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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. |
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 and reportedly did some contract work for the Central Intelligence Agency during the 1960s and early 1970s. He also worked briefly for the DEA (or its antecedent agency) in California before leaving government service to attend law school.1
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
Boyak maintained contacts and performed legal work for former colleagues from his Green Beret and Central Intelligence Agency days, including Art Suchesk, who ran a Central Intelligence Agency proprietary company called Hoffman Electronics.1
Involvement with Robert Booth Nichols
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
After consulting with Dexter Leitenen, then an assistant United States Attorney, Boyak went to the Los Angeles Federal Bureau of Investigation office with his suspicions about Nichols' activities. However, an Federal Bureau of Investigation 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
Over the next two years, after the Los Angeles Federal Bureau of Investigation 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
Connection to Michael Riconosciuto
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
Footnotes
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Seymour, Cheri. The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010. ↩︎