FBI Agent Ed Robb. Why didn't get the same glory as Pistone?

[cosanostra101]

Was it jealousy? I was wondering why didn't Agent Edgar Robb get the same recognition and kudos as Joe Pistone? He seemed to have really done a lot of good work on that investigation. Does anybody know if Robb was also asked to be made?

https://www.nytimes.com/1982/08/17/nyre ... odlum.html

ARCHIVES | 1982

AGENT TELLS OF POSING AS A 'HIGH-ROLLING HOODLUM'
By ARNOLD H. LUBASCHAUG. 17, 1982

August 17, 1982, Page 00001
The New York Times Archives
An F.B.I. agent testified in a Manhattan trial yesterday that he had posed as ''a high-rolling hoodlum'' who operated a drinking club as part of a major undercover investigation that had infiltrated organized crime.

The agent, Edgar S. Robb, said he had used the name Tony Rossi in his undercover work with another agent, Joseph D. Pistone, who testified earlier in the trial of five men on racketeering charges in Federal District Court.

Mr. Robb testified that one of the defendants, Benjamin (Lefty) Ruggiero, became his ''partner'' in operating the Florida drinking club, which was actually the principal base for the undercover operation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

''You now have peace of mind,'' the agent said Mr. Ruggiero told him when they became partners. ''But it's going to cost you.''

'You Be Honorable'

''Lefty asked for $5,000,'' Mr. Robb went on, adding that ''I agreed to give him $250 a week'' in addition to a single $3,000 payment.

''You be sure to do the right thing,'' he quoted Mr. Ruggiero as saying. ''You be honorable.'' According to the testimony, Mr. Ruggiero had agreed to provide the protection of his ''Bonanno family'' associates in 1980 after Mr. Robb had told him of needing help to expand activities at the drinking club, called the King's Court, in Holiday, Fla.

At Mr. Ruggiero's urging, the agent said, he had a formal contract drawn up making them partners in the club. Description of Visit

Mr. Ruggiero subsequently brought several of his associates to Florida to visit the club, the agent said, including Dominick (Sonny Black) Napolitano. Louis J. Freeh, a prosecutor, asked the witness how Mr. Ruggiero had introduced him to Mr. Napolitano.

''This is Sonny, my skipper,'' Mr. Robb replied, explaining that skipper meant ''captain.'' Mr. Napolitano, who was described in previous testimony as a leader in the ''crime family,'' wanted him to conduct loansharking and bookmaking activities for the Bonanno group in the Tampa area, Mr. Robb said. He added that Mr. Napolitano had then told him ''don't be flamboyant'' so ''people won't notice you.''

In his undercover role, Mr. Robb said, the F.B.I. provided him with a fictitious Social Security identification, driver's license and credit cards as well as substantial amounts of cash. He said he had been an agent for 12 years, with five years in undercover work. Indentifies 4 Defendants

The tall, broad-shouldered agent, who was wearing a light-tan summer suit with a vest, gestured frequently with his hands during his testimony. He put on reading glasses to look at surveillance photographs of defendants in the case.

One by one, he identified four of the five defendants, pointing at the defense table to single out each one. He said he had met them during the undercover investigation in Florida and New York.

In addition to Mr. Ruggiero, the other defendants he identified were John Cerasani, Nicholas Santora and Antonio Tomasulo. The only defendant he did not identify was Anthony Rabito. All five have been described by the prosecution as members of the Bonanno organization in New York.

The defendants are charged with having taken part in a racketeering conspiracy that included the murder of three rival gangsters, hijackings, gambling and the attempted robbery of a Beekman Place town house belonging to the sister of the Shah of Iran. No Personal Background

Mr. Napolitano was indicted with the other defendants, but he disappeared and was believed to be dead. The testimony of Mr. Robb is scheduled to continue today. He has given virtually no details of his personal background. The F.B.I. has contended that both Mr. Robb and Mr. Pistone could be subjected to gangland reprisals for their undercover work.

Judge Robert W. Sweet is conducting the trial, which is now in its fourth week. The judge rejected an F.B.I. request for Mr. Robb and Mr. Pistone to use their ''undercover names'' when testifying. He ruled before the trial that withholding their true names would infringe on the cross-examination rights of the defense, but that they could withhold personal information for their protection.

His ruling praised both agents for ''their courage, heroism and skill as front-line fighters in the war against crime.''

[Slumpy]

Jack Garcia didn't get any of the praise Pistone did either.

[eboli]

I don't think there was a specific reason. From my understanding Pistone was always more vocal and didn't shy away from the attention.

[joeycigars]

Pistone wrote a decent book that parleyed into a great movie with Al Pacino -Johnnie Deep And Pistone did the marketing tour for years , Ed Robb died on the vine

[HairyKnuckles]

- Because he had holes in his underwear.

[Mukremin]

Perhaps Jack Falcone situation is overrated?

Pistone had an interview with Patrick Bet-David where he claimed he was the only one to get that close being made and had a successful infiltration. I don't blame Pistone.

[dack2001]

I think it was a combination of the Bureau promoting Pistone in the 80's when the big cases were happening and the promotion meant big dollars from Congress for more organized crime prosecutions and Pistone retired from the Bureau soon after his work was done and had nothing to do but promote his book. Gotti and Goodfellas came soon after and Pistone rode the mafia wave to two more books and a lucrative speaking/media career.

Pistone and Jack Garcia are fighting over the same media and interviews. They seem to go out of the way to ignore what the other agent accomplished. That said, Pistone had contact with the five families in New York and also Florida and Milwaukee and Kansas City. He was also on the short list to get made with a very heavy, violent group. Not too shabby.

[Bricktop]

"Friend of the Family" by D. Lea Jacobs was a good book about Robb.