Judge: Evidence Of
Corruption Ignored By FBI
By
MICHAEL FECHTER and JOHN W. ALLMAN
The Tampa Tribune
The complaint was filed
13 months ago by Hillsborough County Circuit Judge Gregory P. Holder and is one
of a number of documents obtained Wednesday by The Tampa Tribune that shed new
light on the case.
Holder is now at the
center of a career- threatening investigation into allegations that he
plagiarized a paper he wrote as an officer in the Air Force Reserve -
allegations that he emphatically denies.
In his complaint, Holder
accuses FBI officials in
In another document
obtained by the Tribune, a much-decorated
The detective goes on to
tell a remarkable story of Holder acting for two years as an undercover
informant for the FBI, saying investigators came to believe that Holder's role
had been discovered and that his life was in danger, and adding that he
believes the plagiarism investigation is the result of a plot by targets of the
probe to compromise and neutralize Holder.
The Justice Department
began its inquiry into Holder's allegations in February, the documents show, then passed the case to the Justice Department's inspector
general's office.
The detective, James W.
Bartoszak, tells his story in a 2 1/2-page affidavit dated Oct. 27. Bartoszak
has worked organized crime and corruption cases with the FBI since 1989.
The affidavit represents
the first public acknowledgment of the corruption investigation by a member of
the task force, although the Tribune has reported extensively on it in the
past. It is enormously complex and includes allegations of case-fixing,
bribery, prostitution, loan-sharking and illegal gambling. Some legs of it have
hit dead ends during the past year. Others are still active.
Previous Tribune stories
have examined the sudden death of an eccentric New Tampa millionaire a few days
after he became an informant in the probe, a failed attempt by agents to get a
since-retired Hillsborough County sheriff's major to take a payoff, the
collapse of an investment scheme that cost a number of Tampa socialites
hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the arrest this year of a former postal
union official and a private detective on charges that they were involved in a
health insurance scam.
FDLE Still Pursuing
Case
Bartoszak's affidavit
does not name targets or provide any other details of the corruption
investigation.
But it says the probe
``was halted and the investigation team was dismantled for reasons that were
not made clear to me or any other member of the team'' in 2002.
``I am uncertain whether
the federal investigation remains open or closed,'' Bartoszak adds.
Moses Jordan, chief of
investigations for the
``We are ongoing,''
Meanwhile, the FBI, the
``We cannot comment on
any pending investigative matters,'' said Sara Oates, spokeswoman for the Tampa
FBI field office.
Bartoszak also declined
to comment. The Tribune obtained his affidavit from the Judicial Qualifications
Commission through a public records request.
Detective Praises
Holder's Help
As one of several agents
working the corruption case with the FBI in 2001 and 2002, Bartoszak had an
insider's view of how important cooperative sources such as Holder were to the
case.
Investigators approached
Holder for help because they were confident he was clean, Bartoszak says in his
affidavit. And he proved to be a good source, Bartoszak writes.
``Judge Holder provided
us with tremendous leads in this investigation and was always absolutely
truthful. As we followed up on these leads, each was exactly as Judge Holder
stated.''
Still, Bartoszak writes,
the task force was disbanded. At about that time, Holder wrote his complaint to
the Justice Department.
``I am convinced that it
is more than an `amazing coincidence' that the [plagiarism] allegations against
Judge Holder only surfaced'' afterward, Bartoszak adds.
In his complaint, Holder
expressed shock ``that this investigation was halted before leads had been
fully explored.''
Holder did not say what
reasons he had for believing that the investigation had been shut down, but
wrote: ``There can be no legitimate reason to have failed to investigate this
`hard' evidence.''
Copy Of Paper In Dispute
The plagiarism accusation
centers on a 1998 academic paper Holder submitted for the Air Force Reserve.
Holder is a colonel in the Reserve and in that role has often presided over
court-martial proceedings as a judge advocate at military installations
nationwide.
The paper was considered
a prerequisite for promotion.
A purported copy of the
paper was delivered anonymously to a federal prosecutor handling corruption
cases, Assistant U.S. Attorney James Del Fuoco, in early 2002.
Del Fuoco forwarded the
document to the Air Force, which later withdrew Holder's designation as a judge
advocate. He is fighting to be restored to that position.
In addition, the Judicial
Qualifications Commission, the agency that polices
``It is my absolute
belief,'' Bartoszak writes, ``that the [investigation's] targets used their
access to Judge Holder's chambers and the computer system to fabricate a phony
paper and manipulate the computer system to `set up' Judge Holder.''
Charles Pillans III, a
Ex-Judge Denies
Corruption
Former Chief Judge F.
Dennis Alvarez, who left office under pressure from the JQC in 2001, said
Wednesday that he had no knowledge of an investigation into judicial corruption
under his watch, and he dismissed Bartoszak's claim as ``fantasyland.''
``This thing with Holder
is a battle between him, the JQC and the Air Force,'' Alvarez said. ``I don't
think that has anything to do with anything locally.''
Holder and Alvarez were
bitter rivals and were on different sides on a series of scandals that rocked
the courthouse about five years ago.
First, a judge accused of
sexually harassing female colleagues resigned in the face of a threatened JQC
investigation. The JQC quietly began looking into whether Alvarez had tried to
cover up the harassment allegations.
Soon a bailiff found
another judge who was a lifelong Alvarez friend inside Holder's chambers after
hours one evening while Holder was out of town. Holder demanded an
investigation, and eventually a special grand jury was seated. It issued no
indictments but wrote a scathing report on the courthouse shenanigans.
Later, this judge, too,
stepped down, while another one quit over allegations that he had been having
an affair with a bailiff in his chambers, next door to Holder's, and that he
also had helped raise campaign contributions for the sheriff.
Then, in an unrelated
case, another judge stepped down after being accused of meddling in the court
case of an acquaintance and lying about it.
Holder spoke publicly
about the mess. Alvarez rebuked him for it. Holder also testified before the
special grand jury.
And, according to
Bartoszak's affidavit, it wasn't long before Holder was working undercover in
the FBI's corruption probe.
Soon Holder was meeting
with agents secretly across
But Holder was in danger,
Bartoszak writes.
Holder Carries A Gun
``It became obvious that
those persons that we were investigating had knowledge of Judge Holder's
participation and cooperation,'' Bartoszak continues. ``We had very grave
concerns about his safety and the lengths that the targets would go to either
harm Judge Holder or attempt to discredit his testimony.''
At one point, agents
feared the investigation had been compromised, Bartoszak says. Investigators
came to believe that the judge's cell phone was being tapped. They gave him an
FBI cell phone to use in its place.
Holder took the danger
seriously.
``I was just concerned
about the safety of my family more than myself,'' Holder said Wednesday. ``I
was warned about that by FBI agents so I warned my family and carried a
weapon.''
He still carries it
today, Holder said.
Holder's JQC case is
slowly coming to a head. After months of legal motions, it is scheduled to come
to trial Jan. 20.
Other affidavits filed on
Holder's behalf assert, as Bartoszak's does, that Holder is the victim of a
setup and question the authenticity of the allegedly plagiarized Air Force
paper.
``I am extremely hopeful
that ultimately these charges will be dismissed by the JQC,'' Holder said.
Reporter Michael Fechter can be reached at (813) 259-7621. Reporter
John W. Allman can be reached at (813) 259-7915.
This story can be found at: http://tampatrib.com/nationworldnews/MGAHDTMDSND.html