60 FBI Colleagues Show Up to Lend Support : Agent Denies Guilt in Presser Case

Robert S. Friedrick, an award-winning FBI agent, marched through an unusual “honor guard” formed by his colleagues Thursday on the steps of the federal courthouse.

Passing between two lines of applauding agents from Cleveland and shaking hands along the way, the 42-year-old Friedrick entered the courthouse to plead not guilty to a five-count indictment that charges him with making false statements in an effort to prevent the indictment of Teamsters President Jackie Presser last year.

Friedrick, as supervisor of the FBI’s organized crime squad in Cleveland for the last six years and a 13-year veteran of the agency, is the third agent to have dealt with Presser as a longtime government informant. According to court papers, he prevented Presser’s indictment on union embezzlement charges by falsely certifying that Presser had FBI permission to put on his local’s payroll “ghost employees” who did no work for the Teamsters.

Indicted on Same Day

Presser and two associates ultimately were indicted on embezzlement and racketeering charges two weeks ago in Cleveland after Friedrick was indicted separately by a grand jury in Washington.

Friedrick, well-liked by his colleagues, thanked the more than 60 agents for their unusual show of support as he passed among them. All had paid their own way for a chartered bus trip to Washington and had taken one day of personal leave.

Daniel Gordon, spokesman for the group, said that, “as agents of the FBI, we are aware that we must not only adhere to established rules and guidelines but also live and act in such a manner as to instill in the general public a sense of pride and trust in the FBI.”

Gordon said that the three letters used as an acronym for his agency also stand for “fidelity, bravery and integrity” and that Friedrick “has been the epitome of these standards.”

Faces Dismissal

Neither Gordon nor Friedrick would discuss specifics of the indictment, and officials at FBI headquarters stressed that Thursday’s demonstration was a personal gesture without official sanction. Friedrick has been placed on paid, 30-day administrative leave and faces dismissal next month.

Richard M. Rogers, deputy counsel of the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, which conducted the inquiry leading to the recent indictments, told reporters that it was possible the grand jury will indict more FBI agents. He apparently was referring to Friedrick’s two predecessors, Martin P. McCann Jr., now retired, and Patrick Foran, now assistant special agent in charge of the Las Vegas office.

McCann and Foran also signed sworn statements last year certifying that Presser had obtained FBI authorization to put mob-related “ghost employees” on his payroll, at an alleged loss of $700,000 to dues-paying union members.

U.S. District Judge George H. Revercomb accepted Friedrick’s plea of innocence and released him on his personal recognizance without bond. No trial date has been set.

Flight Discounted

William D. Beyer, Friedrick’s attorney, told the court that there is no danger his client will flee because he is “a family man and the father of five children.”

Gordon said that current and former agents soon will begin raising funds for Friedrick’s defense. Friedrick, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate who was wounded in Vietnam while leading a Marine Corps infantry platoon, had received five personal letters of commendation from FBI officials for his work in solving organized crime cases in recent years, Gordon said.

He added that FBI friends of Friedrick have written many letters on his behalf to Deputy Atty. Gen. D. Lowell Jensen, who has overall supervision of the Presser case.