On September 5th, 2004, with the publication of COVER UP, Peter Lance,
for the first time, told the story of how the FBI and the U.S. Justice
Department covered up a scandal involving R. Lindley DeVecchio, a retired
SSA known as "Mr. Organized Crime."
This burial of evidence had the effect of suppressing a treasure trove
of intelligence on an active al Qaeda cell in New York City and the possible
connection between Ramzi Yousef, the original WTC bomber, and the downing
of TWA Flight #800 on July 17th, 1996.
Further, it kept secret a catastrophic blunder in which the FBI blew a
chance in 1996 to apprehend Yousef's uncle, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed in
Doha, Qatar. KSM is the man the Bureau now calls "the mastermind
of 9/11."
COVER UP tells the remarkable story of the alleged "unholy alliance"
between SSA DeVecchio and Gregory Scarpa Sr., a notorious killer for the
Colombo Crime Family, aka "The Grim Reaper," who was a Top Echelon
(TE) informant for DeVecchio for many years.
If you read the first 128 pages of the book, you'll see that Lance laid
out the entire story:
i) From Greg Scarpa Sr.?s recruitment by J. Edgar Hoover?to
break the Goodwin, Schwerner & Chaney? MISSBURN case in 1964;
ii) Through his fraudulent prosecution of the so-called
"Colombo Wars" with DeVecchio in the early 1990?s;
iii) Through Greg Scarpa Jr.'s treasure trove of intelligence
on al Qaeda from Ramzi Yousef, which the FBI and SDNY buried in 1996 in
order to hide the DeVecchio scandal;
iv) To the story of Det. Joe Simone, the decorated NYPD
cop whom the Feds ruined in order to plug the DeVecchio leaks.
THE BOOK INSPIRES THE D.A.'S INVESTIGATION
In September, 2005 Peter Lance met with investigators
for the Brooklyn District Attorney's office who had read COVER UP in detail.
On March 30th, at a press conference just prior to SSA DeVecchio's arraignment
on four counts of Second Degree Murder, Noel Downey, Chief of the D.A.'s
rackets Bureau who led the investigation said, in relation to COVER UP:
"Stage one of any murder investigation is to figure out who's who
and what's what and where things occured and (COVER UP) was a wonderful
springboard to understand who the parties were and in what direction the
investigation should go."
DeVecchio was released on $1 million bail following the arraignment. D.A.
Charles "Joe" Hynes called the relationship between Greg Scarpa
Sr. and SSA DeVecchio, "The most stunning example of official corruption
that I have ever seen."
If followed through by Congressional investigators, this sordid tale of
betrayal and murder in Brooklyn, could open up a startling new vein in
the 9/11 investigation.
What follows is press coverage of the indictment, including a New York
Post story from March 30th, acknowledging the role of COVER UP. The articles
date back to January, 2006 when word of the D.A.'s probe first surfaced.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Press Coverage of DeVecchio D.A. Investigation
& Indictment
January-April 2006
N.Y.
Post 4.2.06 Dogged Ma Was Brains Behind Bust of FBI?s ?Mob? Agent
N.Y.
Daily News 4.2.06 Their Probe of G-Man Pays Off Big
N.Y.
Times 4.1.06 Retired F.B.I. Agent Is Accused of Role in Killings
Melbourne
(Australia) Herald Sun 4.1.06 FBI Man Mob Kill Charges
Guardian
U.K. 3.31.06 A.P. Ex-FBI Agents Support Accused Colleague
A.P.
3.31.06 Prosecutors Outline case Against Indicted Former FBI Agent
Chicago
Tribune 3.31.06 Ex-FBI Agent Indicted In Colombo Mob Hits
N.Y
Times 3.30.06 Ex-F.B.I. Agent Accused of Role in Four Organized Crime
Killings
A.P.
3.30.06 Former FBI Agents Rally Behind Colleague suspected of mob ties
N.Y. Sun
(Jerry Capeci) 3.30.06 Former FBI Agent Linked to Mob Murders
N.Y.
Times 3.30.06 Retired F.B.I. Agent Turns Himself In to Brooklyn D.A.
N.Y.
Times 3.26.06 Retired F.B.I. Agent Is Accused of Helping in Mafia Murders
N.Y. Post
3.25.05 Indictment Hits FBI Mob Mole
N.Y.
Daily News. 4.2.06 Their Probe of G-man pays off big
Daily
News 3.25.06 Ex FBI Handler Charged With Aiding Rubouts
N.Y.
Post Slay Rap Due For Mob Fed 3.10.06
N.Y.
Sun: Jerry Capeci?s Gangland Column 3.9.06
Murder
Charges Due for Ex-FBI Agent
From
Drop-Dead Gorgeous to DOA
Jerry Capecis
Gangland Column 2/16/06
N.Y.
Sun: Jerry Capeci?s Gangland Column 1/12/06 Ex-FBI Agent Probed Mob Hits
Village
Voice 1/17/06 Mobster On a Mission
Daily
News 1/9/06 MOB RETRIALS LOOM: If Ex FBI agents convicted,60 jailed Mafiosi
could walk
Daily
News 1/6/06 Former G-man to be sued in 92 mob hit
Daily
News 1/6/06 Hit man is singing FBI song (Larry Mazza)
Daily
News 1/5/06 Probing Mob Links to G-man
N.Y.
Post 1.11.06 Mob Sis Rips Whack-O Story
N.Y.
Post 1.10.06 Dads Hit Order (Patrick Porco story)
N.Y.
Post 1/9/06 ?MOB? Feds Ho-Down
N.Y.
Post 1.8.06 EX-COP: I Told You So
N.Y.
Times 1.6.06 A Tale of Cops and Mobsters Who Failed to Overlap
N.Y.
Times 1.5.06 Inquiry in 1992 Mob Killing Focuses on Ex-F.B.I. Agent
Washington
Post 1.7.06 (A.P. story) Suit Alleges FBI Agent Assisted Mob Hit
Staten
Island Advance 1/6/06 Fired Cop With Mob Rap Could Have Been Set Up?by
FBI