Retired agent Kurt McKenzie reviews his Russian "birth tourism" investigation targeting boutique companies in South Florida that specialized in helping pregnant Russian mothers circumvent visa requirements to give birth in the U.S. and secure American citizenship for their newborns. Kurt McKenzie served in the FBI for 24 years. Check out episode show notes, photos, and related articles: https://jerriwilliams.com/336-kurt-mckenzie-russian-birth-tourism-operation-miami-mama/ Buy me a coffee - http...
Nov 13, 2024•46 min
Retired agent Colton Seale reviews his time on the FBI Fly Team and the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG). During his many deployments around the world, Colton has had assignments few Bureau employees have experienced, including being the only FBI agent to have set foot in bin Laden’s compound and house. The Fly Team is a small, highly trained cadre of counterterrorism investigators—including special agents and intelligence analysts—based at FBI Headquarters who stand ready to deploy...
Oct 30, 2024•1 hr 33 min
In part two of this two-part episode, retired agents Vince Pankoke, Jr. and Tom Myers continue their review of Operation Dilido, a Group I Colombian Cali Cartel undercover investigation targeting one of the most prolific drug subjects, Julio "The Gun" Correa and his Miami based lieutenant, Nando. The investigation relied on surveillance and wiretap coverage and resulted in the seizure of 12 metal chlorine cylinders filled with millions of dollars of cocaine. Vince Pankoke was one of Operation Di...
Oct 15, 2024•1 hr 10 min
Retired agents Vince Pankoke, Jr. and Tom Myers review Operation Dilido, a Group I Colombian Cali Cartel drug undercover investigation targeting one of the most prolific drug subjects, Julio "The Gun" Correa and his Miami based lieutenant, Nando. The case relied on surveillance and wiretap coverage of multiple cell phones, hard lines, pagers and was one of the first investigations where the Department Of Justice requested roving T-III wiretap intercepts from microphones placed within vehicles. V...
Oct 08, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Retired agent Bill Shute reviews the investigation of the murder of LaToyia Figueroa, a high-profile crime case where Figueroa, five-months pregnant, was killed by her boyfriend and her body disposed of in Chester, PA, in July 2005. Bill worked with detectives from the PPD’s homicide unit and, by analyzing cell site tower data, tracked the whereabouts of LaToyia Figueroa's boyfriend throughout the day she disappeared, as well as his journey that evening to Chester, PA. Bill Shute’s expert witnes...
Sep 26, 2024•1 hr 41 min
Dr. Kirk Yeager, the FBI’s Chief Explosives Scientist and FBI’s top bomb expert, reviews his experiences working as a Physical Scientist and Forensic Examiner for the FBI Laboratory’s Explosives Unit. He and his team are tasked with analyzing explosives made by terrorists and developing advanced techniques to detect and prevent the next bomb attack. Kirk has co-authored with his sister, Selene Yeager, The Bomb Doctor: A Scientist's Story of Bombers, Beakers, and Bloodhounds. Check out episode sh...
Sep 18, 2024•1 hr 16 min
Retired agent Todd Schliem reviews his investigation of violent gang members of the Harvey Hustlers and its enforcement arm, the Murder Squad. They were responsible for multiple killings associated with illegal drug sales in the New Orleans area, and ruled the streets of Harvey, Louisiana for nearly 30 years. As they got rid of their rivals, they eventually turned on each other. Most members ended up in prison or dead. The multi-agency case was code-named Operation Swagg Crazy. One of Todd's pro...
Sep 12, 2024•1 hr 11 min
Retired agent Frank Burton, Jr. reviews a hate crime investigation where an Arab-American woman received a threatening note made up of vacation brochure clippings that warned “Remember 9/11” and “kids tie to the fence.” The victim feared that she and her two young children would be harmed. Frank conducted over 40 interviews to identify and arrest the surprising creator of the anonymous note. During the episode, Frank also talks about working on the Philadelphia FBI's Special Operations Group (SO...
Aug 29, 2024•1 hr 5 min
Retired FBI agent Tom Blades and retired Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent Jim Weber review an undercover case involving a member of the Zetas Mexican drug cartel who wanted to hire someone to kidnap, torture, and murder a drug rival and his child as an act of retaliation. Jim went undercover as a biker willing to accept the murder-for-hire assignment. Tom posed as his associate. At the time of the investigation, Tom supervised the FBI Safe Streets Task Force in St. Louis, Missouri, a...
Aug 21, 2024•1 hr 12 min
Retired agent Jeffrey Iverson reviews his assignments representing the FBI in Russia and Central Asia. He explores obstacles he and his colleagues faced while assigned as Legal Attaché in charge of FBI offices in Moscow and Legat for five former Soviet bloc countries. Jeff shares stories from his book, In The Belly of the Bear, about his first overseas terrorism case and the counterintelligence challenges that traditionally pose a danger to American government officials and/or businesspeople tra...
Aug 08, 2024•1 hr 14 min
Retired agent Vito Roselli reviews his investigation of a bank robbery conspiracy operated by a violent West Philadelphia crew whose members were responsible for robberies in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and South New Jersey suburbs and the vicious home invasion assault of an elderly couple. One of Vito’s subjects, Chris Booker, convicted of multiple violations, including bank robbery and murder, takes part in the case review with Vito. Vito Roselli served in the FBI for 26 years. C...
Jul 25, 2024•1 hr 29 min
Retired agent Charles “Chuck” Stuber reviews his investigation of John Edwards, a former North Carolina senator and two-time presidential candidate, who faced charges for an alleged campaign finance law violation during his 2008 run for the White House. The accusations were that John Edwards used political donations to conceal from the public an ongoing extra-marital affair and resulting pregnancy, to protect and advance his candidacy. The trial had an unexpected outcome. Chuck served in the FBI...
Jul 18, 2024•1 hr 36 min
Retired agent and BAU profiler Leonard Opanashuk reviews his 2002 investigation of the murders of two young Oregon City schoolgirls, Ashley Pond and Miranda Gaddis, who, within two months of each other, disappeared under mysterious circumstances en route to their neighborhood school bus stop. Len, a relatively new agent with just over a year of experience in the FBI, was assigned the missing schoolgirls case and was present when investigators discovered the remains of both girls buried on a neig...
Jul 11, 2024•1 hr 17 min
I teamed up with the Stop The Killing podcast. When the hosts, Katherine Schweit and Sara Ferris, invited me to be a guest on their show, I suggested we review the core principles of America's deadly force policy assumed by everyone who carries a gun, whether they’re a law enforcement officer or private citizen. I hope our conversation provides an understanding of what it’s like to carry a gun. I dedicate this show to those who made the ultimate sacrifice and lost their lives in the line of duty...
Jul 03, 2024•1 hr 17 min
Retired agent Mark Sewell reviews his investigation of mafia associate Steve Kaplan and Kaplan’s operation of The Gold Club, the infamous Atlanta strip club that hosted some of the most recognized professional athletes and celebrities in America. The Gold Club was the largest single money maker for the Gambino Crime Family. Kaplan, mobster Michael “Mikey Scars” DiLeonardo, and 13 others were charged with racketeering, money laundering and prostitution counts in an indictment that included crimin...
Jun 26, 2024•1 hr 28 min
Retired agent Frank Figliuzzi reviews the FBI’s Highway Serial Killings Initiative, a special unit that tracks the victims of serial murderers picked up at truck stops in one jurisdiction, sexually assaulted and murdered in another, and dumped along a highway in a third location. Frank shares how the transient nature of the offenders and the multiple jurisdictions involved make these cases incredibly difficult to solve and his journey to learn more about the victims and better understand the lif...
Jun 12, 2024•1 hr 6 min
In Part 2 of this two-part episode, retired agents Mario Tariche and Raquel “Rocky” Cicini continue their review of Operation RECOIL, the investigation of Cocaine Cowboys Willy Falcon and Sal Magluta, to include their work with key cooperating witness Marilyn Bonachea. This case was memorialized in the Netflix series “Cocaine Cowboys Kings of Miami,” during which Mario and Rocky were interviewed. Check out episode show notes, photos, and related articles: https://jerriwilliams.com/320-mario-tari...
Jun 06, 2024•1 hr 40 min
In Part 1 of this two-part episode, retired agents Mario Tariche and Raquel “Rocky” Cicini review their investigation of Willy Falcon, Sal Magluta, aka The Cocaine Cowboys and others, which resulted in the dismantlement of the largest drug trafficking organization in South Florida and provided the evidence of jury tampering and bribery in the acquittal verdict received in a prior drug case against the defendants. The case was code-named Operation RECOIL, an acronym for Racketeering, Execution, C...
May 30, 2024•1 hr 29 min•Ep. 319
Retired FBI forensic artist Lisa Bailey reviews the FBI’s forensic facial approximation program, where she used skulls and anthropologist reports to create sculptures of unidentified individuals to help investigators seeking the public’s assistance in solving cold cases. She also reviews the 5-year research project she launched on behalf of the FBI at the University of Tennessee’s “Body Farm,” which resulted in the Bureau’s 3D digital and photographic forensic art reference collection of over 10...
May 16, 2024•1 hr 27 min
FBI Retired Case File Review Live! was held on April 28 at the Punch Line comedy club in Philadelphia. This episode is the audio recorded during the live event. My on stage guests included retired agent Scott Duffey and his partner retired ATF special agent Terrance Mortimer, who take us behind the scenes of an unbelievable investigation they investigated, involving a nearly 2-decade-old unsolved homicide tenaciously pursued with the Philadelphia Police Department. During the second half of the ...
May 08, 2024•1 hr 44 min
Retired agent Chris Campion reviews the Jaycee Dugard child abduction case, and his time investigating her disappearance throughout the 18 years she was missing. Chris and his FBI colleagues and local law enforcement partners diligently pursued viable leads from the day Jaycee was taken in 1991 right up to that day in 2009, when she was miraculously recovered. Chris also reviews how the FBI helped Jaycee and her daughters re-enter life. This is Chris’s first time talking publicly about the case....
May 02, 2024•1 hr 33 min
Retired agents Christian Anglin and Craig McLaughlin review Operation Crown Prince, an investigation into Afghan nationals residing in the U.S. transporting heroin into the country and providing proceeds to the Taliban, Al-Qaeda and insurgents as a means of material support for their operations combating U.S. and allied forces. The case was nicknamed “The Great Chicken Caper” as it originated with intelligence that proceeds were laundered through Afghan owned fried chicken businesses along the e...
Apr 18, 2024•1 hr 13 min
Retired Agent Scott Duffey reviews his years-long investigation of a nearly 2-decade-old rumor about an unsolved racially motivated homicide. The case, tenaciously pursued by Scott, his partner ATF special agent Terrance Mortimer, and the Philadelphia Police Department, resulted in the conviction of Thomas Gibison, a self-proclaimed skinhead for conspiracy to commit murder, ethnic intimidation, and firearms violations. Scott served in the FBI for 22 years. Check out episode show notes, photos, a...
Apr 11, 2024•1 hr 29 min
Retired agent and former BAU profiler Julia Cowley reviews the murder investigation of 13-year-old Taylor Paschal-Placker and her 11-year-old friend Skyla Whitaker on the rural dirt road near one of their homes in Weleetka, Oklahoma and the detailed BAU analysis Julia conducted to provide insights for investigators about the unknown subject who shot and killed the girls. Julia served nearly 22 years in the FBI. Check out episode show notes, photos, and related articles: https://jerriwilliams.com...
Apr 03, 2024•1 hr 20 min
Retired agent Jerome Lorrain reviews the investigation of the murder of Sarah Willard, a 29-year-old escort/sex worker from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Sarah disappeared in November 2019 and the Pascagoula, Mississippi Safe Streets Task Force (SSTF) worked with Detective Lieutenant Shane Bozeman of the Jackson County Sheriff's Office to investigate her disappearance. They learned that a 54-year-old man living in Mississippi had hired Sarah to be his BDSM sex slave. At first, he denied knowing where...
Mar 20, 2024•58 min
Retired agent John Ouellet reviews his investigation of Stephen Blumberg, the most prolific book thief in the history of the United States. His investigation led John to Blumberg’s three-story, 17-room mansion in Ottumwa, Iowa, packed with antiques and 23,000 rare books and manuscripts stolen from libraries and universities in 45 states and Canada. During the trial, the stolen volumes were estimated to be worth $5 million. However, librarians agree the collection was priceless. John Ouellet serv...
Mar 07, 2024•1 hr 15 min
Retired agent Jerry Hester reviews his Paesan Blues investigation, an FBI undercover operation that targeted Italian mafioso Roberto Settineri’s global crime network with the collaboration of the Italian National Police (INP) and, surprisingly, the cooperation of Ponzi schemer Scott Rothstein. After the case review, we discuss Jerry’s new book, Mafia Miami: FBI Politics and How an Investigation was Nearly Sabotaged. The book focuses on the investigation of Settineri, but Jerry also discusses adm...
Feb 22, 2024•54 min
Retired agent Dennis Cosgrove reviews the Golden ADA investigation, which he opened after an informant provided information about three Russian immigrants who had opened a state-of-the-art diamond merchant center in San Francisco with diamonds suspected of having been looted from the Russian government and smuggled into the United States. The scheme resulted in Russia losing hundreds of millions of dollars worth of diamonds and precious gems and stones. Check out episode show notes, photos, and ...
Feb 15, 2024•1 hr 33 min
Retired agent Richard Denholm reviews the missing persons investigation of Jessie Davis, the 9 months-pregnant girlfriend of Canton, Ohio police officer Bobby Cutts Jr. Rich led the case as the supervisor of the Cleveland Division’s Canton Resident Agency. The disappearance became a national news story. The Starks County Sheriff’s Office invited the FBI to provide assistance with interviews of witnesses, and the polygraph examination of Cutts, after which he agreed to show the agents where Davis...
Feb 08, 2024•49 min
Retired agent Barry Black was assigned to the Oklahoma City Division where he investigated complex financial crimes for the first half of his Bureau career and was a sniper on the SWAT team, before being certified as a Special Agent Bomb Technician (SABT). In this episode, he reviews two cases, the first a medical supply investment fraud case, which was featured on an episode of Unsolved Mysteries. For the second, he reviews the initial investigative steps he took as a bomb tech responding to hi...
Jan 25, 2024•1 hr 4 min
