A glimpse into "The Change We Need - The Family"

Continue the journey

 

Chapter 1

While William Johnson parked his Mercedes 500 series in the space reserved for the director.

John Murray, a federal public defender, eased his pristine Jaguar sports car into the lot designated for attorneys, Johnson walked confidentially toward the fifth floor. At the security checkpoint he merely nodded, and the FBI guard waved him through.

  "Yes sir, This way sir,"

  Murray's experience was quite different. He presented identification, stepped through a metal detector, and handed over his attaché and personal belongings for inspection, He was permitted to continue, but only after a comprehensive security inspection was completed.

  It was another beautiful spring day in Miami, except for one thing, the public schools had begun spring break. Many government employees had taken the week off, including personnel from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. As a result, the Miami FBI building was more than half empty. The halls on the fifth floor were usually quiet.

  With hardly anyone present, it was an ideal moment for an unnoticed meeting, Despite the empty hallways, the fifth-floor conference room in the North Beach FBI Building was crowded. Federal prosecutors, FBI agents, and CIA officers gathered around the long table. Many were drinking coffee and laughing about the last time they had parted together.

  The mood was relaxed until Captain Charlie entered the room. They called him Captain Charlie because he had served in Charlie Unit during the Gulf War. This is where he made a name for himself, saving an entire line of soldiers at the cost of three American lives. His real name was Charles W. Dunn III.

  The moment he walked in, the men stood. The atmosphere changed instantly. Casual conversation stopped. The jokes stopped. Faces tightened into the attentive expressions of officers awaiting orders. The air conditioning was set to sixty-five degrees, unusually cold but necessary to keep the crowded room from becoming humid. The lighting was dim enough to avoid glare, almost theatrical, like the lighting used by a stage magician to guide and manipulate an audience.

  Dunn stood at the head of the table. "We have a lot to talk about today." He spoke. "So, let's get started," 

  He looked around the room. "You all know me, and I expect this group to become an effective tool to show our country just how important our work is."

  His voice hardened. "We protect citizens from criminals who steal their money, drug their sons, and rape their daughter. We will do anything necessary to defend and protect."

  He paused, "That is our motto; to protect and to defend," Dunn folded his arms.

  "If anyone here doesn't have the stomach for this project, leave now before I continue. I will not think less of you. But we only want people who can give us this effort, one hundred and one percent."

  The room was silent. No one moved. Then several voices shouted out proudly. "The one-hundred-and one percent Project!" The name stuck instantly.  Soon everyone was referring to themselves as the "101 Team."

  The group consisted of highly trained professionals accustomed to working with Charles Dunn. They knew he liked to give motivational speeches designed to push them harder. At first, they assumed this meeting was just another one of those speeches, but they also knew something else was ready to take off.

  If this project succeeded, every member of the team would gain recognition and prestige. Their reputation would rise far above those colleagues who still clung to ethical limitations. For many of them, the reward was worth the risk. After all, when the job was done, the phrase they always waited for and always used would be heard again. "Well done, Captain Dunn."

  After a short break for coffee refills, the meeting resumed. The discussion turned into new federal prisons scheduled to open over the next four years and how current administration wanted to demonstrate its demonstration to fight crime. Soom the conversation shifted to strategy, indictments, conspiracy status, and how federal law could be interpreted to expand prosecutions.

  Dunn knew he was preaching to the choir. Many pf the people in the room held law degrees and had long ago learned how flexible legal rules could be when political priorities were involved.

  "Our funding is under review." Dunn continued. "If Washington decides we are not effective, they will gut this division. That means more crime on the streets and less officers to catch that load of criminals."

  He leaned forward. "Right now people are getting away with murder because no one is watching, no one is stopping what is happening. Others carry smoking guns and think they can do whatever they want because they have not been caught and it will be difficult to catch them if we do not tighten up;"

  He paused. "We must catch them before they escape."

  Then he smiled slightly. "Better yet, before they even commit the crime. We need to get them when they are thinking about crime."

  Lunch arrived from a nearby deli, but the meeting continues as everyone ate around the table. Ideas began flying across the room, some brilliant, others reckless. All were considered. One attorney from the Depart of Justice raised his hand. "How about we start calling people and offering them illegal work for good money? Once they finish the job, we arrest them. We could fill the prisons faster."

  Someone laughed. "You are going to start dialing numbers from the phone book." Another was called out. " No, use Google."

  The room erupted with laughter. Another agent leaned forward. "We could use confidential informants to spread the word. Let people hear about opportunities to make money, drugs, smuggling, whatever we want them involved in. Then we arrest them and everyone they contact."

  He grinned. "We double or triple our caseload and pick up new informants at the same time."

  Several heads nodded. "Sounds like a win-win situation."

Dunn watched the discussion with satisfaction and could work out. "I am pleased to see the to see the participation in this room." he said. " You are all becoming persuasive and disciplined. We are like a family."

  He gestured around the room. "If everyone agrees this idea has merit, we can integrate it into the project and convince people to break the law, then arrest them." He shrugged. He shrugged. Local police already do that with these vice stings."

  "When they cannot find enough prostitutes." Another agent added, "they send undercover female officers to entice the customers."

  Dunn nodded. "So why can't we do this at the federal level? Why wait for someone to commit the crime? We arrest them when they agree to commit it." He emphasized the key legal concept. "Conspiracy!"

  One FBI agent raised a concern. "But how do we catch the big fish? They are rare."

  At that moment Judy Gable spoke up. "We have money." She said calmly. "And we can print more."

  The room turned toward her. "Why not watch and wait until the little fish grow bigger?"

  Bill Johnson suddenly spoke. "Who said that?"

  Judy looked nervous. But Johnson smiled. "That is the best idea I've heard today."

  "Why not catch one today or tomorrow? I know a prosecutor who wants to send one directly to the Federal Detention Center. Prosecutor Peter Sluromen told me he knows the Grand Jury in this case."

  He leaned back in his chair. "We follow small fish until they grow fat enough to catch, like a fish farm. Now we even have one on the line, good job." He laughed softly. We set the bait and let them bite until they are ready to be reeled in."