FBI Case File Review

Retired agent Raj Patel reviews the 2019 Sri Lanka Easter bombing case where 8 suicide subjects inspired by ISIS detonated themselves in three large Western hotels and three churches, killing approximately 270 people, including five Americans. Raj and other members of the team won the 2021 Director Award for Most Outstanding International Investigation. He served in the FBI for 20 years. Check out...

Retired agent Tony Mozingo reviews his investigation and fugitive hunt for Craig T. McFarland, a developer who defrauded banks of nearly $20 million in the late 70s and 80s. The extensive manhunt spanned multiple countries. He is the author of Beyond the Badge: One Man, Two Lives, to be published on September 12.  Check out the episode show notes, photos, and related articles:   https://jerriwilli...

Retired agent Kathy Adams reviews the rescue of a restaurant owner who was kidnapped for ransom at gunpoint from his Champaign, Illinois, Mexican restaurant and held for five days in September 2006. Using cell site analysis during the multi-state investigation, Kathy, along with FBI agents assigned to Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin and FBI Headquarters, along with investigators from the Champaig...

Retired agent Stacey Perkins reviews one of the very first international Innocent Images cases, the investigation of Dmitry Bron, who, using the code name "Nanny 69," ran an international internet site named the Orchild Club in Virginia Beach that offered some 15,000 images of graphic child pornography. Stacey worked and managed the Innocent Images program for over two-thirds of her FBI career. Sh...

Retired agent Robert D'Amico reviews his involvement, as a member of the FBI's elite Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), in a Navy SEAL's mission to rescue four Americans taken hostage by Somali pirates on their sailboat The Quest, and, after the mission's deadly outcome, his capture of the pirates' shore-based negotiator.  Rob's overseas deployment took place when he served as the FBI HRT's tactical liais...

Retired agent Katherine Schweit reviews Operation UNITED, the largest coordinated exhumation of unidentified murder victims in FBI history. Detroit Police Detective Shannon Jones and FBI Special Agent Leslie Larsen spearheaded the initiative. Their primary goal was to identify the nameless dead and bring closure to families who had spent decades wondering what happened to their loved ones. Their u...

Retired agent Bryan Travers reviews his investigation of Alfred Scarpa, for illegally selling anabolic steroids, which he manufactured and stored in the basement of his residence. The case was part of Operation Raw Deal, a nationwide DEA led investigation and take-down of individuals illegally manufacturing and trafficking anabolic steroids and its raw materials, mainly from China, along with the...

Retired agent Mark Horton reviews Operation Impunity, an undercover investigation that targeted the New Breed Black Gangsters. The street gang was based in the Square, a Chicago housing complex plagued with gang violence and an open-air drug market. The faction of the Breeds operated with impunity, committing murders and selling drugs with no fear of law enforcement.  In 2004, the CPD) area 4 Gang...

On this special episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with executive producer and showrunner Latoya Morgan and lead actress Rachel Hilson about DUSTER, the new TV series from JJ Abrams and Latoya Morgan now streaming on HBO Max. Set in the 1970s Southwest, the show follows the first black female FBI agent as she takes on a crime syndicate by teaming up with a gutsy getaway driver. I'm an FBI co...

Retired agent Martin Reardon reviews his Unlawful Flight to Avoid Prosecution (UFAP) nationwide manhunt for a child predator wanted for the 1995 kidnapping and rape of a 9-year-old girl. Released from state prison just weeks earlier, Rickey Allen Bright had served 15 years of a life sentence for a 1979 offense involving a 6-year-old girl. Due to the heinous nature of the offense and his previous c...

Retired agent Tracey Harris Branch reviews a hate crime investigation of the murder of Memphis Code Enforcement Officer Mickey Wright, killed in the line of duty because of his race. The subject of the investigation, Dale Mardis, was a self-proclaimed racist with anti-government views. Initially, Mardis was convicted of the local murder by the state of Tennessee, which resulted in him receiving a...

Retired agent Phillip Partin and Lubbock Police Detective Derick Smith review an abduction case where the subject threatened to expose explicit photos of a 14-year-old missing girl and harm her family, to coerce her to leave Texas and travel to Michigan with him. The FBI's Cellular Analysis Survey Team (CAST) was called in to assist with the case. By tracking their phones, the unknown male abducto...

Retired agent Kelly Liberti-Gardner reviews her investigation to identify and apprehend the unknown male who abducted a six-year-old girl from her home and abused her before releasing her in a different neighborhood 17 hours later. Using historical cell phone analysis and familial DNA, also known as investigative genetic genealogy, the unknown male was identified. This case marked the first use of...

Retired agents Lou Calvarese and Melissa Fortunato review their undercover roles in Operation Royal Charm, an investigation that used an undercover wedding ruse to dismantle an international smuggling ring bringing into the U.S. illegal drugs, cigarettes, and counterfeit $100 bills, known as North Korean "super notes," and conspiring to smuggle in weapons from North Korea as well. Task force membe...

Retired agent Mike Campi reviews his investigation of the Genovese crime family based on the cooperation of Michael "Cookie" D'Urso, a mafia associate who became a confidential source after he was shot in the head and left for dead. D'Urso worked with Mike Campi, recording the crimes of his fellow gangsters on a scale never seen before. Mike served in the FBI for 24 years. Check out episode show n...

Retired agent Scott Payne reviews his undercover role in Operation Roadkill, an FBI Boston Division investigation targeting members and associates of the local Taunton and Brockton, Massachusetts chapters of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. In this undercover role, Scott became Scott Callaway, a Harley-loving, whiskey-drinking, site survey specialist from Texas. His two-year-long role in the case cont...

Retired agents Elizabeth "Liz" Mireles and Edmundo "Ed" Mireles, Jr. review the 1983 kidnapping conspiracy case where the wife of a former Colombian Ambassador to the United States, was abducted at gunpoint from the driveway of her home near Miami. The investigation took place in Miami, Alexandria, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Liz and Ed were among the hundreds of FBI agents working 24/7 to find...

Retired agent Michael di Pretoro reviews his case assignments overseas as a Legal Attaché representing the FBI in Asia (Manila and Hong Kong) and Russia. As a former Deputy Assistant Director (DAD) in charge of International Operations, he also reviews the evolution of the Legat program. Mike served in the FBI for 30 years. Check out episode show notes, photos, and related articles:  https://jerri...

Retired agent David Gates reviews the investigation of the November 2013 Terminal 3 active shooter incident at the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The shooting rampage resulted in the line of duty murder of Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Officer Gerardo Hernandez. Two other TSA officers were wounded, along with a passenger. This episode is dedicated to TSA Officer Gerardo He...

In this episode, retired agent Tom Burg reviews his domestic terrorism case about a 1970s conspiracy to overthrow the U.S. government with laser weaponry. During the three-year-long case, a Wausau, Wisconsin scientist was recruited as a cooperating witness. He provided invaluable information about the activities of dangerous right-wing extremists, who included a chemist, a Wisconsin assemblyman, a...

In part two of this two-part episode, retired agents Kevin Constantine and Mike Carazza, along with retired Boston Police Department (BPD) superintendent Frank Mancini, review the conclusion of their joint public corruption investigation of corrupt BPD police officers involved in the protection of shipments of multi-kilogram loads of cocaine. The Miami Division SWAT team and legendary undercover a...

In part one of this two-part episode, retired agents Kevin Constantine and Mike Carazza, along with retired Boston Police Department (BPD) superintendent Frank Mancini, review their joint public corruption investigation of BPD police officers involved in criminal acts. The officers engaged in identity theft, drug distribution, prostitution, obstruction of justice, robbery, threats, assault and bat...

FBI Director Christopher Wray recently announced he will resign from his position in January 2025. Two highlights of my post-FBI retirement career producing and hosting FBI Retired Case File Review are speaking one on one with Director Wray for the celebration of the 300th episode of FBI Retired Case File Review and having the honor of sitting next to him at the 2021 FBIAA G-Man Honors awards dinn...

Retired agent Geoffrey Kelly reviews the FBI's elite Art Crime Team and his investigation of Robert Mardirosian for possession of stolen art and the recovery, over 30 years after the crime occurred, of a Cezanne painting valued at over $29 million and other artwork stolen during the nation's largest residential art burglary. Geoff was one of the original members of the Art Crime Team, which was fo...

Retired agent David Gates reviews two investigations involving sexual assaults committed on board airplanes. He also provides tips to identify and raise awareness of this safety issue on flights. David spent most of his Bureau career assigned to the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). When he retired, he was considered one of the FBI's experts in crimes on board aircraft. David Gates served i...