FBI Case File Review

Retired agent John Schachnovsky recounts his role in the investigation of the suspicious death of the actor David Carradine, the identification of frozen body parts discovered in a freezer in Bangkok, and a fraudulent financial transaction which originated in Memphis, Tennessee, but was resolved in a local Thai bank.  John wrote about these investigations and many more in his memoi r ,  Beyond the...

Retired agent Séamus McElearney reviews his investigation of the DeCavalcante crime family—infamously known as "the real Sopranos"—and how he convinced Anthony Capo, a violent soldier in the DeCavalcante family to become the first made member in the family's century-long history to cooperate with law enforcement. Séamus is the author of Flipping Capo: How the FBI Dismantled the Real Sopranos. He s...

Retired agent Brian Herrick and retired Assistant United States Attorney (AUSA) Michael Levy review the computer hacking investigation and prosecution of former Philadelphia CBS affiliate news anchor Larry Mendte who hacked into the email accounts of his co-anchor Alycia Lane and leaked private information about her to the media. Mendte was charged with intentionally accessing a protected computer...

In this encore episode of FBI Case File Review, John reviews the November 22, 1994, ambush at the DC Metro Police Headquarters where a gunman killed SAs Martha Dixon and Michael Miller, and MPD Sgt. Henry "Hank" Daly and John survived multiple gunshot wounds to the heart, liver, kidney, lung, arm and leg. For his actions that day, he was awarded the FBI Medal of Valor and U.S. Attorney General's A...

Retired agent and former FBI art crime team leader Tim Carpenter reviews his case where 5,000 illegally collected cultural artifacts and two thousand human burial remains were seized from the Midwestern home of grave robber Don Miller. Many of the pieces in Miller's illicit collection of over 42,000 items were looted from sacred burial and cultural heritage sites around the world. Tim and his team...

Retired agent John McMurtrie reviews his police corruption investigation where drug dealers operating in Eufaula, Alabama, complained about being extorted by members of the Eufaula Police Department. The dealers cooperated and made consensual recordings that led to the arrest and conviction of a police captain, his lieutenant, and the local district attorney for the extortion scheme. John also rev...

Retired agent Steve Conley reviews his investigation of the 18-year period in which Katrina Leung, one of the Bureau's highest-paid assets, was operated by former FBI Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) James J. Smith, known as JJ. Katrina Leung's code name was Parlor Maid. Steve's investigation determined that during the time Smith was Leung's handler, not only was she actively spying for the People'...

Retired agent Carrie Landau reviews her sex trafficking investigation of the man who had held sixteen-year-old Desiree Robinson against her will and trafficked her for sex on the website Backpage. Desiree was murdered by a man who answered the online advertisement.  Carrie Landau served in the FBI for 21 years. During her Bureau career, she specialized in Crimes Against Children and Human Traffick...

Retired agent Martin Suarez reviews his nearly seven-year undercover role infiltrating from inside the cartels.  During Operation Colaboro,  using the alias "Manny," he smuggled millions of dollars' worth of cocaine for the Medellín Cartel, all of which was seized by the FBI after delivery. During Operation Golden Trash, Martin became a high-level money launderer for the North Coast Cartel. When t...

Retired agent Jeremy Rebmann reviews three SWAT operations he took part in as a sniper on the Oklahoma City FBI SWAT team. Providing details from his book, Send Me: Chronicles of an FBI Sniper, he talks about a mission at Glass Mountain that ended in a fatality, the capture of a bank bombing suspect, and the rescue of three little girls during a SWAT operation to arrest their fugitive father. He a...

In the first half of part two of this two-part episode of FBI Case File Review, legendary undercover agent Joe Pistone and retired agent Donnie Brasco talk about why Joe chose the name "Donnie Brasco" for his alias, and how Joe felt when Donnie followed in his footsteps. Joe also talks about how he felt when he learned Donnie had applied to join the FBI, presented him with his agent credentials at...

In part one of this two-part episode, retired agent Donnie Brasco reviews his career navigating as an FBI agent with his infamous name and following in the footsteps of his uncle, legendary undercover agent Joe Pistone. Until now, most people were unaware of Donnie and Joe's family ties. I call it the worst-kept secret in the FBI. Joe drops in at the end of the episode to share why he chose the na...

Retired agent Tom Larned reviews two fraud cases he investigated while assigned to the Fort Myers Resident Agency out of the Tampa Division, the Orion Bank failure and the VR Labs wire fraud investigations. At the time of Tom's investigation, Orion was the largest privately owned bank in the state of Florida. The failure of the bank cost the FDIC $884 million. Tom investigated VR Labs owners Kay a...

Former agent Brooke Plesnar reviews the Colleyville synagogue hostage crisis, where a British national took four people hostage, including Congregation Beth Israel's rabbi. The FBI's Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) was deployed. While negotiations for their safe release were underway, the hostages were able to escape unharmed. HRT engaged and killed the hostage-taker. Brooke investigated this case while...

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...