Ghost: My Thirty Years as an FBI Undercover Agent

The explosive memoir of an FBI field operative who has worked more undercover cases than anyone in history.

Within FBI field operative circles, groups of people known as “Special” by their titles alone, Michael R. McGowan is an outlier. 10% of FBI Special Agents are trained and certified to work undercover. A quarter of those agents have worked more than one undercover assignment in their careers. And of those, less than 10% of them have been involved in more than five undercover cases. Over the course of his career, McGowan has worked more than 50 undercover cases.

In this extraordinary and unprecedented book, McGowan will take readers through some of his biggest cases, from international drug busts, to the Russian and Italian mobs, to biker gangs and contract killers, to corrupt unions and SWAT work. Ghost: My Thirty Years as an FBI Undercover Agent, is an unparalleled view into how the FBI, through the courage of its undercover Special Agents, nails the bad guys. McGowan infiltrates groups at home and abroad, assembles teams to create the myths he lives, concocts fake businesses, coordinates the busts, and helps carry out the arrests. Along the way, we meet his partners and colleagues at the FBI, who pull together for everything from bank jobs to the Boston Marathon bombing case, mafia dons, and, perhaps most significantly, El Chapo himself and his Sinaloa Cartel.

Ghost: My Thirty Years as an FBI Undercover Agent, is the ultimate insider's account of one of the most iconic institutions of American government, and a testament to the incredible work of the FBI.

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Guilty Plea from Dias Kadyrbayev for Impeding Boston Marathon Bombing Investigation

Dias Kadyrbayev, 20, a close friend of alleged Boston Marathon bomber, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston, to impeding the bombing investigation. Kadyrbayev pleaded guilty to conspiring to obstruct justice and obstructing justice with the intent to impede the Boston Marathon bombing investigation.

The terms of the plea agreement provide that the U.S. Attorney will recommend a sentence of seven years in prison. Kadyrbayev has agreed to be deported from the United States after serving his sentence. U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for Nov. 18, 2014.

In August 2013, Kadyrbayev was indicted with Azamat Tazhayakov for obstructing the investigation of the Marathon bombings. Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov are both nationals of Kazakhstan who were temporarily living in the United States on student visas while attending the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMass). However, at the time of their arrests on May 1, 2013, their visas had been revoked.

Kadyrbayev admitted that on the evening of April 18, 2013, after he viewed images of the suspected Boston Marathon bombers released by the FBI, he exchanged text messages with Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. He then went with Azamat Tazhayakov to the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth campus. At approximately 10:00 p.m., Kadrybayev, Tazhaykaov and a third individual entered Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s dormitory room at UMass.

While inside Tsarnaev’s dormitory room, Kadyrbayev searched it and found a backpack containing fireworks and a jar of Vaseline. The fireworks appeared to have been opened, manipulated, and some of the explosive powder appeared to have been removed. After finding this backpack and the fireworks, Kadyrbayev showed them to Tazhayakov and they both agreed to remove the backpack from Tsarnaev’s dormitory room. Kadyrbayev also found Tsarnaev’s laptop computer. At approximately 10:30 p.m., Kadrybayev, Tazhayakov and a third individual left Tsarnaev’s dormitory room. When they left, Kadyrbayev removed several items from Tsarnaev’s room, including Tsarnaev’s laptop computer and his backpack and its contents. Kadyrbayev, accompanied by Tazhayakov and the third individual, then brought the items back to the apartment he shared with Tazhayakov in New Bedford.

Kadyrbayev also admitted that, after returning to their apartment, on the evening of April 18, 2013 and the morning of April 19, 2013, he and Tazhayakov watched television news reports and read Internet news articles about the bombing investigation and the manhunt for the two suspected Boston Marathon bombers whom they believed were Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev. During the early morning hours of April 19, 2013, Kadrybayev and Tazhayakov discussed getting rid of Tsarnaev’s backpack and the fireworks. They both agreed that they should get rid of Tsarnaev’s backpack and as a result of their agreement, Kadyrbayev placed the backpack and its contents, including the fireworks, into a large black trash bag and threw the entire bag into the garbage dumpster in his apartment complex. After discarding the backpack in the garbage, Kadyrbayev decided to keep Tsarnaev’s laptop computer and continue to conceal it. He did not attempt to return it to Tsarnaev’s dormitory room, nor did he notify law enforcement that he had Tsarnaev’s computer.

On April 26, 2013, after 25 federal agents searched a landfill in New Bedford for two days, Tsarnaev’s backpack, containing fireworks, a jar of Vaseline, and a thumb drive, was found. Although these items were found, the condition of the backpack and its contents had been altered by the actions of Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov.

If the plea agreement is accepted by the Court, Kadyrbayev will be sentenced to no more than seven years in jail and three years of supervised release. Kadrybayev will also be deported after serving any sentence that the Court imposes.

In July 2014, Azamat Tazhayakov was found guilty by a federal jury in Boston of conspiring to obstruct justice and obstructing justice with the intent to impede the Boston Marathon bombing investigation. Sentencing is set for sentencing for Oct. 16, 2014.

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Khairullozhon Matanov Charged with Obstructing Marathon Bombing Investigation

A Quincy man has been charged with obstructing the investigation of the Boston Marathon bombings.

Khairullozhon Matanov, 23, of Quincy, is charged in an indictment that was unsealed with one count of destroying, altering, and falsifying records, documents, and tangible objects in a federal investigation, specifically, information on his computer; and three counts of making materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements in a federal terrorism investigation.

It is alleged that, after the release of the photos of the suspected bombers in the late afternoon of Thursday, April 18, 2013, and again early in the morning of Friday, April 19, 2013, Matanov realized that the FBI would likely want to talk with him because of his ties to the bombers, especially in the week following the bombings. Matanov allegedly then took a series of steps to impede the FBI’s investigation into the extent of his friendship, contact, and communication with the suspected bombers and the fact that he shared the suspected bombers’ philosophical justification for violence. In addition to deleting information from his computer, Matanov made a number of false statements to federal investigators. The indictment does not charge Matanov with participating in the Marathon bombings or knowing about them ahead of time.

The maximum sentence for the count of destruction of evidence is 20 years in prison and eight years for each false statement count. All four counts also carry a maximum of three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000.

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Two Men Indicted on Conspiracy to Obstruct Justice Charges in #BostonMarathonBombing Investigation

A federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment against two men previously charged with conspiracy to obstruct justice in the Boston Marathon bombing investigation.

Dias Kadyrbayev, 19, and Azamat Tazhayakov, 19, nationals of Kazakhstan who were residing in New Bedford on student visas, were charged today with conspiracy to obstruct justice and obstructing justice with the intent to impede the Boston Marathon bombing investigation. Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov were originally charged on May 1, 2013 via criminal complaint.

Today’s indictment alleges that on the evening of April 18, 2013, after the FBI posted photographs of the two men suspected of carrying out the Marathon bombings (who were later identified as Tamerlan Tsarnaev and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev), Kadyrbayev received a text message from Dzhokhar Tsarnaev suggesting that he go to Tsarnaev’s “room and take what’s there.” Kadyrbayev, Tazhayakov, and another conspirator, according to the indictment, then went to Tsarnaev’s dormitory room and removed several items, including Tsarnaev’s laptop computer and a backpack containing fireworks, and brought them to Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov’s apartment in New Bedford. Later that night, Kadyrbayev, with Tazhayakov’s knowledge and agreement, placed Tsarnaev’s backpack, which contained several items, including fireworks, in a garbage bag and put it in a trash dumpster outside their New Bedford apartment.

If convicted, Kadyrbayev and Tazhayakov face up to 20 years in prison on the obstruction of justice count and up to five years in prison on the conspiracy count, each to be followed by up to three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine. Both face the possibility of being deported.

U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz and Vincent B. Lisi, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. This investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Boston Division, the Massachusetts State Police, and member agencies of the Boston Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF), which is composed of more than 30 federal, state, and local enforcement agencies. The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Department of Public Safety, the City of New Bedford, New Bedford Police Department, Dartmouth Police Department, U.S. Department of Transportation-Office of Inspector General, U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), Essex County Sheriff’s Office, and Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations provided assistance in this investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys B. Stephanie Siegmann and John A. Capin of Ortiz’s Anti-Terrorism and National Security Unit with the assistance of the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Boston Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev at Federal Prison Hospital That Was Past Home for Several Mobsters

When Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev entered the federal prison hospital at Devens, he became the latest high-crime prisoner name to take up temporary residence at the former Army base.

The Federal Medical Center Devens, which opened in 1996, serves as a federal Bureau of Prisons hospital for inmates needing specialized or long-term medical or mental health care. The facility is on the site of the former Cutler Army Hospital.

Inmates treated there have been mobsters, corrupt politicians and people convicted of financial crimes.

Among the mobsters to spend time in the hospital was Sicilian crime boss Gaetano Badalamenti, who died of heart failure in 2004. He was convicted as ringleader of the $1.65 billion drug smuggling operation known as The Pizza Connection.

Other mafiosi at the hospital have included John "Sonny" Franzese, an underboss of the Colombo crime family convicted of racketeering; and John Riggi, former boss of the DeCavalcante crime family, released in November after 22 years at various prisons. He was convicted of conspiracy in the murder of acting mob boss John D’Amato. Also serving time at Devens was Frank Locascio, a former underboss of the Gambino crime family.

The 1,000-bed medical center opened its doors in Devens at 42 Patton Road in 1999, three years after Fort Devens formally ceased to be an Army base.

The base served as the Army’s New England headquarters for 79 years. It was conveyed to the Massachusetts Development Finance Agency for redevelopment as Devens, a residential and business community made up of property formerly part of surrounding towns. The army still has its reserve forces training center on sections of the former base.

Among the better-known soldiers to serve there was Gen. Colin Powell, who met his wife while assigned to Fort Devens.

The U.S. Marshals Service said that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev had left Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center overnight and been transported to Devens.

Thanks to George Barnes.

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