Betrayal: Whitey Bulger and the FBI Agent Who Fought to Bring Him Down Read Online Free PDF Page A

out of your life for good.”
    “What’s it gonna cost me?” Richie replied.
    “Look, we need a favor, there are a couple of guys we’re interested in and we thought you could help us out. We know about your ‘book’ and the action you take from the wiseguys. That’s not our interest. We’re interested in something heavier, and if you’re game, we’ll set some contacts up to make sure you are protected and this whole thing stays confidential.”
    “You want me to become a rat.”
    “And in return Sal Caruana goes down.”
    Richie grimaced, clearly conflicted. “I need some time.”
    “How much?”
    “I’ll give you a call.”
    Opie, hardly put off by Richie’s loose hold on cooperation, once more flashed the photo that supposedly showed Sal with Richie’s wife. Richie grimaced again, lips pursed tightly and his face showing a pained expression.
    “You got a deal,” Richie told him.
    Opie grinned, counted out five one-hundred-dollar bills, and pressed them into Richie’s palm as a show of good faith. Richie, however, remained unimpressed until the agent peeled off ten more Franklins—that finally got him smiling.
    Opie returned the grin, and then took advantage of this moment to tell Richie he wanted him to stay in the bookmaking business and remain as close to the New York mob as he had in the past. The agent opened Richie as a criminal informant whose job would be to report on the criminal activities of his associates and also to divulge information on impending crimes. Richie learned that “subjects” were intended for prosecution while “suspects” were more “persons of interest.” And he took to his new role with the same enthusiasm he brought to his dealings with the criminal targets his handlers were trying to bust. Opie figured it was more about Sal Caruana than the money, and he was always able to stall when Richie started pushing on when the Bureau intended to put Caruana away. In the end, they never did, leaving Caruana out there so Richie would have no choice but to continue cooperating.
    In future meetings, Richie was informed by Opie and other agents of the rules and regulations governing the whole FBI informant program as outlined in manuals of administrative operations and procedure and in investigative guidelines. Opie debriefed Richie about his background with the criminals and any arrests or incidents he may have had along the way. Subsequently, Richie furnished personal information so the Bureau could check to make sure he was really cooperating.
    Opie and his alternate agent handler, who would serve as Richie’s eyes and ears inside the FBI to alert him of possible danger, began to build a bond that transcended the usual relationships developed with criminals on the street. Hip-pocket informants, who were never officially opened as informants, never got this kind of scrutiny. Others, just cooperating witnesses, fared the same. Richie was given special treatment, quickly becoming a “TE,” a Top Echelon informant who’d report on organized crime and individuals of interest to the FBI.
    Richie’s status as a bookie served him well here because it made him innocuous, just a real friendly guy who took bets and lay-offs on gambling and never harmed anyone. Richie didn’t know it, but he was also given a number symbol that protected his identity inside the FBI as well as outside, when his information was furnished to the court or other law enforcement agencies. He could feel sure that his identity would never be revealed to anyone outside the Bureau—not to the federal attorneys, the court, or anyone.
    Richie heard numerical labels like “137,” “209,” “302” and other classifications that agents discussed among themselves. The 137 was the generic classification for informants; 209 was the report that is filed about the information the informants provide to their handlers; and 302 was the evidentiary report submitted for prosecutorial efforts.
    Richie gave his