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Former president of Armtec Defense Products, the Army's sole combustible cartridge casing supplier, who advised the Cabazon-Wackenhut joint venture and was a witness in the Justice Department's INSLAW inquiry. | 2026-09-22 |
Peter Zokosky was an arms manufacturer and a key figure in various covert operations and business ventures, often associated with Robert Booth Nichols and Michael Riconosciuto. He was a former president of Armtec, a company that produced combustible cartridge cases for the Army, and was under a non-compete agreement with them until August 1981. Zokosky also served as a consultant to the Great Britain on shell casings.1
The Justice Department Inquiry
Zokosky told the Department of Justice's special counsel, Nicholas Bua, that he was the former president of Armtec Defense Products of Coachella, California, which in the early 1980s was the single-source supplier of combustible cartridge casings to the Army. He took people from the Cabazon-Wackenhut Corporation joint venture to Picatinny Arsenal in Dover, New Jersey, to meet Dr. Harry Fair and the Army project officer R. Scott Westley, whom he knew from Armtec, about establishing a second-source casing plant on the reservation. Robert Frye recalled first meeting Michael Riconosciuto on a trip to the arsenal in May 1981; Zokosky agreed there was a May trip but said Riconosciuto was not on it and that Frye met him on a second trip in October 1981.2
Bua examined the "Special Operations Report" titled "Nicaraguans and Earl Brian at Lake Cahuilla, 9/10/81," which placed Earl Brian at the joint venture's weapons demonstration of September 10, 1981. He found it had been typed on October 10, 1991, by Gene Gilbert, an investigator for the Riverside County District Attorney, after a jailhouse interview with Riconosciuto, and that all its information except license plate numbers came from Riconosciuto; the former Indio officer Dave Baird, who had memorized the plates at the demonstration, did not identify Brian as Gilbert's later report said. Gilbert told Bua that had he known the stir it would cause he "would have left Earl Brian's name out."2
Involvement in Cabazon/Wackenhut Joint Venture
Zokosky was a key participant in the Cabazon Indian Reservation/Wackenhut Corporation Joint Venture, which aimed to develop and manufacture arms on the reservation. He was considered crucial due to his expertise in the slurry process involved in combustible cartridge cases. He met with Michael Riconosciuto, Dr. John Philip Nichols, and Robert Frye at Picatinny Arsenal in May 1981, where Riconosciuto demonstrated his scientific and technical knowledge of weapons systems, particularly on a Railgun. Zokosky was also present at the September 10, 1981, Lake Cahuilla weapons demonstration in Indio, California, where night-vision goggles and rifles were tested for Iran-Contra Affair leaders.1
Biological Warfare Technology
Zokosky was involved in the proposed development of biological warfare "viruses" at Stormont Laboratories, allegedly developed in cow uteri. He, along with Robert Booth Nichols, presented a proposal to develop biological warfare technology and anti-toxin kits to the Army (Dr. Harry Fair at Picatinny Arsenal) and to FMC Corporation. This technology was described as capable of selectively wiping out segments of humanity with appropriate genetic material. Zokosky also discussed incubating viruses in fish tanks at Hercules Research, where Michael Riconosciuto allegedly worked on the same technology.1
Connections to Robert Booth Nichols and Meridian International Logistics
Zokosky was a board member of Meridian International Logistics, a holding company headed by Robert Booth Nichols. He stated that MIL was a "front company" used to funnel money to its board of directors, with funds allegedly coming from the NSA, partly from drug profits. He believed that Robert Booth Nichols worked for the National Security Council and NSA, doing "contract work" for various government agencies, and that Nichols handled "corporate and government" transactions related to narcotics at a higher level.1
Zokosky and Nichols were involved in a proposed joint venture with FMC Corporation, where Michael Riconosciuto was Vice President of Meridian Arms. Zokosky also discussed Robert Booth Nichols and Michael Riconosciuto conducting business in Australia, which he thought had something to do with the Nugan Hand Bank.1
Role in "The Octopus" Investigation
Peter Zokosky was a key source for Cheri Seymour's investigation into "The Octopus." He provided Seymour with a copy of the "Special Operations [Surveillance] Report" on the Lake Cahuilla meeting, which he had obtained from a friend in Washington, D.C., the document the special counsel had traced to Gilbert's 1991 interview with Riconosciuto. He also provided an audio-taped conversation with Michael Riconosciuto narrating the murders of Paul Morasca and Mary Quick, and their connection to drug operations. Zokosky stated that Paul Morasca was killed due to a "narcotics deal" gone awry and his involvement in laundering drug profits.1
Zokosky was initially defensive about Danny Casolaro's death, stating he believed Casolaro committed suicide, though his wife, Regina Zokosky, indicated he had previously said otherwise. He allowed Cheri Seymour and Kelly O'Meara to review a manuscript written by Robert Booth Nichols about Danny Casolaro's death, titled "Danny Casolaro's Octopus."1
He also provided Cheri Seymour with a handwritten "Time Line" outlining a chronology of events from 1981 to 1985, which proved helpful in the investigation of the Fred Alvarez triple murders. Zokosky confirmed that Dr. John Philip Nichols had an alibi for the Alvarez murders, as he was in Canada with Zokosky at the time.1
Other Connections
Zokosky claimed to have served in ONI (Office of Naval Intelligence) in submarines during World War II and performed "remote viewing" for the military between the 1950s and 1970s at Hewlett Packard Corporation. He also identified himself as a psychic and a member of the Psychic Association of London, using Tarot Cards for readings.1
He was an investor in the Cabazon Indian Reservation and a skeet range, though he stated that the Mob built the Casino for the Cabazons. He also testified on behalf of Patrick McGuire at the Montana Freeman trial.1
Footnotes
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Seymour, Cheri. The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro's Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal. TrineDay, 2010. Sole source for the passages so cited. The special counsel's report records the Picatinny meeting date as disputed and found no support for the presence of Contra leaders or Earl Brian at Lake Cahuilla. ↩︎
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U.S. Department of Justice. Report of Special Counsel Nicholas J. Bua to the Attorney General of the United States Regarding the Allegations of INSLAW, Inc., March 1993, pp. 56-64. ↩︎