JFK secretly freed rapists, drug dealers and Mafia hitmen to
kill Castro and curb threat of Communism, claims explosive new book
Revelations made by journalist Bill Deane in new book
'Smooth Criminal'
It tells story of alleged CIA
spy and 'one-man crime wave' Dave Riley
Claims criminals allowed on 'crime sprees' in US when not
working for CIA
Deane: 'Riley was typical recruit: Intelligent, ambitious
and without morals'
While JFK did not order the programme, Deane says he was
'aware' of it
By MATT
BLAKE
PUBLISHED: 07:25 EST ,
15 February 2013 | UPDATED: 09:04 EST , 15 February 2013
President John F. Kennedy secretly endorsed the release of hardened criminals to assassinate Cuban leader Fidel Castro to curb the Communist threat, a new book has claimed.
At the height of tensions between America
and neighbouring Communist Cuba in the early 1960s, JFK was implicit in the
freeing of rapists, drug dealers, and Mafia hitmen through CIA
in a bid to recruit 'untraceable' spies willing to risk their lives on
dangerous missions rather than go back to jail, a new book sensationally
claims.
Desperate to remove Castro from power, the president
resorted to using dangerous criminals as operatives - rather than CIA
agents - to 'do America 's
dirty work' as they couldn't be linked back to his administration, it is claimed.
In one failed plot, an ex con was smuggled into Cuba
in 1962 to pose as a waiter in Castro's favourite restaurant where he would
drop poison tablets into the revolutionary leader's soup.
The explosive claims come in a new book by veteran American
Journalist and author William Deane, who claims specially-recruited criminals
became 'untouchable' and were allowed to embark on 'crime sprees' in the US
without fear of prosecution.
Deane, former assignment editor at American news networks
ABC and CBS, says he uncovered the programme - which he believes is still in
operation today - after following the 'trail of destruction' left by one such
operative.
Though JFK did not order the setting up of the top secret
programme, Deane says that as president Kennedy would have 'been aware' of it.
'For over 50 years, the CIA
and American government has been systematically releasing dangerous criminals
back into society to work for them on secret missions overseas,'
said Deane, whose new book Smooth Criminal details the life of alleged CIA
operative and 'one-man American crime wave' Dave Riley.
'The programme started during the Kennedy administration at
the start of the 1960s as a clandestine means of dealing with the Communist
threat of Castro, and was given the seal of approval by JFK - who was still
smarting following the political embarrassment of the failed Bay of Pigs
Invasion of Cuba in 1961.
'Criminals were ideal operatives as they were ruthless and
willing to risk their lives during missions rather than be sent back to prison.
They also couldn't be officially connected with the CIA
so it didn't matter if they were captured - there was no risk of America 's
shady policies being exposed.
'Riley was a typical recruit. Highly intelligent, ambitious
and with no morals. The CIA sent him on many
missions abroad, including to Cuba
to assassinate Castro,' added Deane.
'Between missions he was allowed to do what he liked - which
generally consisted of embezzlement, fraud, gunrunning and drug dealing -
without fear of being arrested or prosecuted.'
Warning: Deane claims the CIA
continues to recruit hardened criminals to 'do America 's
dirty work' with impunity
Deane claims to have first encountered Riley back in 1961
while working as a DJ at a radio station in Miami ,
Florida .
Riley, then in his early 20s and with ambitions of being the
'next Frank Sinatra', had connections with the Mafia and used his connections
to 'persuade' the radio station to play his records.
Though they lost touch, Deane next heard of Riley in April
1962 when working as a cub reporter for a Miami TV station - after hearing he
had hijacked a plane to Cuba .
According to news reports, on Friday, April 13, 1962 , Riley and an accomplice had forced
pilot Reginald Doan at gunpoint to fly them to the communist island, where they
planned to defect, only for the Cuban authorities to imprison them before
sending them back to Miami .
Deane says he was contacted by Riley prior to the Black
Friday Skyjacking trial and during that meeting revealed that he was working
for the CIA and had been sent to infiltrate Cuba
as a spy.
'The skyjacking was just a smokescreen conjured up by the CIA
after the mission went wrong.
'Riley confessed that he'd been recruited by the
intelligence agency while in prison for extortion of a public official back in
1960, and had been sent to Cuba to carry out a number of assignments -
including one to assassinate Castro.
'He had posed as a waiter at one of Castro's favourite
restaurants and been supplied with Botulinum tablets - an untraceable poison -
by the CIA to drop into his soup, but Castro
must have got wind of the plan as he suddenly stopped eating there.'
Deane admits that at first he thought that Riley was a
'fantasist' and, after the criminal was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the
skyjacking by the U.S. Supreme Court in November 1964, largely forgot about
him.
It was only after his retirement from CBS in 2005, when he
started writing Smooth Criminal, that Deane discovered that Riley might have
been telling the truth about the criminal operatives programme all along.
Deane traced Riley's whereabouts from the time of the
skyjacking trial onwards and found that far from serving his time in jail, he
had apparently been back on the streets committing crimes within a matter of
months.
The journalist uncovered over 40 newspaper reports of
Riley's various crimes in archives and gained further corroboration of his
seeming invulnerability to prosecution after tracking down several of his
victims.
He added: 'Riley was a one-man crime wave who was allowed by
the CIA , and indirectly the president, to
consistently get away with his crimes in return for his occasional assistance.
'In the late 1960s and early '70s he went on undercover
missions to Vietnam, Cambodia and other troubled South Asian countries, and
back at home got away with embezzlement, fraud, gunrunning, drug dealing and
sexual assault among other crimes.
'He has left a string of victims across the USA
over the last 40 years, but the police and FBI have been powerless to act
because he is protected by the CIA . The
agency maintains a policy of complete secrecy and doesn't want to risk
compromising operations by having one of their operatives involved in a public
trial.
'One unfortunate woman who came across Riley was swindled
out of $20,000 - her life savings - and the deeds to several properties, but
the police and Feds weren't allowed to warn her, and weren't allowed to stop
him.'
Deane says that he has evidence of Riley living in New
York in 2005, but after that the scene goes cold.
He claims requests for information from the FBI, CIA ,
Treasury and other government agencies were ignored and suspects Riley, now in
his 70s, is either dead or has been placed into a Federal Witness Protection
scheme to put him out of reach.
Deane says he doesn't disapprove of America 's
criminal operatives programme per se, but has written Smooth Criminal to warn
the American public about the programme in case they become victims of
'untouchables' such as Riley.
He added: 'America
has lots of enemies and security has to be maintained if we are to prevent
another 9/11 so I am not against a programme that helps protect the nation.
'What I do object to is the CIA 's
insistence on complete secrecy. The rationale that a few Americans have to suffer
for the sake of 315 million is not acceptable.
'It's sad and pathetic that totally innocent Americans have
lost virtually everything, including their homes and businesses, while the Feds
stood by and did nothing but protect their released criminals.
'The CIA should be
capable of controlling freed criminals without exposing their clandestine
operations, and if they can't, should discretely warn potential victims to keep
away from these people.'
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