The_Info_Web/10 - PEOPLE/(N-S)/Thomas Olmstead.md

category	tags	summary	updated	relations
Law Enforcement & Legal	Person PROMIS DoJ Lawyer INSLAW	Olmstead questioned Peter Videnieks during the trial about his knowledge of the Wackenhut Corporation-Cabazon Indian Reservation joint venture, his relationship with Earl Brian, and his involvement with Hadron Company.	2026-10-15	type with start end role fn represented Michael Riconosciuto 1991 1992 trial counsel in the Tacoma drug case 3

Thomas Olmstead was the attorney for Michael Riconosciuto. He represented Riconosciuto during his trial in Tacoma, Washington, where Riconosciuto's defense rested on his ability to prove he worked for the United States in intelligence and undercover operations.¹

Olmstead questioned Peter Videnieks during the trial about his knowledge of the Wackenhut Corporation-Cabazon Indian Reservation joint venture, his relationship with Earl Brian, and his involvement with Hadron Company. He also pressed Videnieks on "Modification No. 12" of the PROMIS software and the bankruptcy court's ruling that the Department of Justice had "stolen" PROMIS from INSLAW through Videnieks' handling of it.¹

Michael Riconosciuto communicated with Cheri Seymour and J.H. (an Federal Bureau of Investigation agent) to convey information that Olmstead could use in his defense, including details about "The Company" and Riconosciuto's attempts to enter the Witness Protection Program.¹

Trial and verdict, January 1992

A federal jury in Tacoma convicted Michael Riconosciuto on seven drug counts on January 17, 1992, and acquitted him on three others. Olmstead and his client branded four videotapes, which showed drugs being delivered to a government informer, as fake. The Associated Press reported at the opening of the trial that Olmstead told the jury Riconosciuto was the victim of a government plot, that the chemicals found near Tonasket were used to extract platinum from mining wastes, and that the defense would offer expert testimony that recordings can be altered.² It reported at the verdict that Olmstead said he would decide whether to appeal after the sentencing set for March 20, 1992.³

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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. ↩︎

2. 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 ↩︎

3. Associated Press, "Jury Says Guilty," January 19, 1992, Seattle Times archive. https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19920119/1471110/jury-says-guilty ↩︎