Former FBI Agent Describes Undercover Investigations

By Andrew Gorosko

A former FBI undercover agent who infiltrated organized crime to seek evidence for federal prosecutions against mobsters described his dangerous line of work to participants at a session of Citizen Police Academy.

Joaquin “Jack” Garcia, 56, described the shadowy world of organized crime and how he operated within that that environment to academy members at a May 13 session.

The police department conducts the free informational program each year to explain to the general public the workings of law enforcement within the context of the criminal justice system. Sergeant Domenic Costello coordinates the sessions.

Mr Garcia is the author of the recent book Making Jack Falcone: An Undercover FBI Agent Takes Down a Mafia Family. “Jack Falcone” was an alias that Mr Garcia had assumed while working undercover.

Mr Garcia told academy participants that he fully believes in the value of groups such as theirs, which gain insights into the world of law enforcement.

Mr Garcia showed academy members a video of a feature story on his exploits as an undercover agent that appeared last fall on the CBS News program 60 Minutes.

Of his 26 years as a special agent for the FBI, Mr Garcia spent 24 of those years in undercover work in various assignments.

His career in law enforcement started as a police officer in Elizabeth, N.J., and culminated with a stint in deep undercover work, seeking evidence against the Gambino crime family, Mr Garcia said. A Cuban American, Mr Garcia posed as an Italian American while in that assignment.

Mr Garcia said that his inspiration for becoming an undercover agent stems from the work of Frank Serpico. Serpico was a New York City policeman who went undercover to expose corruption in that police department; his story was turned into a bestselling book by Peter Maas and a movie starting Al Pacino.

Mr Garcia said he did much training to prepare for his undercover role in the world of organized crime, familiarizing himself with the quirks and idiosyncrasies of those in that environment. That included learning the speech patterns and common habits of mobsters, he said.

The former FBI agent explained how he ingratiated himself with mobsters as he was wearing a recording device on his body for two years to gain evidence for criminal prosecutions.

Mr Garcia received many awards for his work, including the FBI Director’s Award for Investigative Excellence.