Q. Okay. And then what would be your actions following the
the witness hereinbefore named, having been previously cautioned and sworn, or affirmed, to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth testified as follows:
Page 15
1 Q. Okay. And then what would be your actions following the
2 arrival there when the -- after the cargo was unloaded; did you
3 stay the night, or would you immediately turn around an return
4 to the United States? What was your --
5 A. No, we always stayed the night. Generally we would stay
6 just one night, there were times when we stayed two or three.
7 Q. Now, you would stay a night or a couple of days and you
8 returned. And would you return with cargo?
9 A. Yes, sir, we would. We would come back with individuals,
10 and from time-to-time unmarked boxes of items that were put in
11 one aircraft along with the individuals. Now, being
12 conservative by nature and not having a death-wish, I opened the
13 boxes on a number of occasions to find out what I was flying.
14 And what --
15 Q. What did you discover the cargo to be?
16 A. I found the cargo to be cocaine, in some cases marijuana.
17 Q. How, would you describe what you saw when you opened the
18 boxes?
19 A. What I saw when I opened the boxes were plastic bags filled
20 with a white powdery substance. On one occasion I wanted to
21 know more about what it was, so I cut one of them open and
22 tasted it; and I have tasted cocaine in a controlled environment
23 before at the request of law enforcement officials, so this --
24 Q. So you positively identified the substances that you were
25 carrying as cocaine?
Page 16
1 A. Yes, sir, I did.
2 Q. How much cocaine would you judge that you were carrying?
3 A. In the course of time there?
4 Q. Well, in each load?
5 A. In each load, 4 to 600 pounds.
6 Q. 4 to 600 pounds. And did you see people loading this cargo
7 of cocaine onto the airplane?
8 A. Yes, sir, I did.
9 Q. And who -- can you identify those people?
10 A. Those were Panamanian Defense Force soldiers. They were in
11 military uniform and easily identifiable as such.
12 Q. The same people that took the guns off, put the cocaine on?
13 A. Absolutely.
14 Q. Is that right?
15 A. That's correct.
16 Q. Now, what would you do with the load of cocaine once it was
17 loaded onto your C-130; where would you go with it?
18 A. We would bring it to Mena, Arkansas.
19 Q. And how long would it take you to fly to Mena?
20 A. Four to six hours, depending on the wind.
21 Q. And you have a flight log that would identify this flight?
22 A. Yes, sir, I would.
23 Q. Each one of the flights?
24 A. Yes, sir, I do.
25 Q. And when you landed at Mena, what would be the disposition
Page 17
1 of the cargo?
2 A. On one or two occasions the cargo was taken off by people
3 who were not residents of the Mena area and put into other
4 aircraft which departed from there. However, the most frequent
5 activity was that the aircraft would be unloaded in front of
6 Rich Mountain Aviation’s hangers and it would be stored in the
7 back of the hanger.
8 Q. The cocaine would be stored in the hanger of Rich Mountain
9 Aviation?
10 A. Yes, sir. I, in fact, saw it being put in.
11 Q. And who did you see putting the cocaine into the hanger?
12 A. The man that was directing it was Freddie Hampton.
13 Q. Freddie Hampton?
14 A. That’s correct.
15 Q. Is that the same Freddie Hampton that you described a
16 minute ago as the owner of Rich Mountain Aviation?
17 A. Yes, sir, it is.
18 Q. Now, let’s take each one of these trips separately. And we
19 can identify these trips, I presume, by your travel logs, flight
20 logs?
21 A. Yes, sir, we can.
22 Q. And go back in your mind to the first trip you took and describe to me
23 the disposition of the cargo; that is, the
24 cocaine, once it returned to Arkansas, once it was delivered to
25 Arkansas? And I am especially -- I am particularly interested
Page 18
1 in the identification of persons other than Freddie Hampton.
2 You've talked about Freddie Hampton. You've identified him.
3 Can you identify other people who might have received this
4 cocaine?
5 A. Yes. I can identify people who in fact received the
6 cocaine, not "might have." And --
7 Q. Can you tell us who they were?
8 A. I can tell you that they were members of John Gotti's
9 family in New York. One of them was an individual know to me
10 by the name of Sal Reale.
11 Q. Could you spell that name for us?
12 A. R-E-A-L-E.
13 Q. Sal Reale?
14 A. Salvatore Reale.
15 Q. Salvatore Reale?
16 A. Correct.
17 Q. And how did you know Mr. Reale?
18 A. Mr. Reale at that time was the Director of -- I believe it
19 was that time, was the Director of Security of Kennedy
20 International in New York City.
21 Q. In New York City. Speak to the subject of your knowledge
22 of Mr. Reale and his activities as the head of security at
23 Kennedy? Tell us what you know about him and what he did?
24 A. Okay. Mr. Reale was a -- was one of Mr. Gotti's
25 lieutenants. I watched the two of them interact. Mr. Gotti
Page 19
1 would provide directions, Mr. Reale would carry them out. It
2 was his job to make sure that cargo being shipped through
3 Kennedy was not lost, but properly located, and in some cases
4 avoiding customs -- avoided the customs procedures.
5 Q. Are you saying that you saw Mr. John Gotti, the famous head
6 of the organized crime syndicate, in New York together with Mr.
7 Reale?
8 A. Yes, sir, I did.
9 Q. Where did you see them?
10 A. That was in New York City.
11 Q. In New York City. What was the occasion that permitted you
12 to see them together, do you recall?
13 A. I don’t recall the nature of it. I do recall it was a
14 private club that I was taken to, and I had an opportunity to
15 meet with them at that time.
16 Q. And so -- okay. Do you remember when it was you saw them
17 together?
18 A. It was either late ‘84 or early 1985. But in that three or
19 four month time span, it would have had to have been one or the
20 other.
21 Q. Was your notice of Mr. Gotti and Mr. Reale in any way
22 connected with your contractual job with the Central
23 Intelligence Agency?
24 A. Yes. As far back as 1968 and early ‘69, we had begun to
25 launder money from organized crime families in New York. At
Page 20
1 that time Mr. Gotti was an up and coming member of one of the
2 families. I got to know them at that time. We used to wash
3 their money out overseas and put it in Switzerland in nice, safe
4 places for them.
5 Q. So you worked for Mr. Gotti as well as for the CIA?
6 A. Actually the CIA told me to do that on his behalf.
7 Q. So the CIA was in, would you say, partnership or
8 association with Mr. Gotti?
9 A. Yes, sir. I would say a partnership.
10 Q. And can you describe the nature of that partnership?
11 A. Sure. The organized crime members had a need for two
12 things: they needed drugs brought into the country on a
13 reliable, safe basis; they needed people taken out of the
14 country or people brought into the country without alerting
15 customs or INS to the fact that they were being brought into the
16 country, they also needed their money taken offshore so that it
17 would not be subject to United States tax where they might have
18 to declare its source. And so we performed these kinds of
19 functions for them.
20 Q. Mr. Brenneke, are you saying that the CIA was in the
21 business of bringing drugs into the United States?
22 A. Yes, sir. That's exactly what I'm saying.
23 Q. And that they were in partnership with John Gotti in this
24 operation?
25 A. I would say that they worked with Mr. Gotti and his
Page 21
1 organization very closely. Whether it was a formal partnership,
2 I don't know. But there certainly was a close alliance between
3 the two.
4 Q. All right. Now, let's go back to Mena Airport in
5 Arkansas for a moment. At a time when you saw Mr. Reale there,
6 did he receive any of the shipment, the cargo of the drugs that
7 you brought back from Panama?
8 A. He did not personally take any of the drugs. He did,
9 however, see that they were transferred into aircraft and
10 vehicles so that they would be moved off the field, and that was
11 his function. His function was not to load the vehicles, but to
12 see that nothing got lost on transit.
13 Q. Are you saying that drugs that you brought back from
14 Central America to Mena were for the purpose of delivery to Mr.
15 Reale, who was in the employ of Mr. Gotti, the New York
16 crime syndicate boss?
17 A. Yes, sir. I would say that.
18 Q. And Mr. Reale was there to manage the transshipment of those
19 drugs?
20 A. From time-to-time there were other people from the family
21 down there.
22 Q. Did you have any conversations with him about where he
23 intended to take those drugs?
24 A. Yes, sir. I asked on more than one occasion where the
25 drugs would be taken, and I was told the New York City area,
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