Former FBI Agent Indicted
Posted on Thu Mar 30, 2006 at 12:41:32 PM EST
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by TChris
A couple of months ago, TalkLeft wrote about a lawsuit against R. Lindley DeVecchio, an FBI agent who allegedly ended surveillance of Nicholas Grancio at the request of an informant so that Grancio could be killed by the Colombo crime family. The lawsuit has become the least of DeVecchio's worries.
DeVecchio was indicted today for conspiring with members of organized crime who committed four murders.
"This is the most stunning example of official corruption I have ever seen," [District Attorney Charles J. Hynes of Brooklyn] said in a statement. He said a federal agent whose job is to protect lives instead assisted in murder.
Mr. Hynes said the most recent investigation began in February 2005 after a member of the House Judiciary Committee, William Delahunt, Democrat of Massachusetts, brought allegations involving Mr. DeVecchio to his attention. Mr. Delahunt had been investigating F.B.I. involvement with organized crime.
Mr. Hynes said that Mr. DeVecchio diverted to himself "more that $66,000" in F.B.I. funds intended for Mr. Scarpa as payment to information.
If the indictment leads to a conviction, the Justice Department will need to explain why it investigated and cleared Agent DeVecchio of improper conduct. If the Justice Department thinks criminal informants are untrustworthy sources of information, many of us would agree -- but why doesn't the Justice Department apply that same standard to accusations that informants make against individuals who don't work for the FBI?
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