A U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent played both sides of the coin, prosecutors say. He was tough on criminals and soft on his friends like the Buffalo Mafia.
Joseph Bongiovanni, 59, is currently on federal trial for counts of bribery, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, according to the Associated Press.
Prosecutors allege Bongiovanni gave an “umbrella of protection” that affected “investigations of his childhood friends, covered for a sex-trafficking strip club and even helped a connected high school English teacher keep his marijuana-growing side hustle,” the AP reported.
Specifically, Bongiovanni is accused of taking more than $250,000 and, in exchange, opened false case files to throw the DEA off his friends.
He encouraged his colleagues “to spend less time investigating Italians and more time on Blacks and Hispanics, “n—– and s—-” he was alleged to have called them. When authorities finally unmasked him in 2019, he hastily retired and wiped his cellphone clean,” the AP reported.
“Sometimes the DEA doesn’t get it right,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi told jurors. “He was able to manipulate everyone because, in law enforcement, there’s a certain amount of trust that’s inherent. He did it under the watch of supervisors who under-supervised him.”
He did just enough legitimate work to avoid detection,” Tripi said. “He almost got away with it.”
Bongiovanni is the latest in a string of DEA agents who faced federal charges.
“The crimes have included child pornography, drug trafficking, leaking intelligence to defense attorneys and selling firearms to cartel associates,” an Associated Press analysis found. “One carried a “Liberty or Death” flag and flashed his badge outside the Capitol on Jan. 6.”
These cases have called into question, DEA’s hiring policy.
“We should not expect to see this much crime in one law enforcement agency,” Rachel Moran, an associate professor at the University of St. Thomas School of Law in Minneapolis, told the AP. “The common thread I see here is a lack of oversight and accountability.”
The trial is expected to last two months.
“His protection ranged from providing an “all clear” assuring trafficker friends they were not on law enforcement’s radar to leaking intelligence and opening fictious cases that made it appear he was investigating them or relying on them as informants, prosecutors said, a sort of catch-and-kill tactic that prevented other law enforcement agencies from pursuing their own cases,” the AP reported.
“This also positioned Bongiovanni to receive notice any time another agency became interested in one of the targets, a process known as deconfliction.”
