Chapter 15

America's Dirtiest Secrets

In 'retrospect, sitting behind bars for three years gave me an unusual
advantage over most of my fellow Americans. You see, I got to see the
6:00 evening national news weeks, and in some cases, even months
before anyone in the free world.

I also got to see what would be well

hidden from the free world by our beloved government - the truth. I met
the players and creators of the news, dined and worked with them
daily, and even got to interview them almost at will.

I discovered

the real reasons the U.S. government wanted Noriega out of power and it
had very little if anything to do with drugs.

I met and befriended the

people the CIA hired, then betrayed to fly guns and drugs on behalf of
President Reagan. Yes, it seemed all the people who knew the
inside story were now locked inside hide the truth!

real

prison. What a great place to

Just think about this for a minute. If someone had

information about you that could get you locked away or exposed on
the front pages of the Times, can you think of a better place to put
that person besides the graveyard? After all, if they told the truth from
behind bars, their credibility is automatically in doubt if not totally
negated.

Thus it was no accident that I met dozens of very intelligent and

educated people, political activists, and

even

patriotic zealots

who

risked life and limb for America were secreted at MCC Miami and
other

federal

prison facilities.

People like Mike Tolliver, George

Morales, Jesus Garcia, and Gary Betzner.

selected by the CIA for

recruitment

These people were carefully

because

as

criminal

suspects,

they came with automatic built-in "deniability". If and when the shit hit
1

the fan, they could simply be arrested and charged with crimes, and no
one, much less the news media would pay much attention to them. It
mattered not whether the crimes were real or fabricated. Fortunately
however, the folks at Dateline, Congressional investigator Ralph Maestri,
Brian Barger of CNN, Senator John Kerry, and Johnathan Kwitny of the
Wall Street Journal were not taken in by the government's dubious ploy
in the case of the contra scandal, and the American public eventually
learned of the fiasco, about nine months after I did. When I told my own
mother about the guns for drug missions months before the story broke
on the news she was more than skeptical that the U.S. government
could possibly sanction such crimes.

Only when she saw the story

on the nightly news and Dateline did she come to believe it.

I get a

similar reaction when I tell people about my own experiences working

for Uncle Sam in the Coast Guard, and with the Treasury and Justice
Departments.

The real story about Noriega's demise still remains well hidden from
the public however. But that is someone else's book to write.

Let's

just say that Noriega was a productive CIA employee for more than a
decade, and it was only after he began saying "No" to his American
puppet masters that he became a dangerous liability - someone who
had acquired too much potentially embarrassing information to be left
in power.

It is now no secret that Noriega wanted U.S. troops and

bases out of Panama, but when he threatened to expose the drug

money laundering operations of the CIA, h e m a d e a l o t o f b i g
p e o p l e i n W a shington nervous. But he sealed his doom when he
refused the request of then CIA Director George H. Bush to cancel the
Panama Canal Treaty he sign with Jimmy Carter in 1977. This infuriated
Bush who when he became President himself, decided that Manny simply
had to go and he did via a kidnapping that required a military invasion in
2

1989..

And

now that the man is a convicted

would believe

him today

right?

felon, almost

In my humble

no one

opinion,

America

deserves to hear his side of the story and not from a courtroom where
politically- appointed

federal judges

conceal the truth during his trial.

glimpse

of

the

censored

Americans

real Panama/Noriega

the man 88 times

curious

Better still you can actually

prison and if he gets your

get

story should rent the video

d oc u m e n t a r y entitled "The Panama Deception".

to be nauseated.

to

to

But be prepared

write to Noriega in

mail, he'd probably be more than glad

to tell you the real version of that 1989 invasion and the arguments
that led up to it.

I also was destined to meet the old college buddy of George W. Bush
who claimed to have supplied

his drinking pal with their supply of

party drugs - marijuana and cocaine during their glory days.

was jailed
elected

He too

less than six months before George Bush Sr. would be

President,

and only three days after some

leaked out that the Presidential candidate's

and drug problem.

press stories

son may have a drinking

The guy was only a few years older than me and I

would meet him on the "magic bus" - a very special place reserved
for only the most potentially embarrassing
very interesting

prisoners.

Indeed some

people can be found within the confines

prisons - and not all of them are genuine criminals.

of U.S.

Early on, after I

first picked up on this oddity, I decided that I would keep notes and
document

my experiences,

encounters,

and the most

interesting

people I met. As time wore on, I realized I was certainly not the only
one railroaded into a conviction,

and I intended to use these other

cases to corroborate my own abuse of process.

I never intended to

write a book - at least not yet.

Having been able to speak at length with numerous witnesses to the

above

government

corruption

along

with

my

own

personal

experiences working for Uncle Sam brought me to the sad conclusion

that real justice
level.

in America

is conveniently

selective at the federal

Politicians in the highest places who have the power to appoint

federal judges have the luxury of using the criminal justice system as
a

powerful

weapon

and

tool

to

silence

and/or

discredit

critics,

intimidate potential candidates, or take vengeance against someone

who fell into disfavor - like whistle blowers.

It all comes down to controlling the flow of information and putting the
"right" spin on the truth.

Politicians are well aware that no matter if

something is true or false, it will be believed by the vast majority of

Americans

if they see it on the TV news or in the print media.

Wagging The Dog was a movie that most of us considered a comedy,

but in actuality, was almost a bulls eye hit on reality in Washington.
The spin doctors of Washington, if given enough money can have us
all believing damn near anything.

And God forbid should someone

(like Bill Maher, host of Politically Incorrect for example) start publicly
questioning or challenging the spinned version of events.

The man

was forced off the airwaves at a time when his late night audience
grew to an all time high.
from television

The spinned version of his disappearance

erroneously

blamed

"low ratings".

Maher

proved

otherwise in his last week of live broadcasts.

Another

more

recent

example

of

how

the

U.S.

subverts

or

suppressed the truth was the Israeli massacre at Jenin in May of

2002 orchestrated by Ariel Sharon.

America could not have it's best

ally in the Middle East charged with war crimes as was Milosevich for
similar acts in Croatia.

So as soon as the first story broke in Cairo

4

about Jenin, the Bush administration

promptly dispatched

their top

political lobbyists and spin doctors to take charge of the damage

control. Over a dozen countries

lobbied the United Nations for a

public investigation,

the last thing the U.S. or Israel wanted.

God and President

Bush knows how he managed

Only

to quash that

investigation,

but without

from the American

it, those slaughtered

at Jenin soon faded

news media which did not have, nor wanted to

spend it's own resources on the story.

It's been my own experience

that those in power have a self-interest (politically and/or financially) to

regulate,

edit, or otherwise

censor

the truth

if it may be potentially

damaging. The president of America is the most powerful person in

the world, and only bad press can ultimately remove him from office.
What else can influence voters more than the news they read and
see on television?

I urge every American to scour the Internet and

find some foreign newspapers to read on a regular basis.

be surprised to find stories never. even mentioned

You may

in the American

press.

Americans

have a love/hate

relationship

seems nobody likes a "snitch",

with

yet everyone

their stories on 60 Minutes, 20/20, or Dateline.

realize that every whistleblower
better government
investigations

whistle

is fascinated

If their stories

might never have been launched,

It

to hear

But people need to

who comes forward

for all of us.

blowers.

helps make a

were never told,

and corrupt,

abusive

government officials would not only still be stealing or misusing your

tax dollars to line their own pockets, but would have no qualms nor
fears of perpetrating
whistle

even greater

blowers and watchdog

Personally,

I feel that

groups can only help restore some

integrity to our immoral government

strengthened

abuses.

and laws need to be significantly

to protect them from the kind of retribution that I and

others endured for two decades.

Because we try to do the right thing

and report crimes and abuses, our lives have been made miserable.
In my own case,
offenses,

I have

been jailed

four times

for non-existent

had my friends, fiance, and neighbors threatened

against

helping me by federal agents, smeared beyond belief, had my life's

296

savings seized, my home trashed twice by federal agents, had my

phones tapped, been shot at, beaten, pepper sprayed, drugged, and
urinated on, and had my mail intercepted.

And all this took place in

America - allegedly the greatest democracy on Earth.

And there are

yet dozens of other whistle blowers who endured far worse than me.
Some have gone insane, others who could not handle the incessant
harassment

took their own lives to find relief, and yet others like

Liston Smith were murdered or suffered coincidental

accidents. For

those who sacrificed so much for so little there must be at the very
least, meaningful and effective protection.

Whether you are willing to accept the truth that whistle blowers have
to offer is not the issue.

In a truly free country, they should be able to

be heard without fear of revenge.

assured

of hearing

Without them, you will never be

the full-unedited

related story. Websites

version

have sprouted

of any government-

to recruit, encourage,

publish the stories of whistle blowers like www.

and

But their stories

need to picked up an carried by the mainstream media without

repercussions to the newspaper or radio/tv station who carries the story.
In this regard, I am now seeking the financing to set up a Internet news
wire service (www.NewsNetNine.com) to act as a clearinghouse for whistle
blowers world-wide and provide protective liaisons with media resources
who have the courage to report all the news.

What the American public got to see about Enron was just the very tip of a
very large iceberg that most in our government would like to keep
submerged out of view. Some 60% of Congressmen received campaign
contributions from Enron and President Bush's personal friendship with its
executives goes back to the early 90s. Less than two weeks before New
Yorker AI Chalem was found with five bullets in his head in his own home,
297

he was buying "off-market" shares of Enron through an off-shore trading

account for a Texas, Congressman. How do I know? He called to ask me
if I could help him round up the shares. We may never get to see the whole
Enron story, but I stumbled across many pieces to the puzzle one by one,
purely by chance.

Not all Americans want to know that a man is raped every seventeen
minutes in U.S. prisons, or how lobbyists and corporations bribe their way
to success and enormous wealth, or than one of every 12 Americans
go through the criminal justice system, and about 20% of them are
innocent citizens, but in America we should be able to hear and see this
stuff if we so choose without interference from our own government.If

you

agree, send me an e-mail, and I will truly keep you posted on everything
that others want to hide from your eyes and ears in a timely manner, and
let

you

draw

your

own

conclusions.

My

email

is

BruceAGorcya@yahoo.com.

My own personal conclusion is that many in our government utilize and

abuse their authority to organize and perpetrate crimes of growing
magnitude, and they finance their criminal ventures with our tax dollars.
The scary part is that this organized crime is not limited to our muftimillionaire

politicians,

but includes growing elements

inside federal

law enforcement, the Wall Street bankers, corporate America and even the
mob as Richard Brenneke testified before the U.S. Congress.

They have

become the true "Untouchables"

The epitome

of this is law enforcement corruptions exemplified

case of Joseph
suit pending

in the

Salvati whose family now has a $300 Million law

against the FBI.

Mr. Salvati and the other three men

spent 30 years in prison for the murder of Eddie Deegan. The FBI not
298

only knew Salvati and the others were innocent at the time of their
arrest, but they knew from wire taps that the actual killer was one of
their very own informants named
only

suppressed

evidence

Joseph

this information,

Barboza!

Yet

they

they helped to fabricate

and testimony used to convict four innocent

two of them sentenced to the death penalty.

not
false

men and get

Only recently, some 30

years after the fact did the public ever hear anything about this case
when news of special Congressional
FBI Special
extensive

Agent Paul

framing

"Untouchables"

Ric o who was

still believes

and

investigations

himself

leaked out in 1998.

in part responsible
to

be

one

for the
of

the

showed absolutely no remorse whatsoever when

called on the carpet before Congress for ruining the lives of an entire
family

for some 30 years. Amazingly,

Rico when

in fact he would easily

obstruction

of justice,

more

bizarre

was protected
they admit they

is the

no charges were filed against

be

and a half dozen

fact

the

from prosecution

found

guilty

other

real acknowledged

of

perjury,

statutes.

Even

killer (Barboza)

for years by the FBI even though

knew he was the killer for the last thirty five years!

The government covered up this case for decades, as they continue to

do with others including my own.

Certainly you can imagine my surprise when a letter to FBI Director

Mueller (dated September

15th, 2001 and sent via courier) containing

video and audio tapes advising him of a corrupt FBI agent involved in
smuggling over $250 Million of drugs does not even get a form letter reply.
I later learned that the FBI already knew about this scoundrel and rather
than undertake an embarrassing prosecution of the guy, they merely
asked him to take early retirement.

The man now lives with impunity in

his Key Biscayne luxury home less than 100 yards from the old Nixon
compound and the handful of witnesses who can put this man behind bars
299

have either been jailed or run out of the U.S. including myself. My attorney
Bill Gilmour has video and audio tapes of

former

FBI

Nelson cavorting with convicted drug smuggler

agent

Terry

Erling Ingvaldsen of

Norway right inside the Miami FBI offices! Ingvaldsen admits that he
and Nelson smuggled

millions of dollars

of

heroin,

cocaine,

and

ecstasy together for years. Although as I explain later, Erling did not have
much choice, Nelson sure did. When discovered and arrested
RCMP in Canada,
but Ingvaldsen

Nelson claimed it was just as "sting"

and others

say

otherwise

by the
operation

and are willing to take

polygraph tests. More about Terry Neslon can be found by running an

Internet

search

using the keywords

"Special

Agent Terry Nelson".

You'll be more than amused at what you find.

My lawyer and I documented to FBI Director Mueller and the RCMP in

Canada can document that we informed the FBI about Nelson criminal
activity

months

before anything

ever

hit the

Gilmour also has copies of the unanswered

well

as Attorney

General Ashcroft.

agree there is something

very wrong

internet

about

him.

letter sent to Mueller as

I think most Americans

might

with an FBI which shows no

interest in learning more about one of it's own corrupt agents. This is
epitomized

by the case of FBI Special

knowingly

helped

fabricate

Agent

Paul

Rico

who

false evidence and testimony to convict

four men including Joseph Salvati of a murder he and other agents

knew were 110% innocent.
cost

Rico admitted

his

misconduct

that

Salvati

30 years

of false imprisonment, before Congressional

investigators

on record,

yet

brought

against

Rico.

not even

one

criminal

charge

was

If this isn't obstruction of justice what is?

Rico should get the same sentence

his devious

deceptions

earned

Salvati.

300

Now most people would think that once a drug smuggler is arrested
and sent off to prison, he is put out of business and his smuggling
days are over.
Benitez.

This is not necessarily

true as in the case of Renee

Renee is not so easily discouraged even though he may not

see freedom for another ten years or so.

I had won his confidence

after I typed and translated a handful of legal documents for him at

MCC Miami, where I had already befriended Erling Ingvaldsen who
vouched

for me.

Benitez had decided that he could continue

his

illegal multi-million dollar enterprise by recruiting a proxy to act on his

behalf.

It would have to be someone who had unrestricted access to

him and someone he could have private,

with.

unmonitored

conversations

This limited his choices to lawyers, and for some reason he

chose Steve Finta.

One fine day, Benitez approached

me and asked me if I had any

money to invest in a venture that would pay a 500% return.

pure curiosity

Out of

I said "maybe", when in fact I spent the last of my

moneys on Attorney Herb Sachs long ago.

Within 48 hours I was

called for an unexpected "lawyers visit" and when I was taken to the
visiting room, there sat Renee with his attorney Steve Finta and I was
promptly

introduced.

Erling Ingvaldsen

and a few other of Finta's

clients including Carlos Botero were waiting to see Finta as well.

Once inside the private interview room alone with Finta, he began by
saying "Renee tells me you're a player and want in on our action" I
again answered "maybe - depends on the action and my cut of it".
Finta perceived an interest and cut right to the chase "We're putting a
load together and need another $500,000.

For every $100,000 you

put in we'll pay you a minimum of $300,000."

but not for long.

I was stunned at first

"Isn't this risky?" I asked "We have no risk." Finta

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replied matter-of-factly.

"How so?" I countered.

Finta subtly pointed

to

another

talking

man

sitting

in

visitor's

Ingvaldsen "See that guy with Erling?"

booth

with

Erling

"Yeah?" "Take my card and

go introduce yourself - his name is Terry and he covers our back". I

took

his cue and his card and walked

knocked on the door and then entered.

across
I greeted

the visiting

room

Erling and gave

Finta's card to the other man, who then looked out the door towards
Finta who flashed him the "okay" hand sign.
himself

as Special

Agent

Terry

thought was a dumb practical joke.

Nelson

The man introduced

and I laughed

at what I

But within 1 0 seconds Terry had

his credentials and badge out for me to see. Son of a bitch!

I thought

to myself and promptly stopped chuckling. Terry was an FBI agent!

Terry already knew quite a bit about me from Renee that I lived I Puerto
Rico for seve years, was a pilot, and fluently bilingual. He assured me that if
I participated in their venture I would make a lot of money, and even more
when I went free, because as he said I need a project manager in Puerto
Rico, and I think youre the perfect guy for the job. Not knowing if I was
being set up for something I said very little and said I see. I guess I was a
bit in shock over how openly he was talking to me about joining up in his
criminal enterprise. He claimed Erling would be going free in a few weeks to
help him, and I could do the same when I was released in two months on
probation. He said he take me out for a few drinks and explain more when I
went free and he gave me his home number to call him when I went free. In
the interim, he wanted me to invest in some loads. I left the little meeting
room shocked and confused.

Not knowing what I was supposed to say I just made small talk with
Erling trying to ascertain
ventures.

if Erling had any role in the Benitez/Finta

All Erling would say was "Terry's a good guy - you can
302

trust him".

I didn't know how to take that comment, so I just excused

myself and left them t a l k i n g a n d a s a s I was walking towards the

exit, Benitez approached

me "Are you in?".

"I need to think about

this Renee - give me a couple of days" .

My i ni ti a l contacts with Terry Nelson at MCC Miami were

brief, but

enough to convince me he was using his authority to protect and profit

with drug smugglers. Before coming to prison Renee Benitez, one time
head of the Medellin/Cali cocaine cartel who was arrested after shooting
a DEA agent in Colombia in the early 80s. It took American agents more
than a decade to find and arrest Benitez. If I wa s not vetted by Benitez and
Erling, I would never have been introduced to Finta, and then Terry. Finta
was the buffer between Terry and the prisoners. If anything went wrong
Finta was covered by Client Attorney Confidentiality, and Terry as an FBI
agent didnt have to explain squat to anyone. That entire evening was so
surreal for me..

Later Renee would tell me that the load would be about 600 kilos of
cocaine shipped into Port Everglades concealed in some lumber from
Central

America

but would

not give

committed some bucks to the venture.

me

more

details

unless I

I asked him for another day. I

was just trying to get out of this mess without causing any ill will.
Later that day I took a walk with Erling to have a private conversation
and asked him if he knew that Finta and Benitez were running a
smuggling operation.
not to get involved
busted.

He acknowledged
because

that he did and warned me

Finta and Benitez were about to be

I probed further bu t Erling just said "It's better that you don't

know for now - I'll tell you next week"

"Are you crazy Tony?

"Are you in on this Erling?"

I don't trust Finta or Benitez".

Now I was

303

confused.

Why did Erling have weekly visits from Finta and why was he

talking with Nelson the other night? The mystery would be solved shortly.

The following week Erling approached me in the library where I was typing
some letters for George Morales. He was upset. He somehow came to the
conclusion that Finta was just using him for business contacts and wasn't
doing anything to get him a new trial or released from prison. I would later
hear similar words from Renee Benitez and some Haitians that had a
similar relationship with Finta.

Indeed, it was much better and more

profitable for Finta if his clients never were released from prison.

If they

were, his participation would no longer be required, and by now he was

certainly growing accustomed and quite comfortable with his new wealth.

By the grace of God a stroke of good luck fell at feet one day as I was taking
an after dinner stroll on the prison compound around the walkway that
circled it's small lake. I was walking with Erling who was telling me how
Sheriff Nick Navaro of Ft. Lauderdale had put a gun to his young son's head
to coerce a signature on a prepared statement.

We were discussing

the possible ways to expose the fraud when

suddenly

I saw him. What was he doing here?

The answer was quite

simple -

working. The last time I had seen him was some ten years

earlier when we were both petty officers in the Coast Guard stationed at Air
Station Borinquen in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico.

He was married with a

beautiful sweet wife and children. He was too nice of a guy to be a prison
guard?

His name was Jimmy and I made a bee line straight to him.

"What in God's name are you doing here Jimmy?" He was just as shocked
to see me and replied with a similar question of his own.

I signaled for

Erling to walk ahead without me and Jimmy and I strolled off to a more
private area to chat.
304

In less than 30 minutes we exchanged updates and I learned that Jimmy

was recovering from a painful divorce and decided the military would not
provide him the life he wanted. But not wanting to lose his accrued
government seniority he grabbed the first federal job that came his way
when he came to Miami. And now he was a prison guard at MCC Miami.
He looked drained and was obviously not the happy go lucky guy I knew
ten years ago. Jimmy was depressed and he clearly hated his new job.
That was easy to understand. What a genuine joy it was for me to find an
old friend in this place.

We had never really been close friends, but

friends none the less. And right now a friend is just what I needed.

I explained my problem with the mail interception and Jimmy agreed to

smuggle out a single letter for me at the risk of losing his job. After much
thought, I decided that this one missile would have multiple warheads. I
would send one letter containing three others to my most loyal friend in
the free world and she would remail the three letters inside.

One letter

would be to only man I trusted at the FBI at the time, (Ben Grogan)
another would be to the Postal Inspector, and the third to Congressman
Mottl.

When Jimmy confirmed that he personally dropped my thick envelope in a

real red white and blue mailbox in the real world I was elated and assumed
that help would soon be on the way. What I didn't count on however was
my mother's pride. I would learn some five years later during a heart to
heart talk during a mother's day dinner that my own mother failed

me.

She confessed that she was too proud and embarrassed to send the
letter I wrote to Ron Mottl who was an old family friend.

Parma political

circles are small, and my father was well-known in those circles.

My

dear mother didn't want anyone in arma to know her only child was
behind bars - no matter what the reason. Fortunately, she did mail
305

the other two letters but I had no way of knowing that Ben Grogan
had died, and when I received a form letter reply from the Miami
Postal
advised

Inspector

I laughed

and then cried.

His

generic

letter

me to submit a written detailed complaint (which is exactly

what I mailed him) and someone would then respond from his office.
If they did, I never saw it. As hard as I tried, I could not persuade
Jimmy to smuggle out another letter for me.

Apparently one of the

guards got caught bringing in drugs and cigars for the prisoners (a
very lucrative business for guards) and now spot checks were being
done on guards as they entered and left the prison.
not be able to explain

Jimmy

would

a letter from a prisoner in his lunchbox and

could even be charged criminally.

I know my letter to Grogan

following week, Erling showed

made it to FBI hands

because

me a Miami Herald article.

load of cocaine was busted at Port Everglades

bundles of lumber, just where he said it would be.

the

Finta's

hidden inside the

I gave the FBI all

the information I had gathered on the shipment and it was enough to

result in a bust.

Little did I know that Erling also blew his own whistle

tne the same load. But we were both very much surprised to see that
the Miami Herald article made no mention of Attorney Steve Finta nor
Special

Agent

Terry

Nelson.

Why?

This question would go

unanswered for another year.

When I was released from prison, I had promised to help a handful of

prisoners seek genuine justice and Erling was one of them. But only a few
months after I was released from prison, Erling showed up in my office. He
was beaming and quickly explained "Terry got me out". It would prove to
be one of the best business decisions Terry Nelson would ever make.
Erling went into prison a wealthy married man and came out broke and
306

divorced.

But Terry would soon help him make up for lost time - and

money.

The next time I would see Terry Nelson would be 1997 he was still
prospering in the drug trade in 1997 as he would be in 2001 when he was
asked to take early retirement when too many questions were being asked
about Terry.

I called him at his Key Biscayne home (305) 361-3071

an effort to locate Erling.

in

"He's busy right now Tony - we're right in the

middle of a big deal in Canada. What do you need?" he asked me. "I need
for Erling to call me as soon as he can" I replied,
Terry enough to confide
Erling never
message.
through

not

trusting

in him despite Erling's many assurances.

did call, and I wondered

The next time

still

I heard from

if Terry even gave him my

Erling was two years later

his son Egil who called me in 1999 to tell me that

betrayed Erling on a multi-million

Terry

dollar ecstasy and heroin deal in

Quebec, and let Erling take the fall, while he took the money.

I would see Erling for the last time in December of 2001 in Toronto
when

he asked

introduced

me if I knew a lawyer

him by telephone

he could

to Bill Gilmour

released from prison in Quebec,

really trust.

and when

he was

he came to Toronto to meet Bill.

Because Erling will be filing his own law suit against the FBI, I have
agreed not to divulge more details of the Terry Nelson connection
until the case is over.

I will say however, that on behalf of Erling I

placed a call to Terry and basically said "Hi Terry this Tony DiMarco.
You know Erling wants his share of the money".
back but such an unexpected
bluntness"

At first he was taken

call and then even more so by my

After some meaningless chit chat Terry replied "Well just

tell Erling to be cool, keep his mouth shut, and he'll get his money.
Tell him to call me and remind him I've got my own problems right
307

now".

Even though Erling served his time, both in the U.S. and

Canada

he was "advised" not to return to the U.S. ever again or

they'd

lock him up for the rest of his life. So despite the fact that

Erling

is a U.S. citizen,

Nelson's

was forced

to live abroad

secret criminal life and freedom,

to preserve

and perhaps his own life.

Only in 2010 was Erling finally allowed to return to the U.S. with a pledge of
secrecy and to guarantee that secrecy they put him on special parole
which means if he ever talks, they could throw him back in prison.

Terry Nelson is not the only such agent to prosper illegally from their
positions of unique authority.
be the

last. They

passive

bribery

felonies.

He was not the first, and certainly won't

have taken

to the

government

extreme

corruption

pro-active

perpetration

mere

of major

The lure of easy millions is not easily ignored, and seldom

does a veteran agent come under suspicion nor scrutiny.

is often

from

better for the Bureau to conceal

exposed to embarrassing

publicity.

matters

If they do, it

rather than be

But I assure you, anyone who

dares to blow the whistle on these sleazy entrepreneurs

themselves

on the receiving

end of death threats,

will find

bogus criminal

charges, or hot

Yes, America's dirtiest secrets were revealed to me in the only safe

place they could be hidden - prison.
learned

from

two

of

Finta's

In my last days behind bars, I

clients

and

from

Finta's

former

investigator Dario, that Finta was in fact, a paid FBI informant who the
FBI hired to obtain information from his own clients under the guise of
the sacred "client/lawyer

privilege of secrecy.

Now it made sense to

all of us why Finta was never really concerned about getting his legal
fees up front like' all the other lawyers.

He would come visit prisoners

ostensibly "out of the blue" and offer his services, but only to big drug
308

dealers like the Haitian Army officers like Colonel Biambi - cases he
secretly helped to convict. In reality, he was directed by the FBI to
visit these prospects and become their lawyer. Once we were on to
him, one of his clients/targets

actually frisked

Finta in the visitor's

room and found him to be wearing a body wire. One would think this
would be enough to get a lawyer disbarred,

but the prisoner was

promptly transferred to another prison the very next day and held in
solitary confinement that night so he could not let other prisoners in
on his discovery.

Only by luck would I meet this man when the magic

bus would take me to Talladega federal prison in Alabama where the

magic bus had deposited
named

Oliva Cantu.

him a few days before.

My mother would always try to convince me

that everything in life, even the worst tragedies,

reason.

He is a Cuban

happen for a good

Had I not been whisked off in the magic bus, I would never

have obtained the last missing pieces of the Finta puzzle from Oliva.

When I was released from prison in 1990, one of the first things I did
was to get a message sent into Erling and the others about Finta and
I took the liberty to send an anonymous fax to all the other lawyers in
Miami advising them of Finta's official FBI duties.

Less than a week

later I got a call from Erling's brother in Florida that Steve Finta was
asking

Erling and others

if they had an address for me.

I then

received a collect call from Erling himself who advised me "Tony, you
better be careful.
killed.

Finta is so pissed he said he's going to have you

He's looking all over

in your name?"

for you - I hope you don't have anything

Fortunately I didn't and I was staying with my future

wife in her father's

Miami Beach condo.

myself looking over my shoulder frequently,

None the less, I found

because I came to the

conclusion that sooner or later, Finta would turn to Nelson to find me.
Finta

is

the

proverbial

elephant

who

never

forgets
309

Sure enough

in 1994 while working

in yacht sales at Champion

Marine in Miami, I was at the Fort Apache marina waiting for a "Mr.
Ortiz" who called earlier in the day and asked me if I would help him
sell his boat on a consignment basis.

He was to arrive at the marina

in his boat in the late afternoon, "around 5:00pm".

but Mr. Ortiz never showed

up.

I waited until six,

I was angry that he didn't even

bother to call. It was a long hot Miami day, I was hungry, and I
headed for my car in the parking lot to go home.
seemed, a brown sedan pulled into the parking lot.

Out of nowhere it
It crawled along

slowly as if the driver was searching for a parking space. But as usual
the huge parking lot was almost empty except for five or six cars.
There were two occupants and the one in the passenger
leered at me.

He gave me the creeps.

seat just

They both appeared to be

Hispanics in their late twenties or early thirties. Talk about instinct.

As I was unlocking my car door I heard someone shout "Tira, Tira!"

which is Spanish for "Shoot - shoot!"
the shouting

voice

I looked up in the direction of

and saw the passenger

in the

brown

sedan

pointing a pistol out the window at me, and it was the driver who was
shouting the instructions. Instinctively I hit the deck behind my car a
mere second or two before I heard the crack of single shot and the
squeal of tires as they peeled out of the marina. I was shaken to say
the least, but it didn't take me long to surmise that Finta may have
been responsible for this little episode. My gut reaction was to report
this incident, but after thinking it through, I realized that since I was
now a convicted felon on probation and that this incident might give
the feds an excuse to revoke my probation pending "an investigation"
or for my "own protection". In the last four years I had grown quite
310

accustomed to my freedom and so opted not to file a report. I never

did hear from Mr. Ortiz again.
Yet

other

secrets

of another

nature

hidden

behind

prison

walls

seldom if ever make it to public ears. They do occasionally find their

way

to

obscure

web

pages

www.prisonwatch.org amongst others.

like

www.hrw.org

These

are some of the most

sensitive and dirtiest secrets for they concern

in some cases
government.
often

to the extreme, committed

human rights abuse,

by officials of the U.S.

Yes, the same self-righteous U.S. government that so

condemns

violations

and

China,

and third world countries

for human rights

has even bigger skeletons in it's own closets.

In later

chapters I will get into specific first hand incidents,

but the treatment

of some

those

prisoners

confinement

in U.S.

would

surely

prisons, especially
be called inhumane

Central America

or North

here in America,

they are not even mentioned

What kind of abuse?

Prisoners

Korea.

But because

in solitary

if discovered
they transpire
in the

in
right

open

press.

Here's a sampling ...

left naked and hog-tied

for 2-5 days and forced to eat like

a dog

out of food

placed

bowl in front of them.

in a

A prisoner

could find himself in this painful

situation
with

merely

a guard

or

for disagreeing
refusing

to

perform

unauthorized

work

details.

Prisoners confined to an enclosed cell and then sprayed with an entire

can of pepper spray merely for making too much noise, singing, or
calling too often for a guard's
many request

forms,

complaint

attention.
forms,

Prisoners
or who

who write too

report

prison

staff
311

violations to the
up

warden,

with involuntary

frequently

find

injections of Thorazine.

themselves

getting

shot

Prisoners who refuse to

speak to guards could easily find themselves without toilet paper for a
week or two, or placed

in a cell with a known sexual

molester, or

gang member who is then told you are a member of a rival gang! In
my own case, guards had a great deal of fun telling other prisoners that
I was a former federal agent and then were amused as I took a couple
of beatings from other inmates, one of which was fairly severe, and if I
dare to report the perpetrators, Id get worse for sure within a week. Prison is
not a place for weak people even federal prison. State and county jails are
even doubly dreadful and violent.

Prisoners who speak with the same

profanity that comes their way from guards are frequently

shocked

with cattle prods or tasers.

The ACLU recently reported that there were over 200,000 cases of prison
rapes in America in 2010. Since most rapes are not reported for fear of
retribution, we can estimate the true assault rate is more than double. And
almost half are men on men. Usually prison rapes make for good jokes but I
can tell you when you awake in the middle of the night with some guy trying
to force his penis up our ass, it is the worst possible feeling I have ever had
and I had to fight like a mad dog to get him off of me. When I insisted that I
be allowed to call the police and file criminal charges against the man, the
guards just roared with laughter and suggested get used to and by the time
you go home you will even like it! one told me with a huge grin on his face.
Guards generally feel no obligation to protect prisoners unless there is such
a riot going on or there are video cameras in the room. Taking showers in a
prison is always risk business. Fortunately I learned how o fight before I
turned ten back in Ohio.
312

I had volumes of statistics on prison crimes that I accumulated, but again,

most all of it was removed from my mothers home with my second set of
manuscripts.

But I seem to recall that 5% of all female prisoners leave

prison pregnant or subjected to chemically-induced abortions.

Every prison has what's called a "Goon Squad" biggest,

meanest,

and most immoral

guards

a group of the

who are called

into

action every' time a colleague decides that an inmate needs a good

beating that could last up to 10 or 15 minutes whether a prisoner
submits or not.

And it's not unusual to get one of these beatings

while your hands are cuffed behind your back so you can't even
protect your face from a flurry of kicks and punches. Some prisons
guards refer to the goo squad affectionately as the disciplinar y committee.
In my 38 months behind bars I witnessed about a dozen such assaults and
frankly two were really justifiable an d i n t hr e e of th e c as e s th e
pr i s on er s w er e t a ke n a w ay u nc o n sc i o us. Th ey do n t al w ay s
w h er e t he r i o t eq ui p m e n t w h en th ey m ak e a gr o u p a t tac k.

313

I f y o u se e t h e se g u y s c o m i n g t h e b e st t h i n g t o d o i s q u i c k l y s u b m i t b y
l y i n g o n t h e f l o o r . R e m a i n st a n d i n g a n d a r g u e a n d y o u w i l l r e g r e t i t
f o r su r e .

I found

myself at the receiving

end of one these

beatings

after

reported a guard who stole some magazines, a picture of my girlfriend,

and my sunglasses from

my

locker

clever enough to use phonebooks

to the

warden.

They

so as not to leave tell-tale marks

on my body but still managed to knock me unconscious.

handcuffed,
them.

were

I could do little but remain

Being

quiet so as not to provoke

When I awoke still cuffed, I realized someone had urinated on

me. I was sore for days. Erling endured quite a few of these brutal
unprovoked beatings at the hands of guards including one that left his
leg and jaw broken (at another prison facility)
314

Then

there

are the "practical

jokes"

that the guards

prisoners for purely entertainment purposes.

pull off on

Those in solitary usually

see most of these sick pranks, like finding insects or feces in your
food, or visine, (a great laxative), urine, or even hallucinogenic drugs
in your drinks, or tiny hairs of fiberglass insulation in your bedding or
towels that leave you scratching yourself raw for days.

Aside from this physical abuse, some of the veteran guards have
become masters at mental and emotional torment.

They would take

great joy and satisfaction in causing grief for prisoners they didn't like
with clever but simple ruses like trashing

a prisoner's

incoming or

outgoing mail, turning away visitors, or relaying false messages like

"Your wife's lawyer called and she filed for divorce and doesn't want
you to call or write anymore, and if you do, harassment charges will
be filed".

This gem was pulled on a prisoner I met in EI Reno prison

in Oklahoma, who was so despondent with the news that he took his
own life, and NOTHING was done to the guard responsible.

At one

time I had all the details of this incident including statements from the
man's wife and his cell mate, but those notes were taken away from
me in a cell search just days before my release to freedom. If I recall
correctly his wife was from Fort Worth, Texas.

Occasionally

the "pranks" become

more serious

myself became a target of such plot.

woman guard who was prostituting
associate

and sinister

as I

At MCC Miami there was a

herself to the prisoners and an

of hers who was peddling drugs.

I reported both to the

warden via a "kite" which is prison lingo for an anonymous note.

this day, I still don't know how they discovered
certainly

To

it was me, but they

had revenge in mind when they found themselves

being
315

questioned in the warden's office.

Ultimately, the woman was caught

in a sexual act and was fired, and the other fellow was apparently
transferred.

But before their departure, they had something special in

mind for me.

Random

cell searches

random.

When

contraband

are anything

guards

but

get tips

(drugs, weapons,

of

booze, etc.)

they use the random cell search

routine to

seize the goods and if they choose, charge

the owner

with

new

crimes

that

could

significantly extend his time behind bars for

a few more years, especially in the case of
drugs. Prisoners that the guards dont like get
set up regularly. Who will believe them?
Anyone who has ever known me knows quite well that I don't use
drugs

of any kind.

And so did another blac k woman

befriended in a round about way.

cell following the
summoned

by

completion
the young

whispered "Meet me in the

could this be about?

of

guard who

At any rate, I was returning to my

my

work

black woman.
laundry

I wondered.

detail,

when

She walked

room -

I was

by me and

right away"

What

Alone in the laundry room she

warned me "Your cell is going to be searched Gorcyca. If I were you, I'd

check it real good -if you know what I mean".

I didn't know what she

meant but I took her advice and went right to my cell and searched it
thoroughly. I found nothing. But as I was about to leave my cell to go lift
some weights, I bent over to retrieve a towel from my locker when I
noticed a small tuft of mattress stuffing on the floor. I forgot to examine the
mattress. When I did I found a small three inch slit in its underside.

probed the opening with my fingers and pulled out a small plastic bag

316

that had what appeared to be about an ounce of some ivory colored

powder in it. It didn't have any odor to speak of but I had to guess it was
either cocaine or heroin.

I immediately flushed it down the toilet and

prayed nothing else had been planted in my cell.

steps

out

my cell

approaching me.

before I

noticed two

I think I made it three

guards with

Lt.

Foster

One of them immediately had me up against the wall

being frisked while the other began searching my cell.

Lt. Foster

announced that it was indeed "a random cell search".

I said nothing as the two guards tore the cell upside down and then
dragged my mattress out of the cell and immediately pointed out the
slit to Lt. Foster.

"Cut it open" he ordered and they complied.

They

looked at one another in bewilderment but said nothing in front of me.

"Step into your cell and strip Gorcyca" Foster order. I complied, quite
relieved that I had found and flushed what they were now looking for. Once
naked they looked in my mouth and had me bend over and spread my
buttocks in case I had stuffed something up my ass.

I could see the

disappointment on their faces but still said nothing. "Okay - get dressed
and clean up this cell"

They were gone as quick as they appeared.

could have easily found myself in prison for another 3-5 years if that
little scheme had worked as intended.

To the young lady who tipped me

off, I am forever grateful. Thank you Ms. G.

Sometimes a phony cell search is conducted in order for guards to plant

something in your cell, like a hidden microphone or a weapon. If you have a
prosecutor who cannot prove his case against you

he may use prison

contacts to help him keep you behind bars long enough before trial that you
will be willing to plead guilty to time served, especially if you are facing new
317

charges for a blade or drugs found in your prison cell. How it got there is
never even a consideration

There is never a shortage

of

weapons in any jail. In fact there

is no shortage of anything if you
have money to pay guards to be
your courier. $500 can buy you
a bottle of whiskey, and $1,000
a mobile telephone, or an hour
with a female guard. Of course you can get any drug you want in prison but
the prices are highly inflated. As for me, I learned how to make wine from
bananas and raisins and would have my five gallon weekly production sold
before it was even fully fermented. I made wine to make friends and in
prison you dont want people messing with the winemaker. I never brought
any of my wine back to my cell. I always had found clever ways to conceal it
right in the kitchen area . But just as I was perfecting my wine making skills,
things beyond my control began to occur.

I was not looking for trouble. I just want to clear my name of the bogus
bribery charge. I had spending most all of my free time in the prison library
writing leter upon letter to a dozen civil liberty and constitutional right groups,
the Chief Judge, and my Congressman. I knew that the mail was being read,
but I did not know that it was being collected to either give to the FBI and
then later just thrown into the shredder.

Yes there

human and civil rights abuses in America and

his salt

merely

needs

prisons to confirm this fact.

to

interview

any

is no shortage
reporter

of

worth

the occupants of our nation's

Granted, most people may not have any

318

sympathy

for

prisoners

but three things need to be remembered;

First, About 25% of prisoners

have

not

been

be presumed
civil

rights

and violates
somebody's

convicted

innocent
abuse

is

in custody are

and

crime. Allegedly

they

until proven

guilty. Secondly,

human

state and federal

son,

trial

any

not

of

awaiting

daughter,

are to
and

sanctioned punishment of any court

laws.

mother,

Third- every
father,

prisoner

is

or spouse. Would you

let anyone victimize your parent or child with this type of abuse? Until
this abuse is eliminated right here in America, our government

has

no right to lambaste other countries for their human and civil rights
deficiencies.

Hypocrisy at home provides little credibility and respect

abroad.
Scenes like this one are
common in prison and the
police are never called to
make a report unless a
death results. I saw more
than a dozen prisoners get
beaten or stabbed while
guards watched on. Once I
was the victim and it is a
horrible

memory.

Thank

God thi s did not happen

often at MCC Miami.

I want to make it clear that I saw the least violence at MCC Miami, but I was
drugged, beaten, fed laxatives, hog-tied, and burned with cigarettes by staff
while in solitary confinement. I was stabbed with a pencil in the neck by a
prisoner not even known to me. But most of the bloody violence I would see
was when they illegally transferred me to other facilities explained shortly
ahead in another chapter. Most of all my abuse at MCC Miami took place in
solitary confinement and a good part of it was mental and psychological
torture. If I was not a scrapper since childhood, Id surely be dead years ago.
319

America needs a Nelson Mandela not another George Bush. If I could, I

would nominate Ron Paul to save our country from the banksters and their
CIA drug dealing partners. From China I cannot do much but tell the truth
most all in government want to hide.

"Ask no man to do what you yourself will not"

- Apache Tribal Proverb

320