The Last Undercover Read online

  Copyright © 2008 by Bob Hamer

  All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

  Center Street

  Hachette Book Group

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  New York, NY 10017

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  Center Street is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc. The Center Street name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  First eBook Edition: September 2008

  ISBN: 978-1-599-95180-5

  Contents

  PREFACE

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  1: A WALK TOWARD THE BEAST

  2: LIVING IN THE SHADOW WORLD

  3: CHINA WHITE

  4: THE WELCOMING COMMITTEE

  5: GLOBE-HOPPING SMUGGLER

  6: A NAMBLA SAFETY LECTURE

  7: THE COURTROOM CRAPSHOOT

  8: MEET THE PREDATORS

  9: WORKING THE HOOD

  10: PATIENCE IS A VIRTUE

  11: IMPROVISE TO SURVIVE

  12: A NAMBLA HISTORY LESSON

  13: THE MURDER OF JEFFREY CURLEY

  14: SEXUAL ADDICTION

  15: THE FIX IS IN

  16: KEEPING MY SHIRT ON

  17: HALF-FULL OR HALF-EMPTY?

  18: THE MOST BIZARRE

  19: RUB-A-DUB-DUB

  20: ENOUGH TO GO ON?

  21: NAMBLA PEN PALS

  22: THE MIAMI NAMBLA CONFERENCE

  23: RELAXING WITH PREDATORS

  24: LEADERLESS, SHIRTLESS, CLUELESS

  25: CRIMINAL ADMISSIONS

  26: JUST BECAUSE YOU’RE PARANOID DOESN’T MEAN I’M NOT OUT TO GET YOU

  27: SIX-PACK ABS AND A KEY OF COKE

  28: PREDATORS OUT ON THE TOWN

  29: LEGOLAND MAKES IT UNANIMOUS

  30: AGE OF CONSENT: ZERO

  31: TROLLING FOR A THREE-TIME OFFENDER

  32: BAITING THE HOOK

  33: GETTING THE GOODS

  34: HOW MUCH IS TOO MUCH?

  35: SWARMING TO THE BAIT

  36: GREG NUSCA, AKA DAVID R. BUSBY

  37: DIARY OF A SEXUAL PREDATOR

  38: MY LIFE AS A GHOSTWRITER

  39: LOSING IT?

  40: KEEP THOSE PLATES SPINNING

  41: INTENSIVE CARE

  42: FINAL PREPARATIONS

  43: PREDATORS TELL ALL

  44: SPRINGING THE TRAP

  45: AFTER THE ARRESTS

  46: THE TRIAL OF SAM LINDBLAD

  47: THE VERDICT

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Praise for the Last Undercover

  “I don’t think a story could be any more gripping than THE LAST UNDERCOVER. I sat down with Bob Hamer’s outstanding account of a life spent undercover and read straight on through. Every story is better than the one before it and what’s most stunning of all is that it’s all true!”

  —Michael Connelly, New York Times bestselling author of The Overlook

  “For the past ten years, I have been playing the role of Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit but Bob Hamer wasn’t playing; for him it was all too real. This undercover FBI agent has been on the front lines for the past 26 years, going toe-to-toe with some of the worst society has to offer. THE LAST UNDERCOVER is truly an enlightening look into a world many of us only hope is the product of some TV writer’s imagination. This is drama at its very best . . . and it’s true.”

  —Mariska Hargitay, Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning actress and founder of The Joyful Heart Foundation

  “Action heroes aren’t just the product of fiction or film. Undercover FBI Agent Bob Hamer shows that they really do exist. From contract killer to pedophile, the roles Bob has had to adopt would make even Mitch Rapp cringe. THE LAST UNDERCOVER is a fascinating look into the dark world of crime.”

  —Vince Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Protect and Defend

  “A true-life journey undercover into the heart of darkness. Killers, dealers, counterfeiters, sexual predators—you name it, Bob Hamer has entered their world and brought them to justice. If you thought FBI agents with guts of steel were only in the movies, read this book: you’ll be glad to know they’re really out there.”

  —Andrew Klavan, author of True Crime and Don’t Say a Word

  “Bob Hamer’s THE LAST UNDERCOVER really does prove that truth is stranger than fiction—and often, more surreal. During his two-and-a-half decade career, this law enforcement veteran and dedicated family man did everything from mingling with L.A. gang members to collaring a ring of middle-aged pedophiles. And he’s done it all with a sense of humor, fierce determination, and unbridled courage to put the bad guys where they belong—behind bars. Don’t start reading this book unless you’re comfortably seated . . . because you won’t want to stop.”

  —John Tinker, Emmy award-winning writer, co-creator of Judging Amy and executive producer of The Practice

  “I couldn’t put this one down. The accounts of Bob Hamer’s undercover work for the FBI against street gangs, organized crime, drug kingpins and other assorted criminals is both fascinating and informative, but the undercover work he did to help bring down some the kingpins of NAMBLA exposes the underside of some of the dirtiest and most disgusting human beings on earth and gives the reader a better understanding of just how dangerous and disgusting these child predators are. I truly enjoyed the book.”

  —Charlie Daniels, country music artist

  PREFACE

  The simple words of A. W. Tozer in The Divine Conquest spoke volumes to my motivation in writing The Last Undercover. He wrote, “The only book that should ever be written is one that flows up from the heart, forced out by the inward pressure. . . . His book will be to him not only imperative, it will be inevitable.”

  After twenty-six years as an FBI agent, all of them as a street agent and many of those years spent in various undercover roles, I have experienced what most never will. I held a baby’s arm . . . not a baby by the arm, just the arm, from the elbow to the fingers, an arm severed in a tragic accident. I saw a man’s head detached from the torso, and attended autopsies. I comforted a woman with the brains of her boyfriend splattered on her blouse and confronted armed suspects. I’ve fired my weapon in the heat of a drug deal gone bad and have been threatened with death by disgruntled felons taken into custody. In my various undercover roles I have gone toe-to-toe with some of the most dangerous, notorious, and sometimes fascinating criminals in our society. Five years of working street gangs and more than twenty years working various organized crime groups exposed me to the best and worst of mankind.

  Through all this, two things allowed me to withstand the day-to-day battles I fought. First was an unwavering belief that God, for whatever reason and however undeserved, had wrapped His protective arms around me. Second was a family who was there for me each and every evening when I returned home from work.

  But with all the stories, all the incidents, all the assignments, only one flowed “up from the heart, forced out by inward pressure.” That was my experience infiltrating NAMBLA. I needed to tell that story. I needed to share that experience to alert the world to an underground network of pedophiles targeting boys.

  I first met my agent, Bucky Rosenbaum, at my brother Dan’s Christmas party. Bucky had been on the staff at Saddleback Church in Orange County, California, and represented Rick Warren in the Purpose Driven Life series. Bucky decided to launch his own literary agency and was looking for clients. He may now regret attending that party because I began to talk to him about my undercover experie
nces in NAMBLA and my desire to expose the organization. We agreed to meet later in the year once he got the agency off the ground and I began writing about the investigation. I wasn’t interested in pounding my chest and bragging about my undercover exploits or in writing a tell-all exposé about the FBI. With missionary zeal I wanted to alert the world to the “boy lover” agenda. That was the book flowing up from within.

  By the time we next met I had almost eighty-five thousand words on paper, detailing the three-year investigation. Bucky, too, captured my vision and agreed to help me find a publisher. We both thought the process would be easy. Child molestation was a topic that cut across the political aisle. Law & Order: SVU was a top-rated show on NBC and Chris Hansen’s Dateline NBC: To Catch a Predator segments were drawing 10 million viewers with each episode. We assumed the publishers would be craving an exposé on such a hideous organization written from the perspective of an undercover FBI agent. Two dozen rejection letters later, we realized it was not going to be an easy sell. Many of the rejections were thoughtful, praising my writing and my willingness to target a notorious group of pedophiles. No one, however, wanted to take on the project. Several rejections even used “ick factor,” which must be a literary term taught at our prestigious universities. But several publishers were helpful in encouraging me to expand the subject matter by including more undercover stories.

  As I thought about what these publishers said, I knew that had I never had the undercover experience of twenty-plus administratively approved undercover operations, I would have never been successful in pulling off the NAMBLA assignment. Their suggestions to expand the manuscript made sense. Although I balked early in the process of including more stories, I knew that if I wanted to accomplish my mission of exposing the boy lover movement, I needed to add these other undercover investigations. I set about expanding the manuscript.

  Bucky then called upon a friend in the publishing world, Gary Tera- shita at Center Street. The manuscript had been originally rejected by them but Gary agreed to give it another read. After a second look he caught our vision, bringing on board Thom Lemmons to help me work through the now 125,000 words and give shape to my story. A special thanks to Gary, Thom, and Harry Helm for believing in me and taking a chance with my message.

  As I recounted my other undercover stories, I relied on memory and what few mementos I had from the investigations, mainly news accounts, court documents, and administrative write-ups either for awards or chastisements. For the NAMBLA account I relied not only on my memory but trial preparation materials, including reports, transcripts, and tape and video recordings.

  As a condition of my employment with the FBI, it is necessary for me to obtain the Bureau’s approval for any published material. This book has been vetted and approved under the provisions of the prepublication review policy. Upon the FBI’s review of the manuscript there were only two requirements. First, I had to delete the names of any FBI agent mentioned in my original submission. Second, I had to clearly state that the views expressed in the book do not necessarily represent the views of the FBI. Although I hate not giving proper credit to those other special agents who worked with me throughout my career, I complied with the FBI’s conditions. I hope those agents will forgive me since, for one of the few times in my career, I complied with an FBI mandate.

  What follows is the true account of my career as an undercover special agent with the FBI culminating in my infiltration of NAMBLA. Thanks for joining me in the journey of The Last Undercover.

  Acknowledgments

  Thanks to Harry Helm at Hachette Book Group USA and Rolf Zettersten, the senior vice president and publisher at Center Street, as well as Gary Terashita and Cara Highsmith, for their patience throughout the project. A special thanks to the rest of the Center Street team for making this a reality.

  To Thom Lemmons, who helped me shape this into the book it is.

  To Bucky Rosenbaum, my agent and friend. It was a longer journey than either of us expected.

  To my friends Katie Finneran, Dawn DeNoon, Midge Raymond, Tracey Stern, Monika Baker, Paul Grellong, and Daniel Combs, who provided valuable feedback and encouragement on the original manuscript.

  To Lawana Jones at the FBI Prepublication Unit for ushering the manuscript through the process . . . several times.

  To Laura Eimiller with Public Affairs at the Los Angeles FBI, who offered support, encouragement, and great advice.

  To Jennifer Corbett and Anne Perry, not only for leading the successful prosecution of the NAMBLA members but for providing me with court documents as I put this project together.

  But mostly to a gracious God, who blessed me with a great family: parents who served as role models, a wife who stood by me for these past three-plus decades, and the two greatest children in the world. You are all my heroes.

  1

  A WALK TOWARD THE BEAST

  New York NAMBLA Conference

  As my cab honked its way along the New York City streets, I stared out the window at the crowds on the sidewalks and tried to talk down the apprehension rising inside me. Don’t get me wrong: I have known fear, and I have felt the temple-pounding rush of adrenaline pumping through my body. But this evening, a sense of anxiety enveloped me. The sensation was unlike anything I’d experienced in my more than two decades of undercover work for the FBI. This case was going to be the toughest I had ever tackled, for reasons I didn’t fully understand . . . yet.

  It was a clear Friday evening, Veterans Day weekend. I was in New York to infiltrate an organization known as NAMBLA: the North American Man/Boy Love Association, a society of men who professed sexual attraction to young boys. The plan looked simple enough in the operations order but seemingly impossible to orchestrate; I would pose as an aging pedophile, work myself into a position of trust within the organization, and gain criminal admissions from its members—admissions that would lead to successful federal prosecutions.

  But as the time neared for me to make my debut with NAMBLA, things were looking anything but simple. I was unable to view the group I’d be infiltrating with anything other than revulsion. How could I pretend to actually be one of them—without becoming physically ill or physically violent? I wasn’t sure I knew the answer.

  During my career with the FBI, I successfully targeted some of the most treacherous criminal groups in America: La Cosa Nostra; the Russian, Sicilian, and Mexican Mafias; Asian organized crime groups; black street gangs. In the early eighties I was the undercover agent in the Los Angeles Mafia family case that resulted in the imprisonment of L.A.’s top fifteen mobsters. I had worked street gangs. Picture a white man in South Central L.A. buying rock cocaine from convicted felons and known killers. While undercover, I shot two drug dealers who attempted to turn our $400,000 cocaine transaction into a “rip.” As the undercover agent in more than twenty administratively approved operations, lasting anywhere from several days to more than three years, I have successfully posed as a drug dealer, contract killer, residential burglar, degenerate gambler, international weapons dealer, and white-collar criminal.

  But tonight I was about to spend the weekend playing the role of a “boy lover,” or “BL,” as NAMBLA members refer to themselves. It was quite a journey that had brought me here, and tonight marked the next step in the FBI’s efforts to target men who preyed on boys. NAMBLA was real—much more than an episodic joke on South Park. The group was celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary and I was going to be present for that celebration. After all, I was a dues-paying member.

  San Diego, 1980

  My tour of humanity’s dark side began in earnest back in 1980, just after I left the Marine Corps. I spent four years as a judge advocate, serving as prosecutor, defense counsel, and an appellate review attorney. Regardless of how glamorous they make the JAG corps look on TV, the military courtroom lacked the excitement I hoped it would bring. I worked on trials running the gamut from unauthorized absence to murder, but the cases were never “whodunnits.” The decision always ca
me down to whether the confession was admissible or the search was legal. For me, the excitement waned quickly. The 150 trials in which I participated did, however, prepare me for my work in the FBI. Better than most, I knew what was necessary to get a conviction. Often those requirements had nothing to do with Bureau-imposed administrative hurdles. Following bureaucratic regulations with no evidentiary value was never my strong suit and no administrator ever accused me of being procedurally pure.

  After suffering through three years of law school and four years as an attorney in the Marine Corps, I knew the courtroom was not where I wanted to be. Neither did I aspire to spending the rest of my life tethered to a desk, drafting wills, divorce decrees, or other legal documents. The FBI, known for its recruitment of lawyers and accountants, proved to be a near-perfect fit. I would be getting paid to play cops and robbers, something I did for free as a kid. Never in my twenty-six-year career did I ever question my decision to join the Bureau. Sure, I had bad days, but knowing the next call might put me on the thrill ride of a lifetime made the momentary frustrations easier to handle . . . usually.

  Hollywood envisions every FBI agent assuming an undercover identity and capturing crooks with some sophisticated ruse. In fact, very few FBI agents ever remove the suit coat and loosen the tie. Today, the FBI carefully screens every agent seeking to work in an undercover capacity. Few are selected, and fewer still successfully navigate the difficult path to undercover certification. From that small number, only a handful continue to accept undercover roles throughout their careers. For those who do, it can mean the most exhilarating challenge anybody could ever hope for.

  But in 1980, receiving an undercover assignment was as easy as raising a hand. I was looking for excitement, variety, and, above all, a way to avoid being tied to a desk. Undercover work seemed the perfect means to all my ends. I wanted to enter the world of Serpico; I wanted the thrill of the chase and the satisfaction of the hard-earned collar at the end. I was fortunate enough to have a supervisor who encouraged me to pursue my dreams. And so it was, in 1980, after about six months in the Bureau, I found myself on my way to meet Dave, my first undercover target.