Pubdate: Tue, 18 Dec 2007
Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB)
Copyright: 2007 Winnipeg Free Press
Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/info/letters/index.html
Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502
Author: Mike Mcintyre
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?188 (Outlaw Bikers)

BEING A SECRET AGENT TAKES ITS TOLL

It's not the type of job you'll find listed in the  classifieds. But that 
hasn't stopped a handful of  Manitobans from trading in their life 
"experience" for  an opportunity to work undercover as secret police  agents.

Scotty "Taz" Robertson is the latest to find  employment. The 49-year-old 
career biker groupie has  spent the past year infiltrating Hells 
Angels  activities in a sting operation dubbed Project Drill.

The result was 18 arrests last week for a string of  crimes including drug 
and weapons trafficking, and even  conspiracy to commit murder. Many of the 
alleged  offences were caught on wiretap and through video surveillance 
made possible by Robertson.

While police are basking in the glow of their extensive  work, Robertson 
likely isn't popping the champagne.

That's because recent history suggests Robertson --  despite being a 
"half-million dollar man" -- has a long  and difficult road ahead of him.

He can expect every aspect of his life to be closely  scrutinized by a team 
of defence lawyers that can't  wait to get him into court for 
cross-examination.

He may find himself being maligned by the very Crown  prosecutors whose 
case he helped build.

And, Robertson might not want to get too comfortable  wherever he happens 
to be calling home these days.  Double-crossing the world's most notorious 
motorcycle  gang means always having to watch your back and never  getting 
settled.

The money he was paid for his efforts will likely run  out one day. But the 
stress and anxiety associated with  being a "marked man" will stay with him 
forever.

An exaggeration? Not according to a pair of Manitoba  men who've already 
walked a mile in Robertson's shoes.  Snitching ruined life, led to depression

"I'm rich all right... my life is ruined," Franco  Atanasovic told the Free 
Press in an exclusive  interview last year.

Atanasovic, 47, was calling from an unknown destination  while under the 
Witness Protection Program, along with  his two sons. Atanasovic was paid 
$525,000 -- roughly  the same amount as Robertson -- for a similar 
police  project that began in late 2004 and ended in February 2006 with the 
arrests of 13 Hells Angels and  associates.

Atanasovic conducted numerous undercover drug deals  with key targets of 
Project Defence in a case that has  already resulted in 10 convictions.

But the career criminal was in no mood to celebrate his  success -- 
especially after hearing his name repeatedly  dragged through the mud 
inside several courtrooms.

"They're making me look like the bad guy here,"  Atanasovic said.

He was fuming that the Crown painted him as a liar and  cheat, that several 
disgruntled former associates filed  lawsuits against him seeking cash and 
that media  reports portrayed him on the same level as the hoods he  helped 
catch.

"Do you think I did a good thing or a bad thing?" he  asked rhetorically.

Atanasovic has repeatedly battled bouts of depression  and thoughts of 
suicide, according to his RCMP handlers  who testified in court. And, his 
behaviour has been  erratic, including turning his back on 
police-offered  protection.

The public got some disturbing insight into the target  on Atanasovic's 
back during the trial earlier this year  for full-patch biker Ian Grant.

Heavily armed, camouflaged police officers swarmed the  downtown 
courthouse, sealing off all entrances and  exits during the days when 
Atanasovic testified. A  metal detector was installed at the door of 
the  courthouse and plainclothes police equipped with guns  were seated 
inside the room. The same circus-like scene  is expected next month when 
Atanasovic returns to  testify against his former good friend -- 
ex-Hells  Angels president Ernie Dew.

He gained freedom, but he's a constant target

Kevin Sylvester's reward came in the form of freedom --  not money -- but 
that has done little to please the  long-time Manitoba biker.

Sylvester, 44, seemingly hit rock bottom last December  when he called the 
Free Press and went on a lengthy  tirade about how his co-operation with 
police and  prosecutors a few years earlier had ruined his life.

Sylvester made a similar call to a Crown attorney,  which prompted police 
to pay him a personal visit.  Sylvester was pepper sprayed and Tasered when 
he tried  to fight with officers and kicked one in the groin.

He pleaded guilty to assault earlier this year and was  sentenced to three 
months in custody. Sylvester blamed  the ugly episode on taking too much 
antidepressant  medication. "I'm sorry for the whole incident. It was 
a  bad scene that I caused. It was embarrassing," Sylvester said.

He said he was angry with the way he has been treated  since he struck a 
controversial plea bargain with the  Crown in 2001.

Sylvester was sentenced to a jail term of two years  less a day for his 
part in shooting and wounding Hells  Angel Rod Sweeney as he sat in his tow 
truck with his  young son beside him.

Sylvester became a wanted man after the shooting and  was the victim of 
several retaliatory incidents,  including the firebombing of his house and 
a drive-by  shooting.

The Crown eventually offered Sylvester a reduced jail  sentence in exchange 
for his testimony against two  Hells Angels -- including Sweeney's brother, 
Dale --  accused of trying to kill Sylvester.

Provincial court Judge Charles Newcombe said he was  "holding his nose" at 
what many called a "deal with the  devil."

Sylvester told the Free Press that police and justice  officials made all 
sorts of financial promises to him  that weren't fulfilled. He said his 
life is in constant  danger now that he's no longer in witness protection.

Sylvester has been a fixture on the province's biker  scene for more than a 
decade. He is the younger brother  of Darwin Sylvester, the president of 
the former  Spartans motorcycle gang. Darwin disappeared in 1998  and is 
presumed dead.

Sylvester began targeting the Hells Angels in 2001  because he believed 
they were involved in his brother's  killing.

Money the lure

Scotty Robertson is the latest member of the "secret  agent club", but he 
likely won't be the last.

The lure of making good money is too much for some  criminals to resist.

Even if that big paycheque comes with a heavy price.
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MAP posted-by: Jo-D