Government Contracts Monitor

“I got it fixed. I’m so sneaky” May Not Be the Best Text for an FBI Agent to Send Regarding a Criminal Investigation of his Friend

November 19, 2012

In a recent federal criminal case pending in the United States District Court for the District of Utah, United States v. Robert Lustyik, Michael Taylor, and Johannes Thaler, No. 12-CR-00645 (D. Utah filed Oct. 18, 2012), a former FBI Agent and a former Green Beret in the U.S. Special Forces were indicted on multiple charges related to a criminal investigation concerning a military contract in Afghanistan. The charges include conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and obstruction of an agency proceeding.

Taylor owned American International Security Corp. (“AISC”), and received government contracts nvolving work maintaining vehicles and training Afghani commandos from 2007 through 2010. AISC received over $54 million in payments on the contract. Taylor spent 11 years in the U.S. Army, and for part of that time was a Green Beret in the Special Forces. Lustyik was a Special Agent with the FBI until he was eligible to retire in June 2012. Thaler was a childhood friend of Lustyik.

In approximately mid-2010, the DoD’s Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the IRS, and the Department of Homeland Security began conducting an investigation of Taylor, his company, and others regarding allegations of fraud related to the Afghanistan contract. The Department of Justice instituted a civil suit against Taylor, AISC, and others regarding the contract, and seized $5,000,000 from AISC’s bank account. Taylor, AISC, and others were also indicted in the District of Utah on allegations of procurement fraud, bribery, wire fraud, and money laundering regarding the contract.

After the civil suit and prior to the criminal indictment, the defendants allegedly sought to use Lustyik’s status as an FBI agent to thwart the criminal investigation. Lustyik allegedly took a “series of official actions intended to frustrate, delay, or altogether quash the Utah investigation of Taylor,” including attempting to interview fact witnesses, interviewing Taylor’s associates as potential character witnesses, and contacting agents and prosecutors in Utah in an effort to dissuade them from charging Taylor or to convince them to enlist Taylor’s assistance as a cooperating witness. Taylor allegedly paid Lustyik $200,000 in cash, paid the medical bills for Lustyik’s minor child, and gave Lustyik shares of the proceeds of potentially lucrative security and power generation contracts in South Sudan, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates.

According to the Indictment, the defendants allegedly sent numerous text messages, and used a “dead drop” email box, where participants can sign in and post without having to send the drafts through the individual email accounts, thereby potentially avoiding a record of the drafts. The defendants also allegedly used code names for each other, with “Captain America” or “Capt.” for Taylor and “the big guy” for Lustyik. The communications among the three defendants included:

“[Lustyik] has been busting his ass trying to clear up your [Taylor’s] predicament;”
“[Taylor] knows we r keeping him outta jail;”
“I [Lustyik] really sent a scare into those ausas [Assistant United States Attorneys] today;”
From Lustyik: “[j]ust did another interview. MT [Taylor] has no chance of indictment now. I own Utah,” and
From Lustyik: “I got it fixed. I’m so sneaky.”

Additionally, a communication from Taylor to Lustyik stated that: “I can’t begin to tell you how much I appreciate you! But I sure can show you when it’s done and over with. Thank you!” Finally, after Taylor’s electronic devices were seized during a border search when he was returning to the United States in September 2012, Lustyik stated “Great. Now I go to jail too . . . I told him not to travel w electronics.” Lustyik was arrested shortly thereafter.

As the case is pre-trial, the Defendants are presumed innocent and we cannot prejudge what will occur, but the electronic communications provide some powerful evidence for the Government. According to the Court docket, a status conference is scheduled for December 4, 2012, with a trial date in 2013. Stay tuned for any further developments in the case.

Brian Stolarz is the attorney responsible for the content of this article.