The case fell apart over the biker-turned-confidential source that even the FBI said was a "loose cannon"
From Day One, prosecutors argued that their case against the Chosen Few motorcycle club, a case involving allegations of firebombings, death threats and assaults, never hinged on one witness.
But in the end, it was a single witness, a biker-turned-confidential informant, who prompted one of the government's longest and well-publicized criminal cases to unravel last week.
The final chapter came Saturday, in a simple two-paragraph news release announcing a rare development in federal criminal prosecutions: an outright dismissal of charges against members of the Depew motorcycle club. "I think he hoodwinked them, too," Angelo Musitano, a lawyer for one of the 20 defendants, said of the government and its informant. By most accounts, the two-year old prosecution fell apart because of David Ignasiak, the 44-year-old biker-turned-confidential source. Even the FBI saw Ignasiak as a "loose cannon."
"We found out early on that he was a liar," defense lawyer Robert M. Convissar said. "I think that was a turning point."
Unfortunately for the government, lying wasn't Ignasiak's only mistake.
In August of 2008, while working as a paid informant, Ignasiak took part in an attack on a member of the Kingsmen, a rival biker gxxg that feuded with the Chosen Few for more than a decade.
Defense lawyers say that the victim was beaten with an ax handle and that government tape recordings show Ignasiak was a leader and participant in the attack. "I was upset with him for allowing himself to get into that situation," FBI Special Agent Frank Runles later told a federal judge.
Runles described Ignasiak as a "loose cannon" and said he took part in the planned attack despite repeated warnings from the FBI not to get involved in violent crimes with the Chosen Few. "The evidence showed Ignasiak was clearly involved in the attack and that he later lied about it to the FBI," said defense lawyer Joseph M. LaTona.
Runles, who worked closely with Ignasiak, said he reported his conduct to the FBI and prosecutors, but the government continued to use him as an informant. "A lot of the case was based on him," defense lawyer Patrick J. Brown said of Ignasiak's importance. "He was at the center of everything."
The problem, of course, is that Ignasiak became, at least in the eyes of some, as much of a burden as a benefit.
The allegations against him mounted over the past two years and, at one point, resulted in defense accusations of "outrageous governmental conduct." The claim resulted in what is believed to be the first federal court hearing about outrageous government conduct in at least 35 years.
"The more the government tried to control this guy, the more he did things on his own," Musitano said.
There was a time when the government's case against the Chosen Few seemed rock solid. There were, after all, witnesses and tape recordings from inside the Chosen Few clubhouse in Depew. It wasn't until later, well after police rounded up 20 Chosen Few members and associates in May 2009, that Ignasiak's role in the prosecution became evident.
"The more the government tried to control this guy, the more he did things on his own," Musitano said.
There was a time when the government's case against the Chosen Few seemed rock solid. There were, after all, witnesses and tape recordings from inside the Chosen Few clubhouse in Depew. It wasn't until later, well after police rounded up 20 Chosen Few members and associates in May 2009, that Ignasiak's role in the prosecution became evident.
At the time of the roundup, all the public knew is that this little-known motorcycle club stood accused of using death threats, beatings, bombings and shootings against rivals like the Kingsmen. "They're an outlaw motorcycle club," one investigator said at the time.
The allegations were serious enough to land club President Alex Koschtschuk in jail, where he sat unconvicted for two years. "It's a shame," said Paul J. Cambria Jr., Koschtschuk's lawyer. "When you're playing the back nine of your life and two years are taken away, that's a big consequence."
Koschtschuk is out now -- he was released Friday night.
But Cambria is not shy in suggesting that Ignasiak's alleged lies and deception helped put him there. He also suspects that U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. uncovered damaging new evidence against Ignasiak and that is why he moved to dismiss the charges. "I'd sure like to know what it is," Cambria said. Others point to Hochul's brief statement suggesting the dismissal is "in light of information that recently came to light."
"There could well be some new information, but only they know," LaTona said of federal prosecutors.
Hochul declined to comment for this story, but several defense lawyers confirmed the government's frustration with Ignasiak had become obvious in recent weeks. "I think it was Ignasiak," Brown said. "And I think there might have been a cumulative effect."
In short, it wasn't just the new evidence, if in fact there was new evidence, but that new evidence on top of everything else Ignasiak stands accused of doing. "I think the U.S. attorney took a hard look at this whole situation and realized there were problems with his informant," Convissar said.
One of the ironies of the Chosen Few case is that the charges against the defendants, many of them accused of violent felony crimes, were dismissed while one of the few convictions was against a law enforcement official.
Laurie Staley-Stone, a former Hamburg detective, was sentenced to four months in jail for accessing New York State and FBI crime information and giving it to a Chosen Few member. The information involved a family member of a Kingsmen leader. "As a police officer, you betrayed a trust," U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah McCarthy told Staley-Stone at the time of her sentencing. "You put others in harm's way."
Ignasiak, who reportedly moved outside Western New York, has periodically contacted The Buffalo News to tell his side of the story. Each time, he would claim that, despite the allegations against him, he provided accurate information to the FBI. He also suggested that if a jury ever heard the recordings made from the Chosen Few clubhouse, each of the defendants would be convicted.
"That's the Chosen Few way -- blame someone else," he said in March 2010. "But this time, it won't work. If anybody is saying untrue things, it's them. The telltale day will come in the courtroom -- not just from me, but from an abundance of people." That day may never come.
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article662526.ece
The allegations were serious enough to land club President Alex Koschtschuk in jail, where he sat unconvicted for two years. "It's a shame," said Paul J. Cambria Jr., Koschtschuk's lawyer. "When you're playing the back nine of your life and two years are taken away, that's a big consequence."
Koschtschuk is out now -- he was released Friday night.
But Cambria is not shy in suggesting that Ignasiak's alleged lies and deception helped put him there. He also suspects that U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. uncovered damaging new evidence against Ignasiak and that is why he moved to dismiss the charges. "I'd sure like to know what it is," Cambria said. Others point to Hochul's brief statement suggesting the dismissal is "in light of information that recently came to light."
"There could well be some new information, but only they know," LaTona said of federal prosecutors.
Hochul declined to comment for this story, but several defense lawyers confirmed the government's frustration with Ignasiak had become obvious in recent weeks. "I think it was Ignasiak," Brown said. "And I think there might have been a cumulative effect."
In short, it wasn't just the new evidence, if in fact there was new evidence, but that new evidence on top of everything else Ignasiak stands accused of doing. "I think the U.S. attorney took a hard look at this whole situation and realized there were problems with his informant," Convissar said.
One of the ironies of the Chosen Few case is that the charges against the defendants, many of them accused of violent felony crimes, were dismissed while one of the few convictions was against a law enforcement official.
Laurie Staley-Stone, a former Hamburg detective, was sentenced to four months in jail for accessing New York State and FBI crime information and giving it to a Chosen Few member. The information involved a family member of a Kingsmen leader. "As a police officer, you betrayed a trust," U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah McCarthy told Staley-Stone at the time of her sentencing. "You put others in harm's way."
Ignasiak, who reportedly moved outside Western New York, has periodically contacted The Buffalo News to tell his side of the story. Each time, he would claim that, despite the allegations against him, he provided accurate information to the FBI. He also suggested that if a jury ever heard the recordings made from the Chosen Few clubhouse, each of the defendants would be convicted.
"That's the Chosen Few way -- blame someone else," he said in March 2010. "But this time, it won't work. If anybody is saying untrue things, it's them. The telltale day will come in the courtroom -- not just from me, but from an abundance of people." That day may never come.
http://www.buffalonews.com/city/article662526.ece