Speech #1040009385

Mr. Speaker. as part of my continuing efforts to bring to light all the facts in the case of former Immigration and Naturalization Service Agent Joseph Occhipinti. I submit into the RECORD a document I received from the Drug Enforcement Administration in response to a Freedom of Information Act request I filed last year for all DEA documents related to the Occhipinti case. The document is a memorandum written by a DEA special agent on April 16. 1991. On April 5. 1991 Special Agent [deleted] met with Investigators [deleted] in the Southern District of New York at the request of [deleted]. The 12 p.m. meeting was arranged in order for [deleted] to meet with the two Assistant U.S. Attorneys and above investigators handling the impending trial after indictment of Immigration and Naturalization Service Special Agent Joseph Occhiptnti. He was charged with various counts of violating civil rights through illegal searches and theft of money found during certain searches. [Deleted] arrived for the interview and met with [deleted] who was alone in the eighth floor office. He explained that [deleted] and the two assistants were involved in other business at that time. [Deleted] obtained a copy of the twenty five page indictment and briefly read through it as [deleted] asked [deleted] about a company by the name of Sea Crest. a firm that was under investigation by D.E.A. and the Manhattan District Attorneys Office in a joint investigation of Capital National Bank (C19001Ol). [Deleted] explained the role of Sea Crest in suspected skylocking. extortion. and drug smuggling in the Bronx and Washington Heights area. The scheme involved numerous "bodegas" in the aforementioned areas and [deleted] explained how this led to his meeting SIA Occhipinti. Occhipinti had started a project called "Operation Bodega". involving the use of bodegas in the illegal immigration of various Hispanics and their employment by such stores which are also "fronts" for illegal gambling money laundering. food stamp violations and drug dealing. [Deleted] stated that Occhlptnti had been indicted on several searches which he allegedly had performed without the consent of the store owners but had reported them to INS as consent searches [deleted] advised [deleted] that [deleted] had briefly explained the background over the phone. [Deleted] had stated that Occhipinti was in charge of a group of "young kidc." and that they had very little experience in such searches. (Deleted] further stated that some "green assistants" handling the cases had raised doubts about the validity of the searches. He said the cases were then referred to the Department of Justice O.I.G. The O.I.G. found no evidence of wrongdoing and returned the cases to the Southern District of New York.