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April 26, 2008 ­ Quad-City Times (IA)

Anti-Snitch Web Site Spurs Questions About Access To Federal Plea Agreements

By Ann McGlynn

Return to Drug War News: Don't Miss Archive

Sean Bucci got busted in 2003 for trafficking marijuana.

A former high school classmate, a confidential informant working for the federal government, led authorities to Bucci's door.

So Bucci decided to get even. He created a Web site called whosarat.com before he went to prison for 12 years. He featured his "snitch" as "Rat of the Week."

The federal court system took notice. His Web site launched a debate about how much access the public should have to plea agreements -- documents that can reveal who is cooperating with the federal government.

That debate is no more obvious than in the Quad-Cities' two federal courthouses.

In Rock Island, the public can see the documents in a visit to the clerk's office in downtown Rock Island. They are not available online.

In Davenport, the documents were routinely sealed from public view for several months. However, after inquiries from the Quad-City Times, the rules are changing.

The lead federal prosecutor for the Southern District of Iowa, which includes Davenport, agreed last week that his attorneys will more closely scrutinize which plea agreements they will ask to be sealed.

Attorneys will work on the presumption of openness, said U.S. Attorney Matthew Whitaker. A request for sealing will have to be approved by supervisors. The changes will begin May 1.

"After I looked at the situation, I concluded we were sealing too many plea agreements and we're going to move toward making sure we have a more calculated system for sealing the important ones," Whitaker said. Past sealed plea agreements will not be revisited, he added.

Launching A Firestorm

Visitors to whosarat.com are welcomed by a shady character and the announcement of the Rats of the Week.

The subscription site -- $7.99 for a week, $69.99 for a lifetime membership -- boasts that it is the largest online database of government informants and agents.

Bucci launched the site in August 2004, said Chris Brown, a friend of Bucci's who is now the spokesman for the site. Brown lives in Massachusetts. Bucci, of North Reading, Mass., is in a federal prison in Virginia.

"The site is not geared to the person who witnesses a stabbing or shooting," Brown said. "It's geared towards nonviolent crimes. All you've done is ratted on someone else."

Regardless, the site launched a firestorm.

The Department of Justice -- the prosecutors -- said it wanted to eliminate all public Internet access to plea agreements through the Public Access to Court Electronic Records, or PACER, system.

The Judicial Conference of the United States -- the judges -- disagreed. They gathered public comment which 4-to-1 favored retaining public online access. No one provided any evidence that anyone had been harmed by disclosure of information in a federal court file, the committee led by Judge John Tunheim of Minnesota said.

The judges' committee decided to leave how to handle access up to each court. It offered several suggestions.

Tunheim follows one of those suggestions. Plea agreements granted in his court with no security concern are unsealed and filed online. If attorneys have a substantiated fear for the defendant's safety, the cooperation provision is removed from the plea agreement, which is then filed unsealed and online. "My intent then is to have that filed when any security problem is cleared," he said.

He anticipates a nationwide policy might be necessary.

"My view is that we are a public court system and the public has a right to know how matters are resolved," Tunheim said.

Web Site Thriving

U.S. Attorney Whitaker's decision for the Southern District of Iowa comes on the heels of another change at the Davenport courthouse, also made after questions from a Quad-City Times reporter. Plea agreements generally were sealed as a matter of routine beginning in early 2007. Attorneys are now required to make a formal request of the court's judges.

An analysis of the approximately 185 people indicted in 2007 showed 77 defendants signing plea agreements so far. Of those, 58 are sealed, 17 are open to the public and two were sealed and then unsealed.

Most of the agreements open to the public were approved after the first of the year. Unsealed plea agreements are available online in Davenport-based cases.

Chief Judge Robert Pratt could not be reached for comment.

Despite the reduced access to documents in the federal courts, Brown, the spokesman for whosarat.com, said information continues to come into the site.

"People have been hating snitches for years. It's one of the first things you learn as a kid. You did something, be a man, be a woman, be a human being, own up to it," said Brown, who denies a criminal record besides motor vehicle violations.

Some people love the site; some people hate the site, he said. The ones who protest say it puts people in danger. Brown counters, "They put themselves in danger."

"People have a right to this information. It's public information. It's not private information," he said.

Ann McGlynn can be contacted at (563) 383-2336 or amcglynn@qctimes.com.

How To Access Federal Court Cases

The nationwide system allows anyone with a password to access cases. It's called Public Access to Court Electronic Records, or PACER. The Web site to get a password is pacer.psc.uscourts.gov. Documents cost 8 cents per page.

Who's on whosarat.com?

-- Joseph "Jose" Nache pleaded guilty in November 2006 to distributing more than 50 kilos of marijuana, distributing more than 100 kilos of marijuana, using a gun during drug trafficking and kidnapping. A member of the Lowriders street gang, Nache and his co-defendants brought large quantities of marijuana and cocaine to the Quad-Cities. He and others kidnapped and beat a drug runner they thought stole money from them, until the Davenport police arrived and surrounded the building.

He agreed that his sentenced could be reduced if he provided "substantial assistance" to federal authorities. He was sentenced to 19 years in prison.

-- Sean Tyree Lewis pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2005. He was charged after police were called to a fight between him and his girlfriend in Davenport. During a struggle with police, officers found a .22 caliber, semi-automatic handgun where the fight with a police officer started and a 9mm, semi-automatic handgun in Lewis' jacket.

He agreed that his sentenced could be reduced if he provided "substantial assistance" to federal authorities. Lewis was sentenced to 10 years in prison.

-- Robert "Spooky" Beason Jr. pleaded guilty in May 2006 to dealing crack cocaine for five years. He dealt the drug from his house at 1118 10th Ave., Rock Island, and from parking lots and alley near a school. He agreed that his sentence could be reduced if he cooperated with federal authorities. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

-- Mohammad Shabbir Khan pleaded guilty in June 2006 to wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and making a false statement. Khan, a high-ranking manager for Saudi Arabia-based Tamimi Global Co., pleaded guilty in June 2006 to providing a KBR manager with a prostitute and $133,000 in exchange for multimillion-dollar dining hall contracts in Kuwait and Iraq overseen by an office on Arsenal Island.

He agreed that his sentenced could be reduced if he cooperated with federal authorities. He was sentenced to 4 years in federal prison.

Also visit our "Informants: Resources for a Snitch Culture" section.

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