. It also says that if he cooperated, he would be punished, with the indictment of Riconosciuto for savings and loan fraud and perjury among the punishments.[^27] Bua reports that Brian and Videnieks each "categorically and under oath denied" the allegations, and that both said they had never met Riconosciuto or each other and had never been to Indio. The report stated: "We found both men to be credible witnesses, both in their demeanor and in the substance of their statements."[^28]
|
||||
|
||||
On March 21, 1991, Riconosciuto signed the affidavit for the Hamiltons, for use in INSLAW's bankruptcy adversary proceeding. On March 29, 1991, eight days later, DEA special agents arrested him on drug charges.[^24] A DEA agent's affidavit in the drug case, held on the archive.org item USAV.MichaelRiconosciuto, describes recorded deliveries of methamphetamine and methadone to a confidential informant beginning in February 1991, and surveillance of a residence at Lakebay, Washington, on March 29, 1991.[^25] The House report states that the Department of Justice proposed a courthouse in Seattle for the interview, and that the Department's attorney refused to give a sworn assurance that the interview would not be monitored or recorded. It also says the Department refused the committee's request to interview the DEA arresting agents, citing the ongoing prosecution, and refused access to its investigative files on him.[^24] The committee wrote that the timing of the arrest, coupled with Riconosciuto's allegation that tapes of a telephone conversation with Videnieks had been confiscated by DEA agents, "raises serious questions concerning whether the Department's prosecution of Mr. Riconosciuto was related to his cooperation with the committee." The same passage states that the arrest "diminishes his credibility as a witness," and that the committee "received sworn testimony and recovered documents which support aspects of Mr. Riconosciuto's story," tying Riconosciuto, Brian and Robert Booth Nichols to U.S. intelligence agencies and, in Nichols's case, possibly to organized crime.[^24]
|
||||
On March 21, 1991, Riconosciuto signed the affidavit for the Hamiltons, for use in INSLAW's bankruptcy adversary proceeding. On March 29, 1991, eight days later, DEA special agents arrested him on drug charges.[^29] A DEA agent's affidavit in the drug case, held on the archive.org item USAV.MichaelRiconosciuto, describes recorded deliveries of methamphetamine and methadone to a confidential informant beginning in February 1991, and surveillance of a residence at Lakebay, Washington, on March 29, 1991.[^30] The House report states that the Department of Justice proposed a courthouse in Seattle for the interview, and that the Department's attorney refused to give a sworn assurance that the interview would not be monitored or recorded. It also says the Department refused the committee's request to interview the DEA arresting agents, citing the ongoing prosecution, and refused access to its investigative files on him.[^29] The committee wrote that the timing of the arrest, coupled with Riconosciuto's allegation that tapes of a telephone conversation with Videnieks had been confiscated by DEA agents, "raises serious questions concerning whether the Department's prosecution of Mr. Riconosciuto was related to his cooperation with the committee." The same passage states that the arrest "diminishes his credibility as a witness," and that the committee "received sworn testimony and recovered documents which support aspects of Mr. Riconosciuto's story," tying Riconosciuto, Brian and Robert Booth Nichols to U.S. intelligence agencies and, in Nichols's case, possibly to organized crime.[^29]
|
||||
|
||||
The Bua report addressed the arrest directly. It stated, "We are convinced beyond all doubt that there was absolutely no connection between Riconosciuto's prosecution and his allegations in the Inslaw matter." It described the case as beginning as a local Washington State drug investigation in which a small-time methamphetamine dealer cooperated with police, with the Seattle office of the DEA brought in after the supplier was found to be distributing on a large scale. It states that DEA recorded Riconosciuto delivering methamphetamine on videotape on more than one occasion, that he ran a large methamphetamine lab at the property where he lived, and that the trial judge commented at sentencing that he was "not sure whether Riconosciuto could tell fact from fiction."[^26] The report records Riconosciuto's testimony that the case was a set up, that the DEA had altered the videotapes, that the government had altered telephone records, and that his lab was only for mining metals.[^26] The Associated Press reported at the opening of the trial that his lawyer said the chemicals found at the property near Tonasket in Okanogan County were used to extract platinum from mining wastes, that the defense would offer expert testimony that recordings can be altered, and that former Attorney General [[Elliot Richardson]], counsel to Inslaw, and Hamilton were expected defense witnesses.[^27]
|
||||
The Bua report addressed the arrest directly. It stated, "We are convinced beyond all doubt that there was absolutely no connection between Riconosciuto's prosecution and his allegations in the Inslaw matter." It described the case as beginning as a local Washington State drug investigation in which a small-time methamphetamine dealer cooperated with police, with the Seattle office of the DEA brought in after the supplier was found to be distributing on a large scale. It states that DEA recorded Riconosciuto delivering methamphetamine on videotape on more than one occasion, that he ran a large methamphetamine lab at the property where he lived, and that the trial judge commented at sentencing that he was "not sure whether Riconosciuto could tell fact from fiction."[^31] The report records Riconosciuto's testimony that the case was a set up, that the DEA had altered the videotapes, that the government had altered telephone records, and that his lab was only for mining metals.[^31] The Associated Press reported at the opening of the trial that his lawyer said the chemicals found at the property near Tonasket in Okanogan County were used to extract platinum from mining wastes, that the defense would offer expert testimony that recordings can be altered, and that former Attorney General [[Elliot Richardson]], counsel to Inslaw, and Hamilton were expected defense witnesses.[^32]
|
||||
|
||||
### Trial and sentence, 1992
|
||||
|
||||
At his trial in federal court in Tacoma in January 1992, Riconosciuto's defense was that he was being framed on the drug charges as punishment for his testimony about PROMIS. He testified at length about PROMIS and said he had supervised a lead programmer and programming teams working in a mobile trailer behind the Cabazon casino.[^28] He testified that in February 1991 he received a message from someone named Peter telling him to be at a restaurant wearing a yellow shirt, that the people there were unknown to him except for one man he recognized as "Norm," that they placed a call and handed him the phone, and that one of them said, "It's no wonder, this is Videnieks." He testified that Videnieks told him he "was making some people nervous" and that there might be problems for him in connection with a savings and loan matter. Asked on direct examination how many times he had met Videnieks he answered "At least a dozen occasions," and that the first place was "In Indio, California." He also testified that the DEA had seized two copies of his tape of the February call and that he was "not sure" where the original was.[^28]
|
||||
At his trial in federal court in Tacoma in January 1992, Riconosciuto's defense was that he was being framed on the drug charges as punishment for his testimony about PROMIS. He testified at length about PROMIS and said he had supervised a lead programmer and programming teams working in a mobile trailer behind the Cabazon casino.[^33] He testified that in February 1991 he received a message from someone named Peter telling him to be at a restaurant wearing a yellow shirt, that the people there were unknown to him except for one man he recognized as "Norm," that they placed a call and handed him the phone, and that one of them said, "It's no wonder, this is Videnieks." He testified that Videnieks told him he "was making some people nervous" and that there might be problems for him in connection with a savings and loan matter. Asked on direct examination how many times he had met Videnieks he answered "At least a dozen occasions," and that the first place was "In Indio, California." He also testified that the DEA had seized two copies of his tape of the February call and that he was "not sure" where the original was.[^33]
|
||||
|
||||
On January 19, 1992, the Associated Press reported that a jury had convicted Riconosciuto, then 44, on seven drug counts: possession of more than 100 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, two counts of distributing methamphetamine, and two counts of distributing methadone. He was acquitted on three other counts. The AP reported a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years, and quoted assistant U.S. attorney Mark Bartlett as saying, "We're very happy." Riconosciuto and his lawyer, [[Thomas Olmstead]], branded four videotapes as fake, and the videotapes showed drugs being delivered to a government informer. The charges covered November 1989 to April 1991.[^29] The AP also reported that two of the videotapes showed a man who appeared to be Riconosciuto accepting 5,000 dollars in marked bills from an informer in a kitchen at Lakebay on the Kitsap Peninsula, that agents testified he was arrested with the bills and that his wallet held a 100 dollar bill from an earlier marked delivery, that one of his fingerprints was on a mug in a tape, that the defense called no witnesses, and that Judge Bryan had denied a defense motion for a mistrial based on a claim that one tape shown to the jury was stolen from Riconosciuto in 1989.[^29] The Bua report records that the trial judge sentenced Riconosciuto to 360 months, "the lowest available sentence under the applicable sentencing guidelines."[^28]
|
||||
On January 19, 1992, the Associated Press reported that a jury had convicted Riconosciuto, then 44, on seven drug counts: possession of more than 100 grams of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine, conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, two counts of distributing methamphetamine, and two counts of distributing methadone. He was acquitted on three other counts. The AP reported a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years, and quoted assistant U.S. attorney Mark Bartlett as saying, "We're very happy." Riconosciuto and his lawyer, [[Thomas Olmstead]], branded four videotapes as fake, and the videotapes showed drugs being delivered to a government informer. The charges covered November 1989 to April 1991.[^34] The AP also reported that two of the videotapes showed a man who appeared to be Riconosciuto accepting 5,000 dollars in marked bills from an informer in a kitchen at Lakebay on the Kitsap Peninsula, that agents testified he was arrested with the bills and that his wallet held a 100 dollar bill from an earlier marked delivery, that one of his fingerprints was on a mug in a tape, that the defense called no witnesses, and that Judge Bryan had denied a defense motion for a mistrial based on a claim that one tape shown to the jury was stolen from Riconosciuto in 1989.[^34] The Bua report records that the trial judge sentenced Riconosciuto to 360 months, "the lowest available sentence under the applicable sentencing guidelines."[^33]
|
||||
|
||||
The Bua report also records that Riconosciuto, with two others, filed a lawsuit challenging the authority of the investigation. It says the lawsuit alleged, among other things, that Bua was involved in organized crime murders and that one of the FBI agents assigned to the case had murdered Danny Casolaro. The report states that the district court dismissed the suit as patently frivolous, in [[Riconosciuto v. Bua]], No. 92 C 6217 (N.D. Ill.).[^30]
|
||||
The Bua report also records that Riconosciuto, with two others, filed a lawsuit challenging the authority of the investigation. It says the lawsuit alleged, among other things, that Bua was involved in organized crime murders and that one of the FBI agents assigned to the case had murdered Danny Casolaro. The report states that the district court dismissed the suit as patently frivolous, in [[Riconosciuto v. Bua]], No. 92 C 6217 (N.D. Ill.).[^35]
|
||||
|
||||
The federal drug case is docketed as United States v. Riconosciuto, No. 3:91-cr-01034, in the [[United States District Court for the Western District of Washington|Western District of Washington]], filed April 1, 1991. A judgment on revocation (Doc. 220) was filed on August 18, 2017.[^36] In a 1997 hearing officer's report in the INSLAW congressional reference proceeding, Hearing Officer Miller described Riconosciuto as "convicted of manufacturing and selling methamphetamine" while discussing the confidential sources that Bill Hamilton had relied on.[^37]
|
||||
|
||||
### Appeals and later cases
|
||||
|
||||
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence in an unpublished memorandum decided October 27, 1993. The appeal challenged the admission of evidence from searches conducted without warrants, the government's destruction of evidence, and the drug quantity used at sentencing. The memorandum describes searches of his property outside Tonasket, Washington, in early April 1993, and of a shack in Home, Washington, on April 10, 1993.[^31]
|
||||
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the conviction and sentence in an unpublished memorandum decided October 27, 1993. The appeal challenged the admission of evidence from searches conducted without warrants, the government's destruction of evidence, and the drug quantity used at sentencing. The memorandum describes searches of his property outside Tonasket, Washington, in early April 1993, and of a shack in Home, Washington, on April 10, 1993.[^38]
|
||||
|
||||
The Bua report states that Riconosciuto "was involved with hallucinogenic drugs at least as far back as 1972, when he was convicted on a PCP charge," and that in that case his defense was that someone had planted the PCP on him.[^32] Separately, the Court of Appeals of Washington affirmed a grand larceny conviction against him in December 1974. The opinion records his contention that a federal investigation of an alleged conspiracy to manufacture drugs involving him was underway.[^33]
|
||||
The Bua report states that Riconosciuto "was involved with hallucinogenic drugs at least as far back as 1972, when he was convicted on a PCP charge," and that in that case his defense was that someone had planted the PCP on him.[^39] Separately, the Court of Appeals of Washington affirmed a grand larceny conviction against him in December 1974. The opinion records his contention that a federal investigation of an alleged conspiracy to manufacture drugs involving him was underway.[^40]
|
||||
|
||||
In a news release of September 27, 1994 announcing the Department's review of the Bua report, the Department of Justice stated that two primary sources relied on by INSLAW "were not credible: Michael Riconosciuto, currently serving a 30-year sentence on methamphetamine charges, and Ari Ben-Menashe."[^34]
|
||||
In a news release of September 27, 1994 announcing the Department's review of the Bua report, the Department of Justice stated that two primary sources relied on by INSLAW "were not credible: Michael Riconosciuto, currently serving a 30-year sentence on methamphetamine charges, and Ari Ben-Menashe."[^41]
|
||||
|
||||
In 2017 Riconosciuto filed a federal habeas petition in the Central District of California against the warden and the U.S. Probation and Parole office. Judge John A. Kronstadt dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction on February 16, 2017.[^35]
|
||||
In 2017 Riconosciuto filed a federal habeas petition in the Central District of California against the warden and the U.S. Probation and Parole office. Judge John A. Kronstadt dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction on February 16, 2017.[^42]
|
||||
|
||||
### Nichols, Casolaro and the Octopus
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -144,15 +157,15 @@ He also claimed participation in a [[National Security Council|NSC]]-sanctioned
|
|||
|
||||
Riconosciuto claimed to have handled gold transfers, money laundering, "virtual dead drops," and altered ACH daily reconciliations for underworld figures, including Robert Booth Nichols, [[Gilberto Rodriguez Orejuela|Gilbert Rodriguez]], and [[Jose Santacruz Londono]] of the Cali Drug Cartel. He sought to provide this information to [[Financial Crimes Enforcement Network|FinCEN]] in exchange for witness protection.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
Regarding the [[October Surprise]], Riconosciuto claimed that he and Brian traveled to [[Iran]] in 1980 and paid $40 million to Iranian officials to delay the release of U.S. hostages until after [[Ronald Reagan]]'s inauguration. The Bua report found no credible evidence for that trip and states that Brian's office records placed him in New York on September 10, 1981.[^36] Seymour wrote that the claim created what Riconosciuto described as a "domino effect" in Washington and generated additional investigations and media attention.[^1]
|
||||
Regarding the [[October Surprise]], Riconosciuto claimed that he and Brian traveled to [[Iran]] in 1980 and paid $40 million to Iranian officials to delay the release of U.S. hostages until after [[Ronald Reagan]]'s inauguration. The Bua report found no credible evidence for that trip and states that Brian's office records placed him in New York on September 10, 1981.[^43] Seymour wrote that the claim created what Riconosciuto described as a "domino effect" in Washington and generated additional investigations and media attention.[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
Riconosciuto claimed to have been in direct communication with [[Michael Hand]], co-founder of [[Nugan Hand Bank]], before and after Hand's disappearance, and handled money transfers for Hand when he fled [[Australia]].[^1]
|
||||
|
||||
Beyond PROMIS, Riconosciuto was involved in advanced technological projects, including theoretical work on railguns for the U.S. Army, and research into "energy transfer phenomena" with [[William Frash]] and [[Patrick Moriarty]], his father's business partner, aiming to develop technology that would "supercede all existing world patents in the field."[^1] At trial he testified that his group ran a pilot plant at its facility in [[Hercules, California]], and that the work included [[Hercules Research]].[^37] [[Harry Fair|Dr. Harry Fair]] of Picatinny Arsenal described him as a "potential national resource" after a May 1981 railgun blackboard exercise.[^1] In the 1984 Gunderson interview Riconosciuto said Hercules Research began with scrap and residue platinum catalyst left in an acid plant at Hercules, from which he said the group generated 130,000 dollars, and that it then worked tailings piles in the northern Sacramento River area to recover platinum group metals; he described a project at Hercules he called the "Special Project" as a direct energy related weapons project based on Interprobe technology and technology developed at Hercules Research.[^38]
|
||||
Beyond PROMIS, Riconosciuto was involved in advanced technological projects, including theoretical work on railguns for the U.S. Army, and research into "energy transfer phenomena" with [[William Frash]] and [[Patrick Moriarty]], his father's business partner, aiming to develop technology that would "supercede all existing world patents in the field."[^1] At trial he testified that his group ran a pilot plant at its facility in [[Hercules, California]], and that the work included [[Hercules Research]].[^44] [[Harry Fair|Dr. Harry Fair]] of Picatinny Arsenal described him as a "potential national resource" after a May 1981 railgun blackboard exercise.[^1] In the 1984 Gunderson interview Riconosciuto said Hercules Research began with scrap and residue platinum catalyst left in an acid plant at Hercules, from which he said the group generated 130,000 dollars, and that it then worked tailings piles in the northern Sacramento River area to recover platinum group metals; he described a project at Hercules he called the "Special Project" as a direct energy related weapons project based on Interprobe technology and technology developed at Hercules Research.[^45]
|
||||
|
||||
### Clearances and the Aquino question
|
||||
|
||||
In an undated transcript of an interview with Gunderson (the interviewer is initialed "T.G."), the speaker, initialed "M.R.," discusses members of the Church of Set and of [[Michael Aquino]]'s circle. He says that the reaction to Aquino he received from "Dr. Malkin" was "Well, his clearance isn't all that high."[^39] In the same passage the speaker says that nearly everyone in Aquino's group was psy-ops or intelligence related.[^39] The transcript's cover line begins with the name "Michael," and the first notes in the file are headed "NOTES OF PHONE CONV. 12/29/87." Records found do not establish whether "Dr. Malkin" is [[Myron S. Malkin]], the former NASA Space Shuttle director and former Defense Department official, whose name appears in an undated (year not printed) Cabazon Arms letter.[^40]
|
||||
In an undated transcript of an interview with Gunderson (the interviewer is initialed "T.G."), the speaker, initialed "M.R.," discusses members of the Church of Set and of [[Michael Aquino]]'s circle. He says that the reaction to Aquino he received from "Dr. Malkin" was "Well, his clearance isn't all that high."[^46] In the same passage the speaker says that nearly everyone in Aquino's group was psy-ops or intelligence related.[^46] The transcript's cover line begins with the name "Michael," and the first notes in the file are headed "NOTES OF PHONE CONV. 12/29/87." Records found do not establish whether "Dr. Malkin" is [[Myron S. Malkin]], the former NASA Space Shuttle director and former Defense Department official, whose name appears in an undated (year not printed) Cabazon Arms letter.[^47]
|
||||
|
||||
### Witness protection attempts
|
||||
|
||||
|
|
@ -173,30 +186,37 @@ Following his arrest, Riconosciuto attempted multiple times to trade information
|
|||
[^11]: John Connolly, "Inside the Shadow CIA," *Spy*, September 1992, pp. 46 to 54. The bracketed description of Ammarell is the magazine's. https://www.prop1.org/legal/prisons/92wack.htm
|
||||
[^12]: Unsigned, undated letter, Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut-Correspondence," beginning "The cooperation I have received from the Wackenhut Corporation." The spelling "Amarell" is as printed in the letter. https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks
|
||||
[^13]: Bua report, printed pp. 59 to 60 (Welmas and his wife; Cross; Nichols's denial and the "motive" passage, quoting "everything Nichols told us was consistent with the great weight of the evidence we obtained from other sources"). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^14]: Bua report, printed pp. 42 to 43 (the four accurately recorded statements, one in the Hamiltons' notes; the May 18, 1990 call and the Iran and Wackenhut Research claims; "the key witness against Brian"). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it, summarizing the Hamiltons' memoranda. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^15]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, *The INSLAW Affair: Investigative Report*, H. Rept. 102-857, 102d Cong., 2d sess., September 10, 1992, "2. Sworn Statement of Michael Riconosciuto," pp. 50 to 52 (the affidavit and tape statements on p. 51; the luncheon statement in n. 131 and the storage-facility and GAO passages on p. 52), as the committee summarized the April 4, 1991 sworn statement. The committee also described him as "a self-described computer expert who in the past has been involved with contract computer and munitions work for U.S. intelligence agencies," brought to its attention in June 1990 (p. 50). Official findings and committee summaries of a witness's statements. https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport
|
||||
[^16]: U.S. House of Representatives, H. Rept. 102-857, p. 52 and nn. 131 to 135, citing the General Accounting Office report of November 12, 1991 and the follow-up report of March 23, 1992 on the Riconosciuto media. Official findings as reported by the committee. https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport
|
||||
[^17]: Bua report, printed pp. 49 to 51 (affidavit and trial inconsistencies; the affidavit's "1983 and 1984" statement; the trial testimony of "late 1981" to "early 1983"; the April 20, 1983 delivery and March 1982 contract). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^18]: Bua report, printed p. 73 (conclusion). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^19]: Bua report, printed pp. 70 to 73 (the list of unconfirmed claims, the 1099 forms and photographs, NCIC records, "high degree of familiarity with scientific and technical concepts"). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^20]: Bua report, printed pp. 62 to 63 (the Gilbert report and Baird's registration notes) and p. 66 (Reeder and Westley). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^21]: U.S. House of Representatives, H. Rept. 102-857, section "2. Possible Connection Between Earl Brian, Michael Riconosciuto, Robert Booth Nichols and the Cabazon Indian Reservation," pp. 72 to 73 and nn. 218 to 222, citing the Riverside County District Attorney's Office Special Operations Report of October 10, 1991, pp. 2 to 4, and the *Washington Business Journal*, March 30, 1992. Official findings of the committee. https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport
|
||||
[^22]: U.S. House of Representatives, H. Rept. 102-857, p. 51 and n. 126 (affidavit paragraph on the February 1991 call), and Bua report, printed p. 46 (punishments in the affidavit, including the savings and loan and perjury indictments). Official summaries of a witness's sworn claims. https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport
|
||||
[^23]: Bua report, printed pp. 53 to 54 (Brian and Videnieks, "categorically and under oath denied all the allegations made by Riconosciuto about them"). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^24]: U.S. House of Representatives, H. Rept. 102-857, "D. Department Interferes With Michael Riconosciuto's Sworn Statement to the Committee," pp. 100 to 101 (arrest of March 29, 1991; attorney John Rosellini; the courthouse proposal; the refusal of a sworn non-monitoring statement; the refusal to interview the DEA agents; the timing quotation). Official findings of the committee, placed as its position. https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport
|
||||
[^25]: Affidavit of a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in *United States v. Michael James Riconosciuto*, federal court, Washington, 1991, nine pages, archive.org item USAV.MichaelRiconosciuto. https://archive.org/details/USAV.MichaelRiconosciuto. Only the dates and places stated above are drawn from the document.
|
||||
[^26]: Bua report, printed pp. 66 to 68 ("We are convinced beyond all doubt"; DEA videotapes; the lab; "not sure whether Riconosciuto could tell fact from fiction"). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^27]: Associated Press, "Defendant Says Government Drug Charges Are Part Of Vendetta," January 2, 1992, Seattle Times archive. https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19920102/1468169/defendant-says-government-drug-charges-are-part-of-vendetta
|
||||
[^28]: Bua report, printed pp. 47 to 48 and 53 (trial testimony on PROMIS, the trailer, the yellow shirt and "It's no wonder, this is Videnieks," the tape and "not sure"; the meetings with Videnieks, printed p. 53; sentence of 360 months, "the lowest available sentence under the applicable sentencing guidelines"). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^29]: Associated Press, "Jury Says Guilty," January 19, 1992, Seattle Times archive (the headline continues with the claim of a frame-up and the 20-year term). https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19920119/1471110/jury-says-guilty
|
||||
[^30]: Bua report, printed p. 69 (the lawsuit, Riconosciuto v. Bua, No. 92 C 6217 (N.D. Ill.), dismissed as patently frivolous). The allegations are as the report describes them. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^31]: *United States v. Riconosciuto*, No. 92-30200 (9th Cir. October 27, 1993) (unpublished memorandum; submitted August 31, 1993), reported at 9 F.3d 1555. The memorandum is not precedential and affirms the judgment. https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/F3/009/9.F3d.1555.92-30200.html
|
||||
[^32]: Bua report, printed pp. 68 and 71 to 72 (PCP charge in the early 1970s; "at least as far back as 1972, when he was convicted on a PCP charge"). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^33]: *State v. Riconosciuto*, 12 Wash. App. 350, 529 P.2d 1134 (Wash. Ct. App., Div. One, December 23, 1974), No. 2623-1, judgment affirmed. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1172527/state-v-riconosciuto/
|
||||
[^34]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, news release of September 27, 1994 on the review of the Bua report in the INSLAW matter. Official position of the Department. https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/Pre_96/September94/555.txt.html
|
||||
[^35]: *Riconosciuto v. Langford*, No. 2:17-cv-01088-JAK-AJW (C.D. Cal.), judgment of February 16, 2017, dismissing the petition for a writ of habeas corpus for lack of jurisdiction; respondents the warden and U.S. Probation and Parole. https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.cacd.670148
|
||||
[^36]: Bua report, printed pp. 40 to 41 (no credible evidence on the Iran hostage allegations) and p. 66 (Brian's New York office and expense records for September 10, 1981). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^37]: Bua report, printed p. 53 (Riconosciuto's trial testimony on the pilot plant in Hercules, California, Hercules Research and the Interprobe joint venture). Testimony as the report summarizes it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^38]: Gunderson interview transcripts, Danny Casolaro papers, Folder 7 (Acc. 5516), archive.org item casolaro-notebooks (the Hercules Research, platinum catalyst and "Special Project" passages). https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks. The speaker's own account.
|
||||
[^39]: Ted Gunderson and Michael Riconosciuto interview notes, file "Folder 7 Acc5516," archive.org item casolaro-notebooks. Undated passage. https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks.
|
||||
[^40]: Letter over the name of Arthur Welmas, headed "CABAZON INDIAN SECURITY /WSI JOINT VENTURE," Indio, California, dated "May 1" (year not printed), Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut-Correspondence." https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks
|
||||
[^14]: Seymour, *The Last Circle*, pp. 344-345, reproducing Riconosciuto's statement of February 16, 1984.
|
||||
[^15]: Seymour, *The Last Circle*, p. 340.
|
||||
[^16]: Transcript of a recorded interview of Michael Riconosciuto by Ted Gunderson, Casolaro papers, Folder 7 (Acc. 5516). https://archive.org/details/ddosecrets_casolaro_files
|
||||
[^17]: INSLAW, Inc., Memorandum to the Record, July 18, 1990, pp. 7-8, Casolaro papers. https://archive.org/details/ddosecrets_casolaro_files
|
||||
[^18]: Seymour, *The Last Circle*, pp. 404-405.
|
||||
[^19]: Bua report, printed pp. 42 to 43 (the four accurately recorded statements, one in the Hamiltons' notes; the May 18, 1990 call and the Iran and Wackenhut Research claims; "the key witness against Brian"). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it, summarizing the Hamiltons' memoranda. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^20]: U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, *The INSLAW Affair: Investigative Report*, H. Rept. 102-857, 102d Cong., 2d sess., September 10, 1992, "2. Sworn Statement of Michael Riconosciuto," pp. 50 to 52 (the affidavit and tape statements on p. 51; the luncheon statement in n. 131 and the storage-facility and GAO passages on p. 52), as the committee summarized the April 4, 1991 sworn statement. The committee also described him as "a self-described computer expert who in the past has been involved with contract computer and munitions work for U.S. intelligence agencies," brought to its attention in June 1990 (p. 50). Official findings and committee summaries of a witness's statements. https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport
|
||||
[^21]: U.S. House of Representatives, H. Rept. 102-857, p. 52 and nn. 131 to 135, citing the General Accounting Office report of November 12, 1991 and the follow-up report of March 23, 1992 on the Riconosciuto media. Official findings as reported by the committee. https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport
|
||||
[^22]: Bua report, printed pp. 49 to 51 (affidavit and trial inconsistencies; the affidavit's "1983 and 1984" statement; the trial testimony of "late 1981" to "early 1983"; the April 20, 1983 delivery and March 1982 contract). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^23]: Bua report, printed p. 73 (conclusion). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^24]: Bua report, printed pp. 70 to 73 (the list of unconfirmed claims, the 1099 forms and photographs, NCIC records, "high degree of familiarity with scientific and technical concepts"). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^25]: Bua report, printed pp. 62 to 63 (the Gilbert report and Baird's registration notes) and p. 66 (Reeder and Westley). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^26]: U.S. House of Representatives, H. Rept. 102-857, section "2. Possible Connection Between Earl Brian, Michael Riconosciuto, Robert Booth Nichols and the Cabazon Indian Reservation," pp. 72 to 73 and nn. 218 to 222, citing the Riverside County District Attorney's Office Special Operations Report of October 10, 1991, pp. 2 to 4, and the *Washington Business Journal*, March 30, 1992. Official findings of the committee. https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport
|
||||
[^27]: U.S. House of Representatives, H. Rept. 102-857, p. 51 and n. 126 (affidavit paragraph on the February 1991 call), and Bua report, printed p. 46 (punishments in the affidavit, including the savings and loan and perjury indictments). Official summaries of a witness's sworn claims. https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport
|
||||
[^28]: Bua report, printed pp. 53 to 54 (Brian and Videnieks, "categorically and under oath denied all the allegations made by Riconosciuto about them"). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^29]: U.S. House of Representatives, H. Rept. 102-857, "D. Department Interferes With Michael Riconosciuto's Sworn Statement to the Committee," pp. 100 to 101 (arrest of March 29, 1991; attorney John Rosellini; the courthouse proposal; the refusal of a sworn non-monitoring statement; the refusal to interview the DEA agents; the timing quotation). Official findings of the committee, placed as its position. https://archive.org/details/InslawAffairInvestigativeReport
|
||||
[^30]: Affidavit of a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent in *United States v. Michael James Riconosciuto*, federal court, Washington, 1991, nine pages, archive.org item USAV.MichaelRiconosciuto. https://archive.org/details/USAV.MichaelRiconosciuto. Only the dates and places stated above are drawn from the document.
|
||||
[^31]: Bua report, printed pp. 66 to 68 ("We are convinced beyond all doubt"; DEA videotapes; the lab; "not sure whether Riconosciuto could tell fact from fiction"). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^32]: Associated Press, "Defendant Says Government Drug Charges Are Part Of Vendetta," January 2, 1992, Seattle Times archive. https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19920102/1468169/defendant-says-government-drug-charges-are-part-of-vendetta
|
||||
[^33]: Bua report, printed pp. 47 to 48 and 53 (trial testimony on PROMIS, the trailer, the yellow shirt and "It's no wonder, this is Videnieks," the tape and "not sure"; the meetings with Videnieks, printed p. 53; sentence of 360 months, "the lowest available sentence under the applicable sentencing guidelines"). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^34]: Associated Press, "Jury Says Guilty," January 19, 1992, Seattle Times archive (the headline continues with the claim of a frame-up and the 20-year term). https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19920119/1471110/jury-says-guilty
|
||||
[^35]: Bua report, printed p. 69 (the lawsuit, Riconosciuto v. Bua, No. 92 C 6217 (N.D. Ill.), dismissed as patently frivolous). The allegations are as the report describes them. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
||||
[^36]: United States v. Riconosciuto, No. 3:91-cr-01034 (W.D. Wash.), docket record filed April 1, 1991, including Doc. 220, judgment on revocation filed August 18, 2017. CourtListener. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/6144038/united-states-v-riconosciuto/
|
||||
[^37]: INSLAW, Inc. v. United States, 39 Fed. Cl. 307 (1997), congressional reference proceeding, hearing officer's report (Miller, H.O.). https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/6763932/inslaw-inc-v-united-states/
|
||||
[^38]: *United States v. Riconosciuto*, No. 92-30200 (9th Cir. October 27, 1993) (unpublished memorandum; submitted August 31, 1993), reported at 9 F.3d 1555. The memorandum is not precedential and affirms the judgment. https://law.resource.org/pub/us/case/reporter/F3/009/9.F3d.1555.92-30200.html
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[^39]: Bua report, printed pp. 68 and 71 to 72 (PCP charge in the early 1970s; "at least as far back as 1972, when he was convicted on a PCP charge"). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
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[^40]: *State v. Riconosciuto*, 12 Wash. App. 350, 529 P.2d 1134 (Wash. Ct. App., Div. One, December 23, 1974), No. 2623-1, judgment affirmed. https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/1172527/state-v-riconosciuto/
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[^41]: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs, news release of September 27, 1994 on the review of the Bua report in the INSLAW matter. Official position of the Department. https://www.justice.gov/archive/opa/pr/Pre_96/September94/555.txt.html
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[^42]: *Riconosciuto v. Langford*, No. 2:17-cv-01088-JAK-AJW (C.D. Cal.), judgment of February 16, 2017, dismissing the petition for a writ of habeas corpus for lack of jurisdiction; respondents the warden and U.S. Probation and Parole. https://archive.org/details/gov.uscourts.cacd.670148
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[^43]: Bua report, printed pp. 40 to 41 (no credible evidence on the Iran hostage allegations) and p. 66 (Brian's New York office and expense records for September 10, 1981). Official finding, placed as the position of the body that issued it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
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[^44]: Bua report, printed p. 53 (Riconosciuto's trial testimony on the pilot plant in Hercules, California, Hercules Research and the Interprobe joint venture). Testimony as the report summarizes it. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
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[^45]: Gunderson interview transcripts, Danny Casolaro papers, Folder 7 (Acc. 5516), archive.org item casolaro-notebooks (the Hercules Research, platinum catalyst and "Special Project" passages). https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks. The speaker's own account.
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[^46]: Ted Gunderson and Michael Riconosciuto interview notes, file "Folder 7 Acc5516," archive.org item casolaro-notebooks. Undated passage. https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks.
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[^47]: Letter over the name of Arthur Welmas, headed "CABAZON INDIAN SECURITY /WSI JOINT VENTURE," Indio, California, dated "May 1" (year not printed), Danny Casolaro papers, folder "Wackenhut-Correspondence." https://archive.org/details/casolaro-notebooks
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@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ relations:
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role: "director, senior vice president, chairman of the investment committee, per Seymour"
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fn: 4
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created: 2024-04-25
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updated: 2026-10-08
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updated: 2026-10-15
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---
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Robert Booth Nichols was born in the [[United States]] on March 3, 1943.[^1] He was a principal source for the journalist [[Danny Casolaro]] in the investigation Casolaro called [[The Octopus]], and the subject of a [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] organized-crime investigation from 1987.[^2][^3]
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@ -66,9 +66,11 @@ Nichols testified in 1993, in his suit against the Los Angeles Police Department
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Telephone records show that Casolaro and Nichols "spoke regularly and at length" in the last months of Casolaro's life, and the two had dinner at a restaurant in Virginia in the early summer of 1991. Nichols told committee investigators he had been "a sounding board" for Casolaro and would not give a sworn statement.[^3] On September 30, 1991, he told Detective Sergeant Swartwood of the Martinsburg police that he thought Casolaro had been murdered and that Riconosciuto "was probably involved in some way." Bua's report noted a January 1993 *Spy* article suggesting that Nichols had Casolaro killed for fear of being exposed as a would-be FBI informant against the Mafia, and found "no evidence that he had anything to do with Mr. Casolaro's death. Furthermore, he was in London on the day that Mr. Casolaro died."[^8] According to Seymour, Nichols had warned Casolaro to drop the investigation and went to Martinsburg to press him in person, Casolaro had confronted him shortly before his death about [[Michael Abbell]] and the Cali cartel, and Nichols later wrote a manuscript, "Danny Casolaro's Octopus."[^4]
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In a telephone interview with the FBI on January 11, 1994, Nichols said that when Casolaro drove him to [[Dulles International Airport]] in the summer of 1991, Casolaro was on the telephone there with [[Joseph Cuellar]], trying to have Cuellar introduce him to Peter Videnieks. Nichols also said that Casolaro described his first meeting with Cuellar as strange, because Cuellar had initiated the conversation at a bar in Northern Virginia.[^11] The 1994 Justice Department review states that Casolaro met Cuellar "by chance" at "The Sign of the Whale" in Arlington, Virginia, and that Cuellar had gone there to meet friends celebrating his return from [[Operation Desert Storm]].[^12]
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### The Bayou Fee
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In the spring of 2004 Nichols offered [[Samuel Israel III]], manager of the Bayou hedge funds, access to what British investigators later described as programs with "all of the hallmarks of fraudulent prime bank note programs." After more than 150 million dollars of Bayou money passed through a London account of the "Humanitarian Coalition Aid Foundation" and back in April 2004, Nichols and Israel signed a "Financial and Security Consultancy Agreement" on July 11, 2004, and on July 19 Israel wired ten million dollars to accounts in Germany, Liechtenstein, Singapore and the [[United Kingdom]] in the name of or controlled by Nichols, about eight million of which ended in a London account in the names of Nichols and his wife, Ellen. The Bayou funds' liquidating entity sued the couple in 2008 to recover the fee as a fraudulent transfer; they answered that he had received it "for value, in good faith and without knowledge of the alleged voidability of the transfer." Nichols was deposed on video at the [[U.S. Attorney's office]] in Manhattan on December 16, 2008, and the case was closed on April 28, 2010.[^1][^11] At the time his address was in Honolulu.[^1]
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In the spring of 2004 Nichols offered [[Samuel Israel III]], manager of the Bayou hedge funds, access to what British investigators later described as programs with "all of the hallmarks of fraudulent prime bank note programs." After more than 150 million dollars of Bayou money passed through a London account of the "Humanitarian Coalition Aid Foundation" and back in April 2004, Nichols and Israel signed a "Financial and Security Consultancy Agreement" on July 11, 2004, and on July 19 Israel wired ten million dollars to accounts in Germany, Liechtenstein, Singapore and the [[United Kingdom]] in the name of or controlled by Nichols, about eight million of which ended in a London account in the names of Nichols and his wife, Ellen. The Bayou funds' liquidating entity sued the couple in 2008 to recover the fee as a fraudulent transfer; they answered that he had received it "for value, in good faith and without knowledge of the alleged voidability of the transfer." Nichols was deposed on video at the [[U.S. Attorney's office]] in Manhattan on December 16, 2008, and the case was closed on April 28, 2010.[^1][^13] At the time his address was in Honolulu.[^1]
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### Footnotes
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@ -82,4 +84,6 @@ In the spring of 2004 Nichols offered [[Samuel Israel III]], manager of the Bayo
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[^8]: U.S. Department of Justice. *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua,* March 1993 (Riconosciuto's credibility), and section "Involvement of Robert Booth Nichols," pp. 157-159 and note 58 (p. 159), citing *Booth Nichols v. City of Los Angeles,* No. NCC 31322B, trial transcript, March 11, 1993. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
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[^9]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal.* TrineDay, 2010, chapter 22.
|
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[^10]: Connolly, John. "The Story That Killed Danny Casolaro." *Spy,* January 1993. https://archive.org/details/SpyMagazine
|
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[^11]: Nichols, Robert Booth. Videotaped deposition, December 16, 2008, *United States v. Samuel Israel III,* 05 Cr. 1039 (S.D.N.Y.), and *Bayou Management, LLC v. Nichols.* https://archive.org/details/robert-booth-nichols ; docket, *Bayou Management, LLC v. Nichols,* 1:08-cv-06036 (S.D.N.Y.), filed July 2, 2008, terminated April 28, 2010, CourtListener.
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[^11]: Federal Bureau of Investigation memorandum summarizing a telephone interview with Robert Booth Nichols conducted January 11, 1994, DOCID 70098626, release pp. 113-114. https://archive.org/details/JohnC.DwyerNotesOnInslaw
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[^12]: U.S. Department of Justice. Review of the *Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua*, September 27, 1994, pp. 160-161. https://archive.org/details/doj-oip-inslaw-1993
|
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[^13]: Nichols, Robert Booth. Videotaped deposition, December 16, 2008, *United States v. Samuel Israel III,* 05 Cr. 1039 (S.D.N.Y.), and *Bayou Management, LLC v. Nichols.* https://archive.org/details/robert-booth-nichols ; docket, *Bayou Management, LLC v. Nichols,* 1:08-cv-06036 (S.D.N.Y.), filed July 2, 2008, terminated April 28, 2010, CourtListener.
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