Pubdate: Sat, 08 Jan 2005
Source: Republican, The (Springfield, MA)
Copyright: 2005 The Republican
Contact:  http://www.masslive.com/republican/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3075
Author: Stephanie Barry

FBI PAID INFORMANT $135,000

SPRINGFIELD - The qualifications are sketchy and the work risky,  but
making the FBI's informant payroll can be lucrative, according to
testimony yesterday in U.S. District Court.

Carlos Ortiz, code name "Sky," was paid $135,000 in fees and
reimbursements over two years by the FBI in exchange for cultivating
ties with alleged local gang members and videotaping drug buys,
according to his FBI handler, Robert C.  Lewis. Ortiz, who told agents
he has worked as a live sex performer, a pimp and a heroin trafficker
for Colombians, is scheduled to testify Monday against defendant Lee
A. Henry, 37, of Springfield. The information about Ortiz' arrangement
emerged during cross-examination, providing a rare look into the
government's handling of paid informants.

Henry is accused of selling about $1,700 in heroin and cocaine to
Ortiz on four separate occasions in 2003. If convicted as a repeat
offender, he faces at least 20 years in prison.

At the time, the city man was being paid by the government to gather
information on a Mason Square street gang and members of the Russian
mafia,  evidence has revealed.

Henry is not accused of belonging to either group, and his defense
lawyer has argued the FBI violated its own standards by building their
case using Ortiz.  According to testimony yesterday, law enforcement
informants receive approval to  make illicit buys only under extreme
restrictions imposed by the U.S. Department  of Justice.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Todd E. Newhouse has argued the government was well
within its rights to use Ortiz, as Henry was allegedly selling drugs in the
general vicinity where the street gang operated.

The prosecution table yesterday was strewn with black-and-white images of
the defendant handing off drugs in Ortiz' Lincoln Continental. The car was
outfitted  with a video camera by the FBI, Lewis testified. By contrast, a
stack of receipts reflecting cash payments to Ortiz by the FBI sat in front
of defense lawyer Linda J. Thompson: more than $15,000 in one instance in
2002, $6,500 in another, and more than $8,000 most recently,
records  show.

"You knew Mr. Ortiz was a pretty expensive guy to maintain, didn't
you?" Thompson asked Lewis during cross-examination yesterday. "Where
does the money come from?"

Lewis responded: "They get it from people's tax dollars, including
mine." The practice of using paid informants is a common one for most
law enforcement agencies, Lewis said. There are no established rules
for  compensation; payments and reimbursements are subjective in each
case, Lewis  said. Newhouse yesterday said Ortiz worked for the FBI
for more than a decade and received close to $250,000 in aggregate
payments. Among other benefits Ortiz received: Free vouchers for
low-income housing in 2001 and 2002 A cell phone and monthly calling
time Relocation and car repair expenses. An FBI agent also rescued
Ortiz' dog from his impounded car when Ortiz was arrested in Rhode
Island in 2002.

Thompson argued that much of the income Ortiz derived from being an
informant was nontaxable because the payments were logged as expense
reimbursements. On  the other hand, straight fees for services must be
reported. Ortiz collected about 75 percent of his payments in
reimbursements, evidence has shown. It is not clear whether Ortiz
claimed any of the money as fees or filed tax returns.

Lewis said Ortiz was officially "closed" as an informant last year. He
has since relocated.
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin