‘I’ve Been Here Before,’ Silberman Boasted to FBI Agent : Ex-Jerry Brown Fund-Raiser Sought

Jack Norman Myers, who is being sought by the FBI in connection with the federal drug investigation that has already led to the arrest of millionaire San Diego businessman Richard T. Silberman, has been associated with Silberman since both men raised political funds for former Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr., several sources said Monday.

Myers, 43, of Malibu, the former son-in-law of MCA Chairman Lew Wasserman, helped Silberman raise money for Brown as early as 1978, sources said. Myers has been divorced from Wasserman’s daughter, Lynn, for about 10 years, two sources said.

Myers apparently was never employed by the Brown Administration or the former governor’s campaign committees. But sources said he was a strong supporter who helped solicit individuals and companies to buy blocks of tickets to Brown’s fund-raising dinners in the 1970s.

The sources also said that Myers also arranged meetings for the governor with top Los Angeles-area business executives.

At the time, Silberman was Brown’s chief money-raiser. Brown named Silberman to head the state Business and Transportation Agency in 1977, then later named him finance director and, temporarily, chief-of-staff for the governor’s office.

Stayed at Myers’ Home

Top Brown campaign officials, including Gray Davis, who is now state controller, often stayed overnight at the Myers’ Beverly Hills residence while visiting Los Angeles on campaign trips, said two sources close to the Brown Administration who asked not to be identified.

Davis declined to comment on the Silberman matter. Brown, who is now chairman of the California Democratic Party, did not respond to telephone messages left at the party’s San Francisco offices.

According to court documents unsealed Monday, Myers served as an intermediary as Silberman dealt with federal agents he was told were Colombian drug traffickers. The documents said that Silberman spoke almost daily by telephone with Myers, who was at his company offices in West Los Angeles.

On Dec. 9, in a tape-recorded conversation, Silberman described Myers as “a guy that does work for me here and runs back and forth across the border.”

Twice Myers allegedly delivered securities to an undercover federal agent at San Diego hotels and picked up cash for Silberman. The first exchange involved $100,000, the documents said. The second transaction involved $200,000.

At one point, Myers told Silberman he was short on cash and needed money, according to partial transcripts of wiretapped conversations. Silberman then suggested that Yuba American Gold, a subsidiary of Yuba Natural Resources, of which he was chairman, pay Myers $10,000 for work he never performed, the documents allege.

Silberman dictated a letter for Myers to send to the company. Myers sent the letter and, within a week, he spoke to a secretary at Yuba American Gold, who told him that she had sent him the check the day before via Federal Express, according to the court papers.