mafiastudent wrote: ↑Thu Aug 20, 2020 10:53 am
Got this story off FB from another poster but they referenced a different article I'll include link below. This is the original source.
Goes to show most informants have a vendetta or an ulterior motive.
FBI informant told friend he and his brother would ‘take the whole city over’ while setting up alleged loanshark
https://www.masslive.com/news/2020/08/f ... shark.html
SPRINGFIELD — The use of informants is not novel for the FBI, but can be fraught with unexpected missteps.
Updated Aug 18, 6:03 PM; Posted Aug 18, 6:03 PM By Stephanie Barry |
sbarry@repub.com
For example, the “confidential human source,” or CHS, in the pending federal loansharking prosecution against Springfield resident Anthony J. Scibelli, made the mistake of not turning off a body wire for more than a full day, according to court filings in U.S. District Court.
The recording picked up personal conversations the informant had with a female companion about alleged bootleg Percoset sales and plans to take out his street rivals.
Scibelli, 51, is charged with one count of collecting on an extortionate debt. He was arrested in July of 2019 after allegedly slapping around a gambler in debt to the local mob after the man was slow to make a $1,300 monthly payment on a $5,000 loan.
According to court records, the beating took place in the parking lot of the Mount Carmel Society parking lot a month earlier. Federal agents and Massachusetts State Police troopers spying on the meeting witnessed the encounter, which was orchestrated by law enforcement. The “scuffle” also was caught on audio and video and sampled in court records, referring to the debtor as “Victim 1.”
Scibelli: " … My (expletive)money. You (expletive). You understand me? Have it all on the (expletive) first.”
Victim 1: “OK, so you just slapped me like four times in the face, right? And you kicked my phone in the street.”
Scibelli: “Yeah, you want some more?”
Victim 1: “No I don’t want no more … You want any?”
Scibelli: “I’m right here you (expletive).”
Victim 1: “Anthony, you’re my good friend …”
However, Scibelli attorney Nikolas Andreopoulos has argued in court hearings and a recent motion for more information on witnesses in the case “Victim 1″ really isn’t a victim at all. The defense lawyer cited quoted excerpts from the unnamed witness picked up on the “hot mic” session while he was helping the feds build their case against Scibelli.
“The recordings were turned over to the defense and they reveal that ‘CHS’ was not the unsophisticated and helpless victim he purported to be but rather more devious in nature. The recordings clearly establish that ‘CHS’ was involved in the illegal selling of prescription pills and that law enforcement agents knew of the situation,” Andreopoulos’ motion reads.
“They had me… especially when they tell me, ‘Think hard about whatever you answer. Don’t (expletive) lie to us. We already heard the whole thing.’ Already, I know on that tape they had to hear somethin’ about the pills…” ‘CHS’ stated – “That’s really the only thing I do, is the pills, right?” the lawyer’s motion continues, quoting the informant unwittingly being recorded by his own body wire.
“It’s a good thing I built some kinda relationship with them over the last month, where they know me a little bit, or I woulda (expletive) (expletive) got f---ed,” the man continued. “You know how long you go away for a hundred pills? It’s not a joke ... you can’t play both sides ... you get caught.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Desroches declined to comment on the allegations in the defense motion following a hearing on Tuesday.
Andreopoulos argues he is entitled to information law enforcement has about “nefarious dealings” by Victim 1 and his track record working for the FBI and state police. The defense lawyer also argues the debtor was angling for Scibelli and others to whom he was in arrears, fantasizing about putting him “in the hospital for the rest of his life,” the motion reads.
“I was getting to the point where I was ready to murder couple people, actually shoot them in their heads, and I would have went to prison the rest of my life…I was targeting who I was going to get,” the informant says on the accidental recordings, according to the defense.
Andreopoulos once again argues that the debtor was not actually a victim, but much more “calculating,” and pulls more quotes from the hot mic.
CHS: “At the end of the day they’re all going to go to jail so I’ll have my revenge, then won’t I?”
Female: “Then what happens?”
CHS: “What do you mean then what happens? What are you talking about?”
Female: “Then what happens?”
CHS: “Then I take the whole city over with my brother and five other people.”
Previous court filings portray the yet-unnamed informant as a longtime fixture at the Mount Carmel Club in the city’s South End, ground zero for socializing among local associates of the New York-based Genovese crime family and more recently leaders of the Latin Kings street gang.
Two Springfield men were indicted in a widespread dragnet of alleged Latin King leaders — some of whom held meetings at the South End social club, according to FBI records connected to that case.
Michael Cecchetelli, of Springfield, is alleged to be the New England leader of the violent street gang and is charged with racketeering after coordinated raids in early December.
His uncle, David Cecchetelli, was his nephew’s roommate and caught a gun charge at the same time when federal agents found an unregistered gun near his bedside, according to the indictment. David Cecchetelli is not accused of affiliations with the Latin Kings but has deep-seated ties to Greater Springfield Genovese associates and was convicted on a bookmaking charge in the early 2000s. Cases against Michael and David Cecchetelli remain pending in U.S. District Court.
In addition to mining for more information about Victim 1′s credibility and alleged criminal activity, Andreopoulos is also seeking further details about Victim 1′s brother, whom the defense lawyer notes is a witness in Scibelli’s case and under federal indictment.
“CHS provides a material basis to believe that he and ‘witness #5′ (‘my brother') were involved in a criminal enterprise together at the very same time when the investigation in this case was taking place. Under this backdrop, the information sought concerning ‘witness #5′ becomes material and relevant given that he is currently being prosecuted by the Government and appears on their list of witnesses,’” his motion reads.
The government must respond to Andreopoulos’ motion by Aug. 21. A hearing on the matter is scheduled before U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni on Sept. 11.
Original FB poster cited this story:
https://theblackhand.club/court-records ... b-himself/
[/qu. Just over 3 points on a 5G loan ?