by Jason Ryan
Chapter Seven
108 Barry “Ice Cream” Toombs claims Harvey: interview with Barry Toombs, May 2010.
108 More significantly, Harvey was alleged: Providence Sunday Journal, May 20, 1984.
109 The boat was controlled: Mark Hertzan’s involvement in this massive smuggling run is described in Julian Pernell’s testimony in United States of America v. Robert Leslie Riley, et al. Details of Hertzan’s friendship with John Belushi are taken from Woodward, p. 151.
109 “You got this problem”: Wired, p. 153.
109 The least amount of information: the route of the Adeline C is described in the Providence Sunday Journal, May 20, 1984.
110 In the weeks prior: the movements of the Caroline C, Meermin, and Anonymous of Rorc have been described in testimony by Caroline C captain Chris Campbell and Anonymous of Rorc captain Frank Steele during United States of America v. Robert Leslie Riley, et al., as well as interviews with Campbell in December 2007, with Caroline C sailor Dean Jacobs in February 2009, and with Anonymous of Rorc sailors Ken Brown and Ken Buckland in May 2008.
111 Now on the return voyage: letters from Kenny Gunn to his wife describing the crew’s encounters with hurricanes were read by DEA agent Dewey Greager during federal grand jury testimony in September 1983 in Columbia, South Carolina.
112 As they docked the boat: Details of the docking of the Caroline C and some of the crew’s subsequent arrest at the Savannah airport are detailed in police reports and testimony by a dockhand and assorted U.S. Customs officers during United States of America v. Robert Leslie Riley, et al.
113 “one of the best-built boats”: interview with Ken Brown and Ken Buckland, May 2008.
113 “It didn’t look”: ibid.
113 Among other military awards: U.S. Army.
113 “My god, look at these magic mushrooms”: interview with John Jamison, June 2008.
115 “Scared the shit out of me”: interview with Ken Brown and Ken Buckland, May 2008.
116 “We were tacking back and forth”: ibid.
117 “Well, it looks like”: ibid.
118 A fellow smuggler and paramour: Madeline Wasserman, who also went by “Sarah,” was convicted in New Jersey April 1983 for crimes related to the unsuccessful smuggling of hashish aboard the Falcon. Wasserman’s and a coconspirator’s convictions were reported in a United Press International article on April 21, 1983, entitled “Guilty verdicts in $36 million drug smuggling.”
118 The crew on the Meermin: details of the Meermin’s arrival off New York, its rendezvous with other boats, and the aftermath of this smuggling episode were provided in interviews with Mike Abell in February 2010, Bob Bauer in February 2010, Ron Catanese in April 2008, Les Riley in July 2010, and with two anonymous sources. This section was also informed by the testimony of Abell and Wayne McDonald in United States of America v. Robert Leslie Riley, et al.
119 “Well, I’m going fishing”: interview with anonymous source.
120 “the look”: Skip Sanders describes his introduction to Bob Byers and his companions in a letter to the author, March 7, 2008.
120 “Just what is it”: ibid.
120 “Ninety-something-year-old pillar”: e-mail from Harold Stein to author, April 22, 2008.
120 “Not much of anything”: letter from Skip Sanders to author, March 7, 2008.
121 Four vans were parked there: details of the vans come from police reports and interviews with Dave McDonald in June 2008, Chuck Pittard in April 2008, and Bob Roche in February 2010.
121 “If you own the plantation”: letter from Skip Sanders to author, June 3, 2008.
121 “radars and all that”: July 29, 2008.
122 “Island blacks have the uncanny”: ibid.
123 The kindest adjective … was ratty: all quotes and dialogue attributed to Louis Jefferson came from an interview with Jefferson in July 2008.
124 “Louis don’t mess around”: all quotes and dialogue attributed to Mike Bell came from an interview with Bell in May 2008.
126 Byers ordered someone: details of the smuggler’s activities at West Bank Plantation were learned from police reports, letters from Skip Sanders to the author, interviews with Mike Abell in February 2010, Bob Roche in February 2010, and testimony or police debriefings of Ray Zeman, Dennis York, and Mike Martin.
126 “hop on the speedboat”: letter from Skip Sanders to author, June 3, 2008.
127 “There was no way”: interview with Ken Brown and Ken Buckland, May 2008.
127 “How many men”: Louis Jefferson described the preferred boarding procedure in an interview in July 2008.
128 “There was about six or seven”: grand jury testimony of Dennis York in Columbia, South Carolina, April 1982.
129 “We can’t do this”: interview with Clark Settles, May 2008.
130 Officers joked Huggins: ibid.
130 Patterson found a handgun: interview with Dean Patterson, May 2008.
130 “Where were you all”: letter from Skip Sanders to author, June 3, 2008.
131 “Skipper, I tell ya”: ibid.
131 After ten days of sailing: details of the voyage of the hash-laden scallop boat were learned through the testimony of Julian Pernell in the second trial of United States of America v. Robert Leslie Riley, et al.
132 Hertzan, the owner: Woodward, p. 283, and New York Times, February 4, 1982.
Part II: Operation Jackpot
Chapter Eight
134 Although Carter lost South Carolina: The American Presidency Project, www.presidency.ucsb.edu.
134 “Now, I’ve come to Columbia”: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, online speech archives, remarks delivered July 24, 1986.
135 “The drug problem”: Rock Hill Herald, January 27, 1981.
136 “tall, personable” “bright and hard-working”: editorial from the State printed in the Herald-Journal, February 12, 1981.
136 Lydon pledged to help: Columbia State, February 23, 1981.
136 “Jack for money”: interview with Holly Gatling, May 2008.
136 “stretched his long, well-jogged”: Columbia State, February 17, 1981.
136 “Mrs. McMaster was very pleased”: interview with Holly Gatling, May 2008.
137 “If you break the law”: Columbia State, June 6, 1981.
137 “Some people don’t think”: Gasque, p. 18.
138 “fail to see the forest”: Columbia State, June 6, 1981.
138 “Some people may think”: ibid.
138 Riley, in fact, had known: interview with Les Riley, September 2010.
138 The same year McMaster: Wellesley’s meetings with McMaster were described in an interview with Tim Wellesley in February 2010.
139 Authorities in California: details of the investigation of Araujo were learned through Robert J. Perry’s Dirty Money.
140 Araujo pleaded guilty: Lewiston (ME) Daily Sun, September 24, 1981.
140 McMaster latched onto the idea: Columbia State October 6, 1985.
141 “You have to have”: interview with Tim Wellesley, February 2010.
141 At the meeting: the initial meeting of what would become Operation Jackpot was described by David Forbes in the fall of 2007 and Claude McDonald in March 2008.
143 “We had nothing”: interview with Claude McDonald, August 2007.
143 He had come to Charleston: Claude McDonald’s biographical information was learned in an interview with McDonald in March 2008.
146 As Forbes and McDonald discovered: beyond interviews with David Forbes and Claude McDonald, information about the beginnings of Operation Jackpot can be found in Margaret O’Shea’s series on Operation Jackpot in Columbia State in October 1985.
146 “He’s living high on the hog”: interview with David Forbes, November 2007.
147 “We threw out”: Charleston News and Courier/Charleston Evening Post, January 29, 1984.
147 In the locker: Columbia State, October 6, 1985.
147 “Before we left his house”: interview with David F
orbes, November 2007.
148 “I had a tiger”: ibid.
149 “I can’t believe”: interview with Mike Lemnah, January 2008.
149 “Mark was kind of ”: ibid.
149 “It sounds simple”: ibid.
149 “You’d get a call”: interview with Wells Dickson and Lionel Lofton, June 2008.
150 “Gee, this is a big house”: testimony of Jimmy MacNeal, United States of America v. Barry Joseph Foy, et al.
150 “He knew, but he wouldn’t”: interview with David Forbes, August 2007.
151 “The pressure is frankly”: letter from Wally Butler to David Forbes, undated.
151 “We all had different skills”: Columbia State, October 6, 1985.
151 “as the shot heard”: interview with Bart Daniel, March 2007.
152 “I wish it could be written”: Daniel, p. 1.
153 “the whole concept”: interview with Mike Lemnah, January 2008.
153: Two weeks after taking: a list of seized assets is detailed in Charleston Evening Post, October 14, 1982 and December 21, 1982.
153 “Operation Jack Pot”: Charleston Evening Post, December 15, 1982.
153 “The U.S. Government is snatching”: Miami Herald, March 19, 1984.
Chapter Nine
154 “It was the hardest kind”: Washington Post, April 17, 1983.
155 “She wasn’t afraid”: interview with Lance Lydon, May 2010.
155 “It was cowboys and Indians”: ibid.
156 “dressed to the nines”: interview with Lance Lydon, May 2010.
156 Outside the grand jury room: Washington Post, October 29, 1981.
156 A judge jailed O’Day: ibid.
157 “We really had to work”: interview with Lance Lydon, May 2010.
157 One valuable asset: Washington Post, November 17, 1981.
158 Despite the recalcitrant witnesses: Washington Post, July 1982.
158 “At some point”: interview with Lance Lydon, May 2010.
158 “The government also subpoenaed:” Washington Post, May 6, 1982.
158 “fishing expedition … impede the grand jury”: Washington Post, October 29, 1981.
159 “those were not pleasant days”: interview with Bill Moffitt, February 2008.
159 “Karen was one of the most”: e-mail from Jim Mittica to the author, May 11, 2009.
159 “Her main goal in life”: interview with anonymous source.
159 The professor’s answer: Costa Rica: interview with Barry Toombs, May 2010.
159 American fugitives, in particular: San Jose (Costa Rica) Tico Times, August 20, 1982.
160 “until all this blows over”: San Jose (Costa Rica) Tico Times, August 13, 1982.
160 “their assets for their asses”: the phone call between Julian Pernell and Karen Tandy was described in interviews with Barry Toombs and Lance Lydon, both in May 2010, as well as San Jose (Costa Rica) Tico Times, August 13, 1982.
161 “I remember going out”: e-mail from Jim Mittica to the author, May 11, 2009.
161 “They had plans to kidnap us”: second trial of United States of America v. Robert Leslie Riley.
162 “The best thing”: interview with Barry Toombs, May 2010.
162 “When I left the country”: e-mail from Jim Mittica to author, May 16, 2009.
162 “Let us not forget”: Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, online speech archives, remarks delivered September 14, 1986.
163 “scorched earth policy”: remarks given by Associate Attorney General Stephen S. Trott, according to Bertram, p. 113.
163 “We’re rejecting the helpless attitude”: Bertram, p. 112.
163 “It is high time”: Bertram, p. 113.
164 “Public Enemy Number 1”: Bertram, p. 106.
164 “a growing menace to the general welfare”: Bertram, p. 105.
164 This recommendation was supported: Bertram, p. 95.
164 “I don’t give a hoot”: Bertram, p. 94.
164 “penalties against possession of a drug”: Bertram, p. 97.
164 Despite asking for more: Bertram, p. 110.
165 “He didn’t know diddly-squat”: descriptions of Lofton’s and Dickson’s differences and dissatisfaction with Henry McMaster come from an interview with Lionel Lofton and Wells Dickson in June 2008.
166 “In my opinion”: correspondence between McMaster and the White House is contained in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
167 “Here he is again”: this internal White House correspondence is among the Henry McMaster–Ronald Reagan correspondence in the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library.
167 “Of course, we had been filing”: Gasque, August 1985, p. 19.
167 “If it wasn’t for Henry”: interview with Mike Lemnah, January 2008.
167 “The supervisor here”: interview with David Forbes, November 2007.
168 “Strom wouldn’t put up with that”: interview with Tim Wellesley, February 2010.
169 “It will not happen”: interview with Bart Daniel, March 2007.
169 By voluntarily giving up: Columbia Record, August 22, 1983.
169 “That’s the most money”: Columbia State, April 21, 1984.
170 “He was so pissed”: interview with Mike Lemnah, January 2008.
170 “[It was] a lot of work”: ibid.
170 “touchy-feely”: interview with Clark Settles, May 2008.
171 “We got your ass”: interview with David Forbes, November 2007.
171 One of their favorite tactics: interview with anonymous source.
171 “Look, Wells, we just gotta”: interview with Lionel Lofton and Wells Dickson, June 2008.
172 It didn’t help when: letter from Ben Graham to author, May 25, 2008.
173 “I was a little disappointed”: interview with Kenny O’Day, May 2010.
173 “When you’ve got them”: interview with David Forbes, August 2007.
Chapter Ten
174 “who overlooked a lot”: interview with Les Riley, July 2010.
174 “I saw that there”: letter from Les Riley to Judge Falcon Hawkins, unknown date.
175 “Surely, we reasoned, no one”: ibid.
175 “I want to talk to you”: details of Les Riley’s arrest in Australia are gathered from reports by the Australian Federal Police and interviews with Les Riley, July 2010.
176 “Are you from South Carolina”: Australian Federal Police reports.
177 “I’m worried about my wife”: ibid.
177 “Federal Police, step out”: ibid.
177 “How did you find me”: ibid.
178 “We just got scared”: ibid.
179 “America’s ‘Most Wanted Man’ ”: Australia Sun, May 6, 1983.
179 In the last ten years: federal indictment of Barry Joseph Foy, et al., District of South Carolina, (83-165), and federal indictment of Robert Leslie Riley, District of South Carolina, (83-166).
180 “most of it got through”: Charleston Evening Post, May 24, 1983.
181 “The defendants included”: ibid.
181 “the message I continually got”: letter from Skip Sanders to author, April 16, 2008.
183 One smuggler recalls spreading rotting: interview with anonymous source.
183 “The government has a funny way”: testimony of Julian Pernell in second trial of United States of America v. Robert Leslie Riley, et al.
184 Hawkins had joined the military: biographical information for Judge Falcon Hawkins was learned from an oral interview of Hawkins by Herbert Hartsook for the South Carolina Bar Foundation, January 2000, and Columbia State, July 22, 2005.
185 “crazy about it”: oral interview of Hawkins by Hartsook, January 2000.
185 “He was one of the smartest”: Columbia State, July 22, 2005.
185 “I don’t say this”: oral interview of Hawkins by Hartsook, January 2000.
185 “[Hollings] kind of believed”: ibid.
186 “I don’t get upset”: ibid.
186 “Usually, if it was a b
ad”: interview with Patty Kasell and Fritz Hollings, July 2008.
187 “There’s really nothing much”: Charleston News and Courier, October 6, 1982.
Chapter Eleven
189 “I call this the case”: Columbia State, August 1, 1983.
190 “These aren’t the little”: Columbia State, August 10, 1983.
190 “They don’t have ten thousand”: transcript of United States of America v. Barry Joseph Foy, et al.
190 “Your Honor, I again note”: ibid.
191 Surely, the prosecutors figured: Columbia State, August 2, 1983.
191 “there weren’t any nuns”: Columbia State, August 10, 1983.
191 Some witnesses had been offered money: such offers to witnesses, and actual payoffs, were revealed to the author by more than one smuggler regarding a number of Operation Jackpot–related trials and grand juries.
192 “There was a captain”: testimony of Steve Ravenel in United States of America v. Barry Joseph Foy, et al.
193 “Threw it away”: testimony of Julian Morse Jr. in United States of America v. Barry Joseph Foy, et al.
193 “there must be some witnesses”: transcript of United States of America v. Barry Joseph Foy, et al.
193 “I don’t know”: ibid.
194 Despite her familiarity: the shirt-switching incident was described in an interview with Mike McEachern, April 2008.
194 “I can’t stand this”: testimony of Maura Mooney in United States of America v. Barry Joseph Foy, et al.
194 “You got a lot”: transcript of United States of America v. Barry Joseph Foy, et al.
194 “How do they pay you”: ibid.
194 “Hey Don”: testimony of Maura Mooney in United States of America v. Barry Joseph Foy, et al.
194 “Judge … she went up”: transcript of United States of America v. Barry Joseph Foy, et al.
195 “What do you want”: ibid.
195 “This Operation Jackpot”: ibid.
196 “It was just a mess”: interview with Cam Littlejohn, June 2007.
196 “As far as the Operation Jackpot”: Columbia State, August 12, 1983.
197 “a gentleman identifying himself ”: testimony of Brian O’Keefe during a pretrial hearing for United States of America v. Robert Leslie Riley, et al.