FBI Links Police, Alleged Criminal

Pubdate: Wed, 2 Jun 1998
Source: Des Moines Register (IA)
Contact: (515) 286-2511
Website: http://www.dmregister.com/
Author: Frank Santiago, Tom Alex
Section: Front Page

FBI LINKS POLICE, ALLEGED CRIMINAL

A Man Charged With Drug Dealing Is Said To Have 'extensive Contacts'
In Law Enforcement.

An FBI investigation revealed possible links between Des Moines-area
police and a million-dollar criminal enterprise allegedly run by an
east-side Des Moines bail bondsman who has been charged with drug
dealing and firearms violations.

In an 80-page affidavit detailing an undercover investigation of
Robert L. Willson Sr., the FBI contended that Willson had "extensive
contacts" in the law enforcement community, which the FBI did not
identify specifically.

"The names of several police officers have been intercepted by
microphone surveillance, and a possibility exists that these law
enforcement officers may be providing Willson with law enforcement
information," William P. O'Keefe, an FBI special agent, wrote in the
affidavit.

The document also said a tape of an illegal drug deal that had been
kept by the Polk County attorney's office, fell into Willson's hands.

The disclosures surprised officials, who said Monday that they knew
nothing of a relationship between Willson and police.

"I have not talked to the FBI about the Willson case," said Des Moines
Police Chief William Moulder. "If they are our officers they are
talking about, and if it bears substance, those people will not be
employed in law enforcement much longer."

Moulder said he will obtain a copy of the document to study
it.

West Des Moines police also said they weren't aware of the
allegations.

Polk County Attorney John Sarcone said the information about Willson
having a tape from his office was "news to me."

"I don't know what tape they're talking about. People say things,"
Sarcone cautioned, "and that doesn't make it true."

Dean Stowers, a Des Moines lawyer who represents Willson, said the
document was false and "severely misleading."

"He's a bondsman, and periodically people skip out," Stowers said of
Willson. "He elicits the help of law enforcement" to find them.

Stowers contended that the document, which is contained in one of six
search warrants that led to a federal grand jury indictment of
Willson, should have been kept under seal by the court.

Willson, 49, owner of Freedom Bail Bonds, 1228 East 29th St., was
indicted last week along with five others, including his son, Robert
J. Willson Jr., 28. They were cited with a series of drug and
weapons-related charges after several March raids by authorities on
Willson's property.

Willson pleaded not guilty to the charges against him. He was being
held in jail without bond on Monday.

The senior Willson also owns Willson Auto Body, which is next
door

to the bail bonds office, and a bar at 3800 Army Post Road, which has
had several names, including The Edge.

Stowers said of the tape, "They (the FBI) don't know what they're
talking about. It's a reckless allegation."

Stowers said in an interview with The Register, "I'm appalled that you
got a copy of it. The reason that it should be under seal is that
there are so many loosey-goosey allegations contained in it."

He said West Des Moines police investigated Willson last year, and
that case "was dumped." He alleged that West Des Moines police
apparently walked over to the FBI offices, which are in West Des
Moines, and gave them their files.

Police have a history of raiding Willson's property as far back as
1981.

Des Moines officers applied then for a search warrant of his home and
business to look for shotguns, a handgun and a television set. Those
items weren't found, but a large quantity of other items was taken.
He was arrested on a theft charge, which was later dismissed.
Willson, according to records, sued authorities, including police
officers, alleging they had overreacted. The Iowa Supreme Court
found that he was entitled to recover.

Stowers said police have not forgotten the case. "He got the upper
hand in court, and they have been trying to drop the hammer on him
since."

Using hidden tape recorders and video cameras, and several informants,
the FBI and local law enforcement in 1997 tracked Willson. In the
FBI affidavit, he was accused by an informant of coercing his bail
bond customers to steal, as a sort of modern day Fagin, the Charles
Dickens character in "Oliver Twist" who employed boys as thieves.

At Willson's Freedom Bail Bonds, the FBI contended, Willson showed an
informant a handgun in a bag and said, "Now go out and rob that guy
and get me some money you owe me for the bonds."

An informant said of Willson's customers, "These individuals do not
complain to authorities because: 1) they do not want their bonds
pulled by Willson Sr., and 2) they are afraid of personal retribution
by Willson Sr., or members of his organization."

The FBI said they were told by the same informant that "prostitution
and narcotics sales are a regular occurrence at The Edge Bar."

Another informant told of fencing "chain saws, air conditioners, car
radios/disc players, camera equipment, televisions" with Willson in
his office at the body shop.

The FBI said that Willson routinely paid between 30 cents and 50 cents
on the dollar for stolen property or property obtained by writing bad
or forged checks.

Other allegations contained in the FBI document:

* An "associate" recruited an informant to steal garbage bags from
various Des Moines banks for $100 per bag. The trash was used to
identify bank account numbers and names for a particular bank and bank
accounts. Deposit slips were then written onto those accounts. A
deposit slip for, say, $5,000, would request $200 in cash, which the
thief pocketed. * An informant said the enterprise made

$5,000 a day legally from the bail bond business, the bar, and body
shop, plus $20,000 a day illegally. * On March 2, 1998, the FBI said,
a man went to the bail bonds office to say he had stolen "at least
three John Deere lawn tractors with mowers from an unidentified
implement company."

Reporter Frank Santiago can be reached at (515) 284-8528 Reporter Tom Alex can be reached at (515) 284-8088 PLACES OF BUSINESS

Robert L. Willson Sr. owns three Des Moines businesses: The Edge, top
photo, a bar at 3800 Army Post Road; Willson Auto Body, center, on
East 29th Street in Des Moines; and Freedom Bail Bonds, located at
1218 E. 29th St., next door to Willson Auto Body.

In an affidavit, The FBI states:

Names of police officers were caught on surveillance
tapes.

Evidence from county attorney's office wound up in the wrong
hands.

Informants were recruited to steal garbage from banks, enabling thefts
from accounts.
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Checked-by: Patrick Henry