More arrests in FBI probe

Jeff German and Jace Radke

Thursday, June 28, 2001 | 10:57 a.m.

The FBI's secrets-for-sale scandal widened Wednesday with the charging of eight more people, including a Nevada attorney general's investigator and a Las Vegas Municipal Court employee.

Among those named in a criminal complaint unsealed in New York were Maria Emeterio, a 34-year-old investigator for the attorney general's office, and Mary Ellen Weeks, a 43-year-old Municipal Court intake services officer.

Emeterio, who resigned upon her arrest in Las Vegas, and Weeks, who was placed on administrative leave with pay, were accused of selling confidential data from the FBI's National Crime Information Center to former FBI Agent Mike Levin, a Las Vegas private detective now cooperating in the expanding criminal investigation.

Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa late Wednesday called Emeterio's arrest "extremely disturbing and disappointing." Emeterio had been working for Del Papa since 1995.

"I am personally saddened by the fact that an employee would be involved or considered a co-conspirator in an illegal act, especially one that involves the possible compromise of government information," Del Papa said in a prepared statement.

"I wish to make it clear that while Ms. Emeterio has been a longtime employee, this office has zero tolerance when it comes to state employees involved in criminal activities."

At Municipal Court, Acting Administrator Keith Gronquist said the arrest of Weeks, an intake services officer since 1988, came as a "shock to everyone" and that an internal review of her activities would be launched.

"She's been considered an excellent employee," Gronquist said. "There's still the presumption of innocence, and we hope it has a happy ending."

Levin began cooperating with the FBI following his arrest on June 14 in Oyster Bay, N.Y., on charges of stealing and selling classified FBI information to criminal targets, including organized crime members.

FBI "302" reports and various electronic communications obtained from the FBI's computer system in Nevada were in Levin's possession when he was taken into custody.

That evening, with Levin's help in an undercover capacity, FBI agents in Las Vegas arrested James J. Hill, a local FBI security analyst, on charges of providing Levin with the top-secret information.

The 51-year-old Hill, who has worked for the FBI since 1991, reportedly had access to national security and electronic surveillance information as well as confidential informants and witnesses data stored in the bureau's national computer system.

Levin, who has not returned phone calls, told FBI agents in New York that he paid Hill $25,000 since November 1999 for confidential FBI documents and then passed them on to organized crime members and other criminal targets.

On Monday Levin pleaded guilty to conspiracy and theft charges and according to the FBI was allowed to remain free on a $1 million bond.

In Wednesday's complaint in New York, FBI agent Demetrius Barkoukis said Levin told agents he had received more than $100,000 for providing the stolen FBI records to "attorneys, criminal defendants and targets of grand jury investigations."

Levin reported that he had acquired most of the records from Hill, but also had obtained information from two other law enforcement sources in Nevada, the 26-page complaint said.

Hill, Emeterio and Weeks had been giving Levin hundreds of confidential records since 1999, the complaint said.

In all, the complaint added, Weeks received $10,000 for turning over 100 NCIC reports at $100 a copy. Emeterio got $2,000 for giving up 20 reports.

NCIC is a criminal data base maintained by the FBI that is used by law enforcement agencies across the country. It is against federal law to distribute NCIC information outside the law enforcement community.

This morning, Hill's lawyer, Barry Levinson, again proclaimed Hill's innocence, saying his jailed client wasn't surprised by the latest round of arrests.

"I still think there's more to come," Levinson said. "Levin told my client he had contacts everywhere, including Metro Police."

Levinson said Hill, who is getting ready to be transferred to New York to face theft and obstruction of justice charges there, also still believes others within the FBI may have been providing Levin with sensitive investigative information.

The complaint, meanwhile, charged six other people with buying secret documents from Levin.

Among those arrested were securities fraud defendant Robert Potter, a 53-year-old Las Vegas resident, and his New York lawyer, Herbert Jacobi.

Also charged in the complaint with purchasing information from Levin were four New York residents -- Michael Santosus, 40; Robert Monaco, 28; and William Marino and his wife, Sandra, both 54.

All four, the complaint said, are targets of mortgage-fraud grand jury investigations in New York. The Marinos remain at large.

The latest arrests were the result of hastily put-together FBI stings conducted with Levin's help in the immediate days following his arrest in New York.

"The theft of confidential law enforcement is of the utmost concern, particularly when it involves the criminal complicity of present and former members of law enforcement," Alan Vinegrad, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in announcing the arrests.

"The fact that we have already secured charges against 10 members of this corrupt conspiracy should send a loud and clear message: members of law enforcement who peddle confidential law enforcement information for their own profit will be caught, arrested and vigorously prosecuted, as will those who buy that information for their own criminal advantage."

In Las Vegas, Potter, Emeterio and Weeks all made initial appearances before U.S. Magistrate Robert Johnston.

They were released on their own recognizance, and afterward all three declined comment.

Potter's Las Vegas lawyer, Sean Flanagan, said he believed Potter ultimately would prevail on the charges.

"He is charged with three counts, and we believe those will be proved false," Flanagan said as he left the courthouse.

The three Las Vegas defendants were ordered to answer the charges in New York on Monday.