JUNIOR G MAN: Last week’s Dead Drop had an item about a 26-year-old California man who was arrested for scamming women by pretending to be a CIA officer. This week, we have a story about a 24-year-old congressional staffer, Sterling Devion Carter, who liked to play being an FBI agent. According to The Daily Beast, Carter owned a vehicle he modified to look like a cop car, adding a siren and flashing lights, and openly carried a firearm in the District of Columbia. His story goes back to late 2020, but is just coming to light now. Real law enforcement types spotted Carter wearing a black T-shirt that read “federal agent.” He was wearing a policy duty belt, with a Glock pistol, extra ammo, handcuffs, a radio and an earpiece. When they approached him, he took off. Later, when DC police and Secret Service agents approached him again, he identified himself as FBI but failed to show credentials and sped off again. Using some clever detective work involving the logo on his t-shirt and a guess as to who might have made his fake license plate (apparently, an online company), they were able to ID Carter. He was eventually arrested and initially he got off without prison time, but then his (real) office on Capitol Hill discovered that he had given himself an $80,000 raise while working for them by forging some documents – so he has now been sentenced to nine months in jail and is expected to turn himself in soon (assuming he doesn’t forge a pardon or run off in another police cruiser).
AGENT OF BAD INFLUENCE: Something was brought to our attention the other day buried in a story we might normally not focus on. Major media reported that a former governor of Puerto Rico, Wanda Vázquez Garced, was arrested on charges of taking bribes while running for office in 2020. Corruption in politics? We’re shocked. However, not normally in our wheelhouse. But the story included the nugget that the alleged bribes from a local bank were delivered by former FBI agent Mark Rossini. Rossini, who was detailed to the CIA prior to 9/11, gained some fame later by alleging that Agency officials intentionally hid information from the FBI that might have prevented the 9/11 attack. The former executive director of the 9/11 Commission, Philip Zelikow wrote in The Cipher Brief in 2017, that “there is no evidence to support this serious allegation.” Rossini had also gained some notoriety for being arrested and drummed out of the FBI for passing sensitive information to his Hollywood girlfriend about her former boyfriend who was in prison. The New York Times said that Rossini was in Spain and “efforts would be made” to extradite him. Rossini says he’s not guilty and reportedly returned to San Juan, Puerto Rico to turn himself in on Tuesday.
YOU’RE NOT YOU, HAVE A SNICKERS: You know that series of commercials where people acting oddly are told they are not themselves and then they have a Snickers bar and find their true selves? Well, apparently that doesn’t work in Taiwan. The candy maker’s parent company, Mars Wrigley, groveled late last week and offered an apology to China for another ad which said a limited-edition Snickers bar was “being introduced in the countries of South Korea, Malaysia, and Taiwan.” As any (mainland) Chinese schoolkid would tell you “Taiwan” is (in their country’s eyes) not a country. According to Reuters, Mars tried to wriggle out of their mess saying: “Mars Wrigley respects China’s national sovereignty and territorial integrity and conducts its business operations in strict compliance with local Chinese laws and regulations.”
RUSSIAN YOUTHS WOULD NOT GET CAUGHT DEAD IN UKRAINE: Jeesh. Kids today. Russian TV talking heads were venting recently that there is an urgent need for young folks to volunteer to serve in their military. “We need to replenish dislodged personnel,” one person commented. “Dislodged” is an interesting turn of phrase. Apparently, not enough of them are signing up. He added: “It’s written very plainly: ‘Soldier, death is part of your job. It is part of your duty and your contract with the government.’ The same principles were adopted by [Joseph] Stalin, who had an Orthodox Christian education.” Piling on, was convicted Russian operative Maria Butina who suggested jailing parents whose children watch foreign media using a VPN. Instead, they should consume old fashioned Soviet movies and literature to stiffen their spines.
GET OUT OF JAIL FREE: Well, not exactly free. But there are reports that Vladimir Putin’s losses in Ukraine are so great that Russia is going to great lengths to recruit replacements. Apparently, there are no holds barred – and CNN says jailed Russian murderers and drug offenders are being offered a chance to get out of prison if they sign up to fight in the war. One prisoner told CNN “They will accept murderers, but not rapists, pedophiles, extremists, or terrorists.” Apparently, they have enough of the latter already on their rolls. The offer includes a pardon after six months (assuming you survive) and pay from 100,000 to 200,000 rubles a month. How bad are things going for the Russians? This week, the Pentagon’s Under Secretary for Policy, Colin Kahl, told reporters that “the Russians have probably taken 70 or 80,000 casualties.” That is a combined number representing killed and wounded. But don’t count Moscow out. They are rolling out their secret weapons – like actor Steven Seagal who seems to have shown up in Ukraine serving as a Kremlin mouthpiece – blaming Ukraine using US supplied weapons to destroy a Russian-run prison holding Ukrainian POWs – an allegation that has widely been debunked.
THE “SHOOTING” STARTS THIS FALL: By which we hope they mean “filming.” Word comes from Deadline.com that actor Alec Baldwin is set to star in a spy action thriller called “Chief of Station.” The plot calls for a former CIA chief of station (Baldwin) who learns that his wife’s death was not an accident and he is “forced back into espionage.” Naturally, he teams up with a “rogue agent” (because there ALWAYS has to be one) – in this case played by Olga Kurlenko – and he unravels a conspiracy” that challenges everything he thought he knew.” Just once, we would like to see one of these films where the hero finds out that everything he or she thought they knew – turns out to be correct.
POCKET LITTER: Dead Droplets and bits and pieces of interesting /weird stuff we discovered:
SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST: Military.com says that officials at Ramstein Air Base in Germany are conducting an investigation to determine whether a senior NCO “bribed their way to a passing score on their annual physical fitness test.” What made the story special to us was the fact that the alleged briber was part of the 86th Security Forces Squadron, in charge of safeguarding the base. So essentially, this person is accused of trying to bribe a cop. It made us wonder, what is the going rate to purchase a passing PT grade? Probably more than a Snickers bar.
DEAD DROP, NOW ACCEPTING BRIBES: Want to get in our good graces? Don’t snicker. Demonstrate your fitness to be a Most Valuable Reader by sending news tips to us at: TheDeadDrop@theCipherBrief.com.
