As soon as Commissioner Meissner left Poli’s side, A. J. got his attention, pointed to lines in the release and said, “Hey, check this out.”
“Let’s step outside real quick,” Poli answered.
As they walked out of the conference room, they noticed Lou Nardi and Mike Ryan go pale.
Poli quickly reviewed the document. “Oh fuck, this is not right. We have to say something.” And repeating what he always said, “Are you with me, partner?”
“Hell, they’re gonna fire me either way. Let’s do it.”
They returned to the room and sat down at the conference table close to where Janet Reno would be seated. Nardi and Ryan, who were already seated, looked at the partners with a look of don’t-do-it on their faces.
As Attorney General Reno entered, all stood up. She said, “Sit down, please,” in a friendly tone as she took her seat at the head of the table. She looked right at Poli and A. J. and said, “Thank you so much for all you have done for this case. This was a great operation, and have you looked over the press release?”
Everyone around the table started bobbing their heads affirmatively, except Poli and A. J.
Poli turned his chair toward Commissioner Meissner, and said, “Commissioner, agent Irwin and I have reviewed this release and we have some major concerns.”
A very audible sigh could be heard from the crowd of agents and bureaucrats.
Meissner turned to the attorney general and asked, “Do you mind if we go over the media release with these agents?”
“Let’s do it. I would expect nothing less,” replied the attorney general.
Poli proceeded to point out each inaccuracy. After noting discrepancies in the first two paragraphs, Mike Ryan interrupted, saying, “Well what Poli means, . . . ”
Janet Reno held up her hand and stopped Ryan in his tracks. “Stop. Don’t interrupt.”
Poli continued, and once again Ryan tried to interrupt, and Reno said, “Stop, I said. I don’t want to hear it!” She then looked at Poli and A. J. and asked, “Have you checked this before? Why are you bringing this up now?”
“Ma’am, I just flew in from Quito, Ecuador, and A. J. just flew in from Miami.”
“I want you two to review this, correct it and have it done before we start the press conference,” ordered Reno. “We’ll meet here at 1:45 and we’ll walk out together.”
With that, the attorney general and Commissioner Meissner got to their feet and left the room. No one else moved. There was dead silence. It was 1:20 pm.
“What needs to be corrected?” finally the head of public affairs for DOJ said, seconded by the INS Public Affairs director. They began to panic.
“Everything!” A. J. answered, knowing they had the wrong dates, the wrong defendants and much more. It was obvious Ryan and company had winged it. If they had sent it to Poli and A. J. via email, they could have corrected it while on the flight back.
The public affairs officers and the partners scrambled and redrafted the release in time. At 1:45, the commissioner and the attorney general returned to the conference room.
Attorney General Reno asked the partners, “Is this okay?”
“Yep,” Poli and A. J. answered in unison.
They all left and headed for the auditorium in which the media would be informed of the history-making operation.
Just five minutes before the press conference was to be called to order, Mike Ryan leaned over to Commissioner Meissner and said with feigned concern, “Commissioner, has anybody thought about Poli’s safety? After all, he was the undercover on this case, and his face is going to be all over the national news.”
There was not time to confer with Poli.
As the public affairs officer escorted the partners into the auditorium, and was about to show Poli where he would be standing during the conference, Commissioner Meissner approached Poli and took him aside.
“Poli, we’ve decided that you will not open the press conference because we’re concerned for your safety as an undercover agent and ’cause your identity will be revealed.”
“Commissioner, the defendants already know who I am. It’s in the court documents.”
“The decision has been made, Poli. Mike Ryan will open the press conference.”
“Yes, ma’am,” was all that Poli could say, never really getting to show off his new suit for the cameras.
Poli got away from the spotlight and turned to A. J. “I’m not going to open the conference.”
“Why not?”
“They say that my identity will be revealed.”
“Well, fuck, everybody knows who you are.”
As this was being said, more and more people entered the auditorium and shook their hands and took a spot in front of them to better see the proceedings. Before they knew it, Poli and A. J. were crowded out and had to stand at the back of the auditorium. Everybody who was anybody in DOJ, INS, in enforcement was present. Every major news outlet was there to cover the case and report on the unprecedented results for INS. It had been almost a year to the date since Seek and Keep had been initiated. Although there was much to be done, Poli and A. J. were content that their operation had been so successful and generated so much attention. It was, however, comical how they had been shunted aside.
As Janet Reno and her entourage were about to leave the room, she made her way to where Poli and A. J. stood and said, “Thank you, young men, for the job you have done.”
Thank goodness for Irish pubs. There was one just two blocks down, and that is where Poli and A. J., and some of their brethren, retired to relax and rehash the events.
CHAPTER 12
During the same five-day period when hundreds were being taken down, another major smuggler was targeted. While the team was at the airport in Miami after returning from taking down Nick Díaz in the Bahamas, the Customs and Immigration inspectors asked the task force if they had gotten all of the smugglers. A. J. decided to take a shot in the dark and asked inspectors to see if Navtej Sandhu, a top target due to his convictions in human smuggling, was flying anywhere. After reviewing passengers manifest, Inspector Dale Munson hit the computers and soon returned with a big smile on his face.
“Hey, we got some good news for ya,” said Munson. “We found him. He’s on a flight on Wednesday.”
“No shit?” said A. J.
“But I’ve got some good news and some bad news.”
“Yeah, what.”
“Yeah, he’s flying out of Costa Rica on Wednesday, but he’s flying to London. On British Airways.”
“And?”
“The plane makes a stop in Puerto Rico to refuel.”
“Hey, that’s great, we . . . ”
“But the passengers don’t get off.”
So, A. J. turned to Poli and Susan and said, “Well, if the plane stops in Puerto Rico, we’ll get his ass off.”
“Yeah,” said Poli. “Screw it. If he’s in our country, we’re gonna get him.”
So Poli ran to a phone and called Jorge Eisermann in Guatemala and asked him to do surveillance on Sandhu in Costa Rica.
“But that’s Joe Banda’s territory,” said Eisermann,
“Don’t worry,” said Poli, “we’ll get Banda out there as well.”
Next Poli called and lined Banda up and repeated what he told Eisermann: “Get Costa Rica to arrest him and expel him as an undesirable to the United States. And if you don’t, do not let him get on that flight with British Airways.”
Susan and Poli then took off to Quito, and A. J. took a flight to Newark. Eisermann and Banda were tasked with getting Sandhu.
Navtej Sandhu had become a defendant in Seek and Keep, but he was not new to Poli and A. J. Two years earlier, Sandhu had been the first rendition for INS of a major human smuggler located and arrested thousands of miles away from the United States. That rendition was a precedent for Seek and Keep of targeting human smugglers outside U.S. borders and bringing them into the country for prosecution, far from their power bases and the corrup
t governments that protected them. Ironically for Sandhu, his first arrest had come at the hands of Poli, using the undercover identity of “Fernando.” Like Maan Singh, Sandhu was a British citizen who was originally from India. And like Nick Díaz, he was in competition with Maan Singh to monopolize the best routes into the United States. A few weeks prior to the indictments being released, he had called the undercover phone. Unknown to him, the person on the other end of the line was the same “Fernando” who had brought him into the country for prosecution two years earlier.
On Tuesday, Jorge Eisermann contacted Poli and told him that the Costa Rican officials would not arrest Sandhu because he had committed no crimes in their country. They were also afraid of being accused of human rights violations.
“Do you think we can get Puerto Rico to take him off the plane?” Eisermann asked Poli.
“We can. Someone needs to call P.R.”
“Oh, I can do that. I know the assistant director of investigations in San Juan,” said Eisermann. “Can you call the director in Mexico City to authorize the funding for two tickets for me and Banda to fly to Puerto Rico?”
“Consider it done, Jorge. Just go ahead and buy the tickets.”
“Man, don’t leave me hanging on this one.”
“Don’t worry about it, Jorge.”
On Tuesday, Eisermann and Banda followed Sandhu around and bought a round trip ticket from San José, Costa Rica, to London. British Airways would not allow them to purchase a one-way ticket. By Wednesday, the investigations branch in Puerto Rico responded that their team would be out there, and British Airways would be instructed to allow the two agents and the criminal defendant to deplane. And so it came to be.
Now, while Eisermann was concerned with the budget and bought a tourist class ticket, Banda went ahead and bought a first-class ticket. Both agents were seated forward of Sandhu at the back of the cabin. Coincidentally, Banda had been involved in the first rendition of Sandhu and the task force was concerned that Sandhu would recognize him. But there was no choice; they had to go forward.
On landing in San Juan, Banda decided to effect the arrest himself. As soon as the plane parked at the gate, Banda rushed up to Sandhu and said, “Do you remember me? Do you remember me?”
“No, I have never seen you before,” answered Sandhu.
“You remember when you were arrested two years ago?”
“Oh, no! You’re Poli Acosta!”
“No, goddammit! I’m Joe Banda.”
By then Eisermann was behind Banda and belly-laughing.
“You’re under arrest,” said Banda with a scowl on his face, and put handcuffs on the perp.
Banda escorted Sandhu off the plane to the applause of the passengers who thought a major criminal, perhaps a drug kingpin or mafioso, had been arrested. Their glee was short-termed because all the luggage had to be off-loaded to retrieve Sandhu’s and the agents’ bags, an operation that led to an hour’s delay of the take-off to London.
Thus, Sandhu was an added bonus to the Seek and Keep case. Two out of the three major defendants had been taken into custody in time for the Friday media conference. Maan Singh remained at large.
CHAPTER 13
During all the success experienced during that fateful week, there was a major failure: Maan Singh had escaped. The week before the historic takedowns, Maan Singh had called “Fernando” to say he’d be arriving in South America in two weeks and was willing to meet in Panama City. But that was after the deadline the INS had set for wrapping up the case. The plug had been pulled. One more week and they would have had Maan Singh in a friendly country and expelled to the United States and under arrest.
Poli and A. J. returned to their offices, A. J. in Dallas and Poli in Ciudad Juárez. They got into their usual routines, but worked their way through piles of documentation as they prepared for the trials. They were responsible for coordinating the detention of the more than one hundred witnesses that had to remain in custody, transferred where they could be interviewed and allowed to post bond after all conditions were met. It was quite a chore dealing with other offices, other U.S. attorney districts and the U.S. marshals for aliens that are filed on as material witnesses before U.S. magistrates. It was a logistical nightmare. They even had to bring in agents from New Jersey and Chicago to get through all of the testimonies and evidence.
Matt Yarbrough, the assistant U.S. attorney, spent days with A. J. synchronizing with defense attorneys interviews with the defendants. They had to strategize what deals to cut and with whom. A. J. insisted on starting with the lower-level defendants to get the goods on the big fish. A. J. became known as “the king of confessions,” his having lined up so much evidence in advance that every single defendant confessed. During the interviews of the Bahamian boat captains, who hated Nick Díaz, it was revealed that Díaz had been involved in a murder. The agents followed it up and found that Díaz had bought the gun that was used to kill one of his competitors. Nevertheless, orders came down to drop it; it would have meant a deeper investigation in a foreign country. Everyone wanted to move on. The captains also confirmed that the Bahamian policeman, Larry Ferguson, was on the take from Díaz and only a week before the takedown had received $10,000 from him. And, it was also learned that the two men that had been going up to Newark to collect for Díaz were also Bahamian policemen. During Nick Díaz’s interview, it was revealed that while riding in the car to be expelled from the Bahamas, he had offered Larry Ferguson $20,000 to kill A. J. and dump him in the jungle and free Díaz. It now sank in how dangerous it had been for “Fernando,” “Andrés” and Susan to be dealing with the Bahamian police.
Matt Yarbrough, who had very little experience with undercover operations and none whatsoever with foreign ones, had helped prepare the undercover proposals for Seek and Keep, and when it was time to prepare for trial, he went into high gear and was greatly responsible for the defendants pleading guilty. At SMU, he had been a stand-out in mock trials and was ready to use the seemingly limitless Seek and Keep budget to bring justice to all those indicted, including hiring lawyers and jurors for a mock trial in preparation for the real trial. He mounted a war room and ordered blow-up photos of every defendant, as well as putting together extensive binders of evidence against every defendant that he furnished to the defendants’ lawyers. He also organized all of the relevant wiretaps for each defendant and provided fancy equipment for their phone communications to be played back. As each defendant was brought over to the federal building in Dallas, headquarters for the U.S. attorney, Matt would always instruct the staff to make the defendant and his lawyer wait at least fifteen minutes to stew in their juices. Then he would always send A. J. out to greet them and escort them to the war room. Finally, Matt would make an appearance and state the case against the defendant for about five minutes. He’d always say, “We’re ready to go to trial against your client,” and then go into a summary of what was in the binder. He also instructed the attorneys that they could come in and listen to the tapes whenever they wished. Matt would leave and then, invariably the attorneys would ask A. J. for fifteen minutes to talk to their clients.
After that, Matt and A. J. would once again meet with them in the war room. Every single time, the attorneys would ask to work out a deal. Some would say, “I know you’ve got our clients by the balls, but I’d be disbarred if I didn’t try to defend them.” Matt would make a deal, but always under the condition that the defendant would be interviewed by A. J. They always agreed, “No problem.”
Before interviewing the defendants, A. J. would see to it that Indian food was brought in for them. Then, A. J. would start the interview after offering to hear themselves on the wire. Most declined, saying they knew what they had done. A. J. was so overwhelmed, that he brought in Marc Sanders and Susan to assist. After about three interviews, Susan offered to begin typing up the reports as A. J. interviewed the defendants. That saved A. J, from having to go back and spend three or four hours writing the report. Marc would write the plea
agreements and the proffers as the interview was conducted. It became very efficient. It took a month and a half working every day to effect the interviews and reports. With the weight of the evidence and the efficiency of the processing, almost every defendant took a plea of guilty without hesitation. A. J., Poli and Susan were sitting on the edge of their seats, guessing whether Nick Díaz would plead guilty. Matt, of course, wanted a trial and had gotten a commitment of $50,000 for expenses, having shown that the case was solid.
As Nick stood in front of the federal judge, the judge read the charging document and asked, “Mr. Díaz, do you agree with what’s in this document?”
“My attorney said that I have to say yes.”
“That’s not the answer to my question. Do you agree with the elements of this charging document?”
Nick hesitated, then said, “I guess so. They told me I had to.”
The judge turned to Díaz’s attorney, Tom Melsheimer, and said, “I suggest you confer with your client and advise him that the court cannot accept his plea of guilty unless there’s a factual basis for the plea.”
Melsheimer guided his client over to the jury box and in a loud, aggressive whisper began reading the riot act to Nick Díaz. Then he and Díaz returned to their places in front of the bench and Melsheimer addressed the judge.
“Your honor, my client is ready to plead guilty.”
The judge turned to Nick Díaz and used his true name: “Mr. Shetty, would you like me to read this charging document to you again?”
Again, Nick hesitated, then looked at his attorney, who gave him a dirty look. “Uh. No. Uh, no, sir.”
“Tell me in your own words, Mr. Shetty, what did you do?”
Nick dropped his head and, almost sobbing, said, “I brought illegal people into the United States”
“Do you have anything more you’d like to say?”
Almost choking up, Nick answered, “No.”
The Hunt for Maan Singh Page 14