Andy Thibault

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Column: Feds clash with locals in attempt to get bad guy
By RICHARD MEEHAN with ANDY THIBAULT
For the Norwich Bulletin
Sunday, October  8, 2006

A few years ago, Philadelphia Mayor John Street found himself the object of national attention when a routine sweep of his office by local police turned up a surreptitious listening device.

The feds ultimately accepted responsibility for planting the bug. Yet, today, the mayor is still firmly entrenched while several confederates have been prosecuted.

Elected office seems to bring with it the focus of federal investigators as the stakes for control of lucrative municipal contracts ratchet up.

Concern the locals are too cozy with the targets of federal probes has led to separate, covert investigations that bypass channels of local law enforcement, sometimes colliding with them.

Years ago, Bridgeport saw just such a clash in what became an almost comedic attempt by the feds to take down Bridgeport's police superintendent, Joe Walsh. Federal investigators had long suspected Walsh was a dirty cop.

In one attempt to infiltrate his department with a mole, the feds identified a local cop reputed to have a heroin addiction. A junkie rat was enlisted to befriend this cop. Ultimately, the cop succumbed and agreed to travel to New York to score dope to be shared with the new junkie friend. Waiting, however, were the feds. The unfortunate cop was not booked and paraded immediately before a judge. Rather, she was taken to a local motel and offered a deal: Work as a mole inside the department, reporting any information that could be used to target Walsh. The cop refused. The cop was prosecuted.

The stage was set for what would become an urban legend when the feds conceived of a plan to use longtime hoodlum Tommy Marra to offer Walsh a cash payoff. Marra was a small-time car thief and gangster wannabe who was graduating to bigger games. He ultimately would serve time for the baseball-bat killing of another local small-time bad guy.

I had heard of Tommy, but didn't know him personally. One of my teenage sons was dating a girl Marra's son fancied. Some threats were subtly passed, causing me to be concerned enough to reach out to Tommy's lawyer, a local guy I knew. Marra was on trial for the murder and a meeting was arranged for me at the courthouse during a recess in his trial. In a scene reminiscent of "The Godfather," Tommy granted me an audience and assured me his son would back off.

The feds suspected Joe Walsh controlled the lucrative towing-contract deals for local city garages. One summer evening in 1981, Marra was enlisted to offer Walsh a substantial bribe to ensure the contract would be awarded to someone close to him.

Walsh apparently bit and the payoff was arranged. Marra was wired and given cash for the meet. FBI agents were present to monitor the transaction through the wire and surveillance. They even invited the beat reporter from the Bridgeport Post to accompany them.

"Walsh ran (the situation) by me," recalled long-time Inspector Anthony Fabrizi. "I told him, 'It stinks. Everyone knows you don't take money. It's got to be a sting.' "

"So I wired him up and I led the squad that staked it out."

The showdown was set in a city parking lot. The cops stood 100 feet away in a firehouse. FBI agents were nearby in a van.

"I trust you, you trust me," Walsh told Marra, who handed him an envelope containing $5,000.

Then, the cops beat the feds to the punch. "Put your hands on the dashboard, you're under arrest for attempted bribery," Walsh told Marra. Marra was cuffed. FBI agents, too late, ran to the car. They demanded their equipment, the money and their witness.

Walsh was backed up by a bevy of Bridgeport cops. So here were the feds facing off against the locals. Adding still more levity, the local cops had invited the beat writer from the same paper who covered the police. Neither reporter knew the other would be there or what was intended; neither wanted to be scooped on such a huge story.

The feds never got to Joe Walsh. He retired comfortably.

Editor's note: This column by Meehan with Thibault, excerpted from "Payoff: Tales of Political Corruption," is available for reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, www.cooljustice.blogspot.com
Bridgeport attorney Richard Meehan Jr. was the lead defense counsel for former Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim's corruption trial. He is a past president of the Greater Bridgeport Bar Association and appears regularly on Court TV. Andy Thibault, author of "Law & Justice in Everyday Life" and a private investigator, is an adjunct lecturer of English and a mentor in the Master of Fine Arts writing program at Western Connecticut State University. Web site: www.andythibault.com. [and] Blog: www.cooljustice.blogspot.com

Link: http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061008/OPINION/610080322&SearchID=73259231157740

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