Lawyer for 'corrupt' ex-DEA agent charged with pocketing $250K in Mafia bribes claims case stems from 'anti-Italian bias'
The indictment of a former federal agent charged with accepting $250,000 in bribes to protect the Mafia in upstate New York is rooted in a 'racial animus' toward Italian Americans, his lawyer contends.
Federal prosecutors have failed to identify 'a single penny' Joseph Bongiovanni took from gangsters in Buffalo, New York, during his two decades with US Drug Enforcement Administration, his defense attorney alleges in new court filings.
'The government has noticed that all of the participants have Italian last names, and as such, has imagined the existence of an Italian-American organized crime syndicate,' the attorney, James Harrington, wrote in the filings.
Retired veteran DEA agent Joseph Bongiovanni was indicted in 2019 on federal counts of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements
He said the criminal organization cited by prosecutors, the Buffalo Crime Family, 'does not appear to exist, yet the lore of the Italian mafia is so pervasive in our society that the government can benefit just from alleging a connection without having to prove it.'
Bongiovanni, who was raised in a tightknit Italian American community in North Buffalo, is accused of leaking information to drug traffickers and using his badge to 'dissuade other members of law enforcement' from bringing cases against friends involved in 'Italian Organized Crime,' according to an 11-count indictment handed up in 2019.
The charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and making false statements should be dismissed, Bongiovanni's lawyers say, claiming an 'avalanche of financial information' turned over by the government does not incriminate the former agent.
Bongiovanni started with the federal agency in the late 90s and had been assigned to the DEA’s resident office in Buffalo since 2001, until his retirement two years ago
The indictment alleges Bongiovanni took the bribes between 2008 and 2017. Bongiovanni started with the federal agency in the late 90s and had been assigned to the DEA’s resident office in Buffalo since 2001, until his retirement two years ago.
One of the federal charges is tied to Bongiovanni’s contact with a person who operates a gentleman’s club in Cheektowaga, a town 10 miles away from Buffalo. The unnamed person, identified as 'coconspirator 1,' gave Bongiovanni a call after a stripper overdosed on drugs at the club, but the federal agent denied the call took place, according to the indictment.
Harrington, in a 114-page court filing this month, sought to cast doubt on the case.
'Mr. Bongiovanni's lifestyle does not reflect that of a man who has supposedly taken a quarter of a million dollars in bribes,' Harrington wrote. 'A classic car in his garage, which he bought with a loan several years ago and has slowly restored a few parts at a time, is his only uniquely prized possession.'
Prosecutors wrongly concluded Bongiovanni provided cover for drug dealers out of disbelief that so many major marijuana traffickers had been 'left at liberty by the DEA for so long,' the defense alleges.
'In sum, the government´s sensational case appears to be a reverse-engineered narrative, starting with conclusions and working backwards,' Harrington wrote, 'despite an absence of clear evidence.'
Bongiovanni's proceedings have been delayed in part by the coronavirus pandemic, and no trial date has been set. He remains free on bond and has been caring for his parents, according to his attorney.