‘You don’t understand, this is war’

Part 4 of a multi-part series documenting the FBI corruption probe in Atlantic City by the Atlantic Daily Sentinel. The stories includes four years of coverage that was gathered and held for publication while the FBI completed their work in Atlantic City, Camden, Philadelphia and Texas.

By VIRGINIA McCABE
Published March 1, 2007

More than a decade ago FBI Agents were listening to a wiretap of a conversation between two gang members in Atlantic City. The suspects spoke in a coded language that made it difficult for agents to decipher what they were talking about. One clever agent who was listening carefully to the call was able to pick out the chilling details of a murder plan in progress. The agent had only moments to react and his choices were difficult. He could not blow his cover or the wiretap that captured the murder plot and he could not let a young man die.

At the same moment the murder plot was unfolding, a young man from a rival gang was watching a movie at the theater adjacent to the Shore Mall in Egg Harbor Township. He was totally oblivious to the danger that would be waiting for him outside. A carload of shooters were on their way to the theater as FBI agents placed a call to the Egg Harbor Township Police. Two marked cruisers were dispatched with instructions to park their cars in a conspicuous place to head off the shooting

Not long after police arrived, the would-be gangsters rolled up into the parking lot ready to kill their rival when they saw the police cars, changed direction and drove away.

After the movie ended, a young man came walking out of the theater, completely unaware of his brush with death.. So did the people who would have been in the line of fire. To this day, the man does not know he owes his life to an FBI agent from the Atlantic City field office. .

The FBI wiretaps remained in place and the gang members were eventually arrested on other charges and went to prison.

This oft told story recounted by police about FBI Special Agent Edward Corrigan is illustrative of life in Atlantic City for the criminal element. The suspects are older now and one is working with youth in the city to keep them from entering a life of crime. But does this suspect practice what he preaches? The one time gangster has been identified as being peripherally involved in the illicit blackmail sex tape of Reverend Eugene Robinson.

In a way, Robinson also dodged a bullet that was meant for him. He resisted the blackmail attempt to remove him from council and he went public with the information. Those who conspired against him have been identified and they are about to fall into a legal abyss.

A new kind of “hit” is taking place in Atlantic City. In an effort to attain or hold onto political power, some members of the community are willing to do anything to maintain their edge in the political game. New video technology affordable and available to the masses makes elaborate blackmail schemes once only done by professionals --- possible for the novice. Getting away with the crime is another matter. In this case too many people were involved, far too many folded under the pressure placed upon them by the FBI.

“You just have to be willing to do what the other guy won’t” said one suspect associated with the crime, quoting a line from the movie “Usual Suspects.”

“You don’t understand, this is war,” said a woman associated with the group.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office is now working to put together the legal case against the suspects of the crime against Robinson. Atlantic City councilman John Schultz, has been smeared by the City Hall rumor mill that claims he was involved with the crime and that he was resigning his office. Shultz has denied the rumors today and said he intends to keep his seat on the council.

In the end, the same kind of modern technology that enabled the suspects to tape Robinson has been employed to capture the criminals who perpetrated the crime. Modern technology has made it possible to connect the dots between criminals and rule out those who are innocently caught up in the aftermath. Electronic "footprints" was the clue in the case.