FBI Case File Review

Retired agents Jim Sweeney and Rich Macko review the March 16, 1994, Broad Street shootout where Rich Macko and another agent were shot and seriously injured, and a drug gang member killed after a violent confrontation that occurred while the agents were attempting a car stop. The surviving gang members had to be tried twice for the attempted assassination of federal officers. FBI Director Louie F...

Retired agent Warren Flagg reviews a pet cemetery scam he investigated where burial grounds containing up to 250,000 carcasses of deceased dogs and cats were discovered in the woods behind a pet memorial park. The subjects, a father and son, were convicted of mail fraud based on the premiums they collected to individually bury or cremate pets when they instead dumped them into mass cremations and...

Retired agent Wayne Manis reviews his investigation of "The Order," a white supremacist terrorist group, also known as the Silent Brotherhood, that operated in the Pacific Northwest in the early to mid-1980s. The pursuit of these terrorists consumed five years of Wayne Manis's career as he tracked their assassinations, armored car robberies, bombings and counterfeiting activities. The hunt came to...

Retired agent Garland Schweickhardt reviews a case where he went undercover during a five-year sting targeting organized crime's influence over labor unions in the film industry. During the investigation code-named Dramex for "Drama Expose," Garland Schweickhardt posed as Garland Hoffner, an investment consultant for wealthy individuals who wanted to produce a non-union film. The case was later fi...

Retired agent Scott Duffey reviews a bank robbery case involving a Russian national that morphed into a strange murder investigation. In the process of gathering evidence to charge Dmitry Pronin with bank robbery, Scott discovered that just days before the bank was robbed, Pronin's mother had gone missing. Yulia Pogrebenko had just arrived in the U.S. from Russia to visit her son. Approximately fi...

Retired agent Lauren Anderson reviews the assistance the FBI provided to the Moroccan government directly after the 2003 Casablanca bombings, which resulted in 41 fatalities at five different sites. At the time, she was the Legal Attaché (LEGAT) in Paris, France, where, in addition to France, she directed the FBI's engagement with, and operations in Monaco and twenty-two African nations. After her...

Retired agent Peter Welsh reviews his 1974 investigation of the kidnapping of 12-year-old Jan Broberg, who was abducted by Bob Berchtold, a trusted and close family friend. Pete Welsh spent three years trying to unravel the bizarre twist and turns of the case. Pete was interviewed on camera for the Netflix documentary, Abducted In Plain Sight , about the Jan Broberg kidnapping. It was during the f...

Former agent Ali Soufan reviews his investigation of the attack on the USS Cole, where suicide terrorists exploded a small boat alongside the Navy Destroyer—as it was refueling in the Yemeni port of Aden. The blast ripped a 40-foot-wide hole near the waterline of the Cole, killing 17 American sailors and injuring many more. Ali also talks about the events surrounding 9/11 and his New York Times to...

Special Agent Cerena Coughlin, an FBI recruiter for the Philadelphia Division, provides answers to questions about the FBI sent in by FBI Retired Case File Review listeners interested in applying to become analysts and specials agents with the FBI. All potential FBI Special Agent candidates must start the application process online at  FBIJobs.gov. Special Agent Cerena Coughlin has been with the F...

Retired agent Robert "Bob" Clifford reviews an extra-territorial jurisdiction case from early in his career when he was assigned as a technical adviser embedded in Bolivia with a Bolivian police counter-terrorism team to capture the terrorist responsible for the murder of two Mormon missionaries and the attempted assignation of U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz. Check out episode show notes, p...

Retired agent Debra LaPrevotte reviews the initiation of the FBI's Kleptocracy program and seizing more than $1 billion from corrupt foreign officials, including the recovering $630 million of Nigerian government funds stolen by General Sani Abacha, former President of Nigeria. Debra, who has a Master's Degree in Forensic Science, also talks about serving for several years on the Evidence Response...

Retired agent William "Bill" Plunkett reviews the 1929 Bureau of Investigation case featuring the mysterious death of Virginia McPherson; attractive young nurse found semi-nude in her apartment with a pajama cord around her neck. The case was initially investigated by the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Police, but after a public outcry when Virginia's death was ruled a suicide, Director Hoover's G-M...

In part two of this two-part episode, retired agent Robert Herndon reviews an anti-trust corporate fraud investigation involving Archer Daniels Midland, a global food processing corporation operating a price-fixing scheme to steal millions of dollars from its customers. Herndon also discusses Mark Whitacre, his rogue cooperating witness who had a hidden agenda that nearly destroyed the careers of...

In part one of this two-part episode, retired agent Robert Herndon continues his review of an anti-trust corporate fraud investigation involving Archer Daniels Midland, a global food processing corporation operating a price-fixing scheme to steal millions of dollars from its customers. Herndon also discusses Mark Whitacre, his rogue cooperating witness who had a hidden agenda that nearly destroyed...

Retired agent Judy Tyler reviews her hunt for fugitive Jack Saltarelli, who was fleeing a 20-year sentence for distribution of methamphetamine in Mississippi and his subsequent cooperation in her taking down a farmhouse meth lab in the Pocono mountains. The drug raid resulted in the arrest of nine individuals.  Check out episode show notes, photos, and related articles. https://jerriwilliams.com/e...

Retired agent Eugene Casey reviews Operation Utah Powder, a Colombian drug money laundering investigation that resulted in numerous international convictions and for which he received a distinguished service medal from the Salt Lake City Police Department. After Eugene was transferred to the New York Office, he supervised the money laundering squad and, ironically, a case that had spun off from Op...

Retired agent Bill Vanderpool, an instructor in the Firearms Training Unit, reviews his experience and years of research on the evolution of the bureau's firearms, equipment, training facilities, and tactics. His book, Guns of the FBI: A History of the Bureau's Firearms and Training, is a comprehensive study for history buffs and gun collectors. With eleven years with the State of Florida as a vic...

Retired agent Dennis Lormel reviews terrorist financing and money laundering. Shortly before the 9/11 attacks, he was promoted to Chief of the FBI's Financial Crimes Program. After the attacks, he immediately established an investigative organization within the FBI that, within days, identified the funding stream that supported the terrorist attack. His efforts evolved into the formation of a form...

Retired agent Michael McGowan reviews his memoir, Ghost – My Thirty Years as an FBI Undercover Agent , that recaps his experience working undercover against some of the most dangerous, sophisticated, and notorious criminal organizations and individuals throughout the world, participating in over 50 FBI Undercover Operations. He successfully infiltrated Italian LCN and Russian Organized Crime group...

Former agent Asha Rangappa reviews Russian interference and how the FBI's counterintelligence agents, along with the entire intelligence community, are addressing the threat. During her time in the Bureau, Asha Rangappa assessed threats to national security, conducted classified investigations on suspected foreign agents, and performed undercover work. She gained experience in intelligence tradecr...

Retired agent Bill Kinane reviews the five years he served as the Assistant Legal Attaché (ALAT) and the Legal Attaché (LEGAT) of the FBI's Office in Moscow, Russia, the first-ever official Bureau presence in the country. The office was opened at the invitation of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and Bill Kinane established a working relationship with the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Secur...

Retired agent Timothy Tracy reviews his Kentucky mortgage fraud case where the main subjects, son Bill and father Tony Erpenbeck received multi-year sentences for obstruction of justice and the father was sentenced to additional years of incarceration for threatening to kill the judge and prosecutor, and kidnap Tim Tracy's young children. The investigation, one of the last cases Tim Tracy worked p...

In part two of this two-part, retired agents Ray Morrow and Dan Estrem review their Cleveland Police Corruption case where Ray served as the undercover agent, and Dan was the case agent. The major undercover operation was developed to gather evidence on corrupt police officers who were accepting payments to act as lookouts and protect illegal gambling dens. Ray and Dan set up two casinos, which we...

In part one of this two-part, retired agents Ray Morrow and Dan Estrem review their Cleveland Police Corruption case where Ray served as the undercover agent, and Dan was the case agent. The major undercover operation was developed to gather evidence on corrupt police officers who were accepting payments to act as lookouts and protect illegal gambling dens. Ray and Dan set up two casinos, which we...

Retired agent Mark Thundercloud reviews the case of an American mother and son, Gerfa and Kevin Lunsmann, kidnapped by terrorist organization Abu Sayyaf while visiting relatives in the Philippines. Thundercloud also talks about his role in the rescue from Somali pirates of Richard Phillips, the captain of the Maersk Alabama, a commercial vessel. Thundercloud received the FBI Director's Meritorious...