30 lines
No EOL
3.7 KiB
Markdown
30 lines
No EOL
3.7 KiB
Markdown
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category: "Law Enforcement & Legal"
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tags:
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- Person
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- Lawyer
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- LawEnforcement
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summary: "After law school, Boyak joined a Hollywood law firm and became involved in criminal defense work, representing a number of 'well placed West Coast drug traffickers.' He later moved to Utah, maintaining a part-time law practice in California."
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---
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[[Allan Boyak]] is an attorney from [[Utah]] who represented [[Michael Riconosciuto]] in his drug case. Boyak had a background in the [[United States Army Special Forces|U.S. Army Special Forces]] and reportedly did some contract work for the [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] during the 1960s and early 1970s. He also worked briefly for the [[DEA|DEA]] (or its antecedent agency) in [[California]] before leaving government service to attend law school.[^1]
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After law school, Boyak joined a Hollywood law firm and became involved in criminal defense work, representing a number of "well placed West Coast drug traffickers." He later moved to [[Utah]], maintaining a part-time law practice in [[California]].[^1]
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Boyak maintained contacts and performed legal work for former colleagues from his Green Beret and [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] days, including [[Art Suchesk]], who ran a [[Central Intelligence Agency|CIA]] proprietary company called Hoffman Electronics.[^1]
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### Involvement with Robert Booth Nichols
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Boyak became involved with [[Robert Booth Nichols]] when one of his clients, [[Cap Kressop]], a technical wizard, was approached by Nichols to manufacture a prototype laser site for a rifle. Kressop became suspicious when Nichols offered to pay him $200,000 in cash. Boyak contacted Nichols at his Marina Del Rey home/office, and their meeting was continuously interrupted by telephone calls and telex messages. Boyak became convinced that Nichols was involved in large-scale illegal drug operations.[^1]
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After consulting with [[Dexter Lehtinen]], then an assistant [[United States Attorney|U.S. Attorney]], Boyak went to the Los Angeles [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] office with his suspicions about Nichols' activities. However, an [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] background check on Nichols, reportedly conducted by [[Ted Gunderson]], found him "squeaky clean." Boyak later discovered that [[Harold Okimoto]], whom Nichols referenced as a business associate and personal friend, was believed by some of Boyak's sources to be a top Japanese organized crime figure based in [[Hawaii]] and a top agent in the [[Yakuza]] overseas.[^1]
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Over the next two years, after the Los Angeles [[Federal Bureau of Investigation|FBI]] dropped its interest in Nichols, Boyak's friend [[Art Suchesk]] repeatedly encountered Nichols in places like [[Singapore]], the [[Philippines]], and [[Taiwan]]. Boyak stated that information developed during this period indicated that Nichols was indeed a "bigtime drug dealer" who operated exclusively overseas and was well-insulated from U.S. law enforcement problems. Boyak described Nichols' rum importing business as a cover for large-scale heroin trafficking from the [[Golden Triangle]]. Nichols was also named as "Mr. Big" in the [[Medellin Cartel]] in drug prosecutions in [[Utah]] and [[Los Angeles]].[^1]
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### Connection to Michael Riconosciuto
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Boyak received a telephone call from [[Michael Riconosciuto]] who identified himself as a former employee of [[Robert Booth Nichols]] and referenced [[Ted Gunderson]] as a "mutual friend." In April 1991, Boyak received another call from Gunderson, informing him that [[Michael Riconosciuto]] was "in trouble" and "caught in a government frame-up."[^1]
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### Footnotes
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[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010. |