John Naimovich – An Insight Into The Whitey Bulger Case: Part 3

(I began this story two Sundays ago here and last Sunday here. I’ll continue posting this on Sundays until I finish it.)

Last week we saw that Jeremiah O’Sullivan learned the Massachusetts state police under Sgt Bobby Long had a six month jump on him and the FBI in the pursuit of the Mafia and they were putting an electronic bug into the Lancaster Street garage.

People still argue today about  how it happened that Whitey and Stevie knew about that bug. Some point to the crass Richard Schneiderhan who was a state trooper in the Attorney General’s office who was leaking information to his life-long friend Stevie Flemmi but if it were him the FBI wouldn’t have known; others blame an Israeli private investigator skilled at installing electronics (who I worked with for years and had no problems) because he later did some work for the Patriarca family but with him also the FBI would not have known; but I have no doubt it was O’Sullivan because too much was at stake for him to let the state police succeed.

What also gives credence to my belief is that the FBI and the gangsters knew at the same time about the bug. Corrupt FBI agent John Morris asked a Boston Police sergeant at an after work party when he had a wine or two if the state police had something going on at Lancaster Street. At the same time it was apparent the bug had been compromised. When confronted as to how he knew, he made up obvious lies, some of which he later admitted to after being confronted with them.

Maybe O’Sullivan had no choice since the consequences for him were so dire. Down the road his FBI wiretap succeeded to great acclaim and was held up as the way law enforcement should work. The local media played up the FBI’s accomplishments. But even with that, we heard testimony by O’Sullivan before a congressional committee that the special agent in charge of the Boston FBI office gave him a dressing down for daring to help the state police.

I’ve often wondered how O’Sullivan could sit there and not tell the state cops he was up to his eyebrows doing the same thing they were doing only they were six months ahead of him. Isn’t that just one of the indications of his intent to undermine them? Sometimes silence when words should be spoken tells the whole story. O’Sullivan sitting silently let them believe he would help them when he should have told them up front he could do nothing for them.

His problem was compounded by the adamant refusal of the state police to work with the FBI. They knew the FBI could not be trusted when it came to Whitey or Stevie. After the leak was known, they put in on the FBI blaming them for undermining their investigation. O’Sulllivan sat through that meeting and again kept his peace. The FBI would turn around after the meeting and write a report saying the state police were blaming them because it was covering up for two of its trooper who were suspected of being too close to gangsters.

After that relations soured between the FBI and state police  soured even more. Morris’s testimony last week had them being not so good even before that time. That’s another story how that came about but it involves around gangster named Myles Connor and the Norfolk DA’s office.

The bottom line was that the FBI knew the state police had almost bested them in 1980 – they were determined that it would never happen again. Not by working harder. Rather by controlling the state police.

In the mid-Eighties he FBI had great influence over the state police operations. Some of its agents like Dennis M. Condon took over positions such as Deputy Public Safety Secretary.  The state police operated under the control of the Public Safety Department.

At some point, it was decided that the FBI would in effect take over the state police organized crime operations. Some geniuses in the state police hierarchy liked the idea so a unit was formed where the state police and FBI would work together doing OC stuff.  This unit, like those joint terrorism task forces (JTTF), is a way the FBI keeps control of everything that is being done by the state and locals so that nothing will happen that will embarrass it.

It was into that joint task force that young trooper Foley gladly became a member thinking it a great feather in his cap to be working hand-in-hand with these agents. Foley was a witting participant in all their schemes. When he became older and wiser he realized how many times the FBI had been working against what the state police were trying to do and became disillusioned with it. He’d leave that unit and over time rise, like Charlie Henderson, to the top spot on the job.

24 Comments

  1. Atty. George’s case was part of a gang POOF him and others were targeted and everybody was completely POOFED they just don’t want you to know.

    • Notoboyo:

      Bobby George represented a lot of people who were POOF. John Connolly wrote reports saying some good Boston lawyers were involved in drug dealing just because they reprsented those people. There is a tendency among some cops to identify lawyers with their clients. That’s how Bobby got a target on his back, I’d guess.

  2. I agree with all that is being written here, with the exception of the fact the United States Attorney’s Office is being left out. I believe they are also responsible for many of the people that have been Poofed in the Boston area as well. I fully believe that attorney Robert George is a charter member of the poof society.I know that some people including matt disagree, but at some point I will lay out the facts and let everybody decide for themselves.

    Also have an intresting story which I will post if David Lindholm testifies, which will support my theory.

    • Declan:

      I’m not saying Bobby George wasn’t POOFed. I just don’t know enough about it. All I said is the jurors were out a short time and said the governement’s case was overwhelming. But not knowing much more than that, other than knowing Bobby and liking him, I’m standing off from that until I learn more.

  3. What are the facts/allegations regarding Myles Connors involvement in the outing of the bug?

    • Sean:

      He had no role in it. Myles was an enemy of whitey/Bulger/Connolly/and the FBI

    • Sean:

      Myles was an enemy of Whitey/Stevie/FBI/Connolly etc., He had nothing to do with the bug.

  4. What happened to Naimovich is exactly what happened to Rico and Connolly. Some OC guy claimed they were corrupt and a dopey prosecutor fell for it. It’s easy to fool the public. The gullibility and ignorance are pervasive.

  5. There are other Troopers and cops who have been setup by the powers that be because they got to close to the truth and were willing to honor their oaths and do their job.

    Nearly all of these cases have had some involvement with the Boston FBI.

    So my question to everyone, or ,is once your a “Poof” where do you turn for help after defense attorney’s all run from you for their own protection from the Powers that be?

    Does everyone have to wait twenty plus years to clear their names?

    • Not all the cops sat back. One Trooper took it upon himself to set the record straight. In the early 1990s a Trooper wrote an 11 page report alleging illegal activities by FBI agents assigned to the Boston office. the allegations involved FBI agents, and their informants
      The State Police rewarded the Trooper him by claiming he was unfit for duty and and threatened to courtmartial me – I was his supervisor.

      That cost the commonwealth of Massachusetts a million dollars in a civil suit the Trooper filed in Suffolk Superior Court.

      You can read the entire story in a Boston Phoenix archived article at:
      http://www.bostonphoenix.com/alt1/archive/news/96/12/05/UNTOUCHABLE.html

      • Robert:

        You are right. There were a few candles being lit here and there but they were quickly snuffed out. But you may recall how the FBI walked on water in the ’70s and ’80s. Unfortunately many in the state police fell in line thinking some how the FBI was better than they were. I never thought that. I always preferred to work with the state police unil the Naimovich incident. AFter that I only worked with guys I knew on the job for years.

    • Notoboyo, We live in perverse times, when it is more important to be “loyal” to “the boss” and the “boss of bosses” if we can all figure out who that is by crystal ball, than to be “loyal” to higher order concepts of nobility, truth, justice, and certainly protecting others and the public. If you tick off the “boss of bosses” which you do when you question authority, then Twenty years? Okay. But Maybe not that long. You just have to “out-live” and “out-wit” them for however long they are alive. So in answer to where you turn for help? You can’t turn to the cowards who fear the boss. The world is made up of 98% cowards or non-thinkers, the do-as-your-tolders. Accordingly, you can turn inwards and towards developing a bad-ass sense of humor about it. Maybe ask Matt to establish a non-profit membership group. Call it “Poof’s Anonymous.” Or start making and selling T-shirts and organize to march in a parade showing off your Poof Pride. If you are already a Poof – enjoy it. It may just mean that you are part of a rare crowd who consider ethics and morals valuable and that your parents did a good job. So, you may not be part of the unthinking, cowardly “quantity” crowd, so what. For those who had the courage to stand up against the corruption, you are considered part of the “quality” crowd. It’s why the America we once knew no longer exists… the bosses and boss of bosses all subscribe to demanding adherence to the wrong kind of “loyalty.”

      • Ales:

        Well said. We can start the Society of POOFs. The problem is most POOFs won’t join any society that would have them as members.

        • That sounds so, Marxist – Groucho Marxist that is.

          Many of us were brought up in schools that offered other ways to think about things, for example:
          “Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect” – or – “Patriotism is supporting your country all of the time, and your government when it deserves it.” Both of those thought-provokers by Mark Twain…

          which is probably why we see that Mark Twain (particularly Huck Finn) and lots of other “selected” literature are now getting struck from classrooms all across America via “the bosses'” Common Core National Child-Data Mining and Auditing program that the current Governor fully adopted without public debate – thus replacing and scrapping the better Ed Reform initiatives that were duly, fully and publicly vetted, and by the way, advocated and crafted in large part with assistance by, lo and behold, the likes of Sen. Pres. William Bulger and some other folks who were considered really, really, smart (aka Weld’s Crowd).

          Oddly, the Common Core’s recommendation to read “informational texts” rather than literature might backfire on them. People might turn to “informational blogs” such as yours or other works and come up with support for “thinking” and “questioning” when it calls for it –

          Reminder: “All who inspire people to think and act on their own initiatives are my enemies” – said The Devil, in “Outwitting the Devil,” by Napoleon Hill – Author of “Think and Grow Rich.”

          • Alex:

            Another good reminder of who we once were and where we are headed. As I keep repeating the one place where something close to the truth lies in on the internet so I expect the bosses will be roping that in soon so I take advantage of it while I can.

      • Thanks for the responses and the support, sometimes the truth does prevail, only time will tell.

        • Ntoaboyo:

          That’s all we’re trying to do tell the truth outside of the brainwashing.

    • Notoboyo:

      We only know about Boston because only their files have been opened and we are local. I’m sure it is a US thing with the FBI – cross it an it’ll POOF you. POOF’s have little recourse outside of defense attorneys who won’t run. There are some out there like that. Most POOFs never get their names cleared. The forces allied against them are too powerful and they pass on their evil to the powerful ones who come after them. Maybe that will change as people start moving into other sources of news.

  6. Bobby,

    I agred with you 100%…there are several other troopers who have had their lives and reputations ruined by the Boston USAO, but no one seems to care….until it’s their turn to be Poofed (copyright Matt). Don’t hold your breath!!

    • Declan:

      Glad to see you using POOF.

      • I agree with Matt, Robert, Declan et al: I think the same thing happened with Boston Police Officer Kenny Conley, and by the way, I’ve got inside info that the nearly 70 year old City Councilor with the clean record, Chuck Turner, was also set up and railroaded by the FEDS. That’s the opinion we have!!!! So, yes: People in power, in the press, and in the know should step forward and help clear the names and reputations of these good people, and all other good people falsely prosecuted or overly-zealously prosecuted and persecuted by the FEDS.

  7. I hesitate to say I “enjoyed” this article, but it was fascinating that someone with some stones has summed up what a number of other Troopers supected regarding the arrest of Tpr Naimovich.

    I believe a continuation of this story may encourage some former Troopers to approach the Massachusetts State Police and request that some attempt be made to clear John Naimovich’s name.

    John was not by any measure a friend but he was a trusted co-worker and my position was always that if they do this injustice to John Naimovich they could do it to any of us.

    I also hope that some former high ranking Massachusetts State Police officers who are obviously reading these posts, have the integrity to step forward and request that this nagging story of John Naimovich be reopened and cleansed.

    We hear a great deal about victims in the Bulger trial, John Naimovcih is one of them and he deserves to be vindicated

    • Robert:

      Thanks for your input. John wasn’t a friend of mine either. We worked together well but I always got the idea he tolerated me because I could help him do what he loved doing which was chasing after the OC figures. I respected him highly. We had a good professional relationship but I never thought of him as a friend. I enjoyed him in his gruffness and his seemingly un-state police-like manner of dress and appearance. I’d ahve trusted him with anything. He seemed to have had a good friendship with Charlie Henderson and later with Stevie Lowell. Those were the two ends of the candle when I was working with him so I’m sure he had some close friendships in between.

      I’m going to finish out the short story of Naimovich over the next few Sundays. I hope to do a longer story about his trial and what led up to his trial. I’ve been meaning to do it for years. I write about it not because he’s a friend but because it was a great injustice that I could never shake even after I left the DAs office. It nagged at me – something I felt I had to figure out.

      I write how everyone on the state police ran from him after he was accused. But I recognize those were different day when the FBI held enormous influence of the state police and were considered god-like by our media. To go against it was pretty much to damage your career. I also recognize that because it was an investigation carried out in part in-house it was difficult for people to know who was on what side of the fence.

      It would be good if somehow John’s name was cleared. One problem with doing it is Foley and some others on the job are still going around badmouthing Naimovich. They do it because they are unable to face up to the wrong they did. I say that even though I respect Foley and what he has done in his career. Sometimes a person knowing he was a part of destroying the life of a good guy who was innocent and who loved the state police its extremely difficult for him to accept he was plainly wrong.

      I’ll do my part each Sunday for a bit and hopefully some will recognize that you don’t run from a trooper in trouble no matter what the allegations by others are. If he’s convicted that’s one thing, but before that he or she needs all the support available. I saw that with John who felt like the whole world walked away from him and I tried to keep in touch while telling him not to tell me anything about the case because the federals will make me a witness. I did end up being a witness for John which had some noses out of joint in federal land. I see recently, I forget in which circumstance, the union backed a trooper in a difficult situation. Sadly,it ran from Naimovich.

      It is never too late to correct an injustice. You are absolutely right when you say if it could happen to John it could happen to anyone of you especially today with the FBI that has become more and more secretive. Thanks again for writing.