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Peter Videnieks was a United States Customs Service contract specialist who was detailed to the United States Department of Justice in the early 1980s to develop the PROMIS software. He later became a central figure in the PROMIS Software Scandal.1
Role in PROMIS Software Scandal
Videnieks administered the INSLAW contract with the government, which involved conducting competitive procurement, negotiating and awarding contracts, and administering them to ensure proper performance. His employment history included work with the Internal Revenue Service, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and United States Customs Service, before and after his tenure at the United States Department of Justice.1
Michael Riconosciuto claimed that Earl Brian made a copy of the PROMIS software available to him through Wackenhut Corporation after acquiring it from Videnieks, who was then a United States Department of Justice contracting official with responsibility for the PROMIS software. Riconosciuto performed modifications to PROMIS in Indio, California; Silver Spring, Maryland; and Miami, Florida, with the purpose of supporting a plan for its worldwide implementation in law enforcement and intelligence agencies.1
In February 1991, Videnieks, still employed by the United States Department of Justice, allegedly attempted to persuade Michael Riconosciuto not to cooperate with an independent investigation of the government's piracy of INSLAW's proprietary PROMIS software, being conducted by the United States House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary. Videnieks reportedly offered rewards for non-cooperation and threatened specific punishments, including future inclusion of Riconosciuto and his father in a criminal prosecution related to a savings and loan institution, and prosecution for perjury if he testified.1
During Michael Riconosciuto's trial in Tacoma, Washington, Videnieks testified about his contact with the PROMIS software but denied ever hearing of the Wackenhut Corporation-Cabazon Indian Reservation joint venture or meeting Earl Brian. He was evasive when questioned about his involvement with Hadron Company, which was owned by Earl Brian at the time of the court proceedings. Videnieks also refused to discuss "Modification No. 12" of the PROMIS software until the original INSLAW contract was produced, and acknowledged that a bankruptcy court had ruled that the United States Department of Justice had "stolen" PROMIS from INSLAW through his handling of Modification No. 12, though he noted this record was later erased.1
Connections to Danny Casolaro's Investigation
Danny Casolaro was intent on interviewing Videnieks. A week before Casolaro's death, a man named Joseph Cuellar approached Casolaro, claiming to be a Special Forces operative, and offered to arrange a meeting between Videnieks and Casolaro. Cuellar's connection to Videnieks allegedly came through Videnieks' wife, Barbara, who was the executive assistant to Senator Robert Byrd.1
Despite the allegations and his central role in the PROMIS Software Scandal, Videnieks was never charged with any wrongdoing. Scott Lawrence's investigation into corruption within United States Customs Service, which involved Videnieks, was abruptly shut down when Lawrence and his supervisor requested to impanel grand juries to depose Central Intelligence Agency officials.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. ↩︎