FBI Agent Says Silberman Told of Payment to Probe Figure

Moments after his arrest on April 7 in an alleged money-laundering scheme, Richard T. Silberman told federal agents that he gave a reputed mobster $6,500 in cash as compensation for introducing him to a man Silberman believed was connected to Colombian drug dealers, according to testimony Monday in federal court.

The testimony by an FBI agent, which came during a probation revocation hearing for the alleged mobster, Chris Petti, suggests that Silberman, a powerful San Diego businessman and political fund-raiser, acknowledged key details about his reported involvement and that of Petti and two others in the money-laundering case.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Charles F. Gorder Jr., interviewed after the court hearing, was asked if the testimony indicated that Silberman “confessed” to any of the charges against him and the others after he was arrested.

“That’s an inference a reasonable person would make,” Gorder said.

No Comment From Lawyer

Oscar Goodman, a Las Vegas attorney who is representing Petti and is known for his outspoken criticism of federal prosecutors, was unusually close-mouthed after the Monday court session. He refused to comment on whether Silberman may have confessed to some of the allegations in the indictment against him and the other three defendants.

“I’m not going to say anything about it,” Goodman said, leaving the courtroom and heading straight for the elevators. “And this is big-mouth Goodman saying that.”

In other court action Monday, James J. Brosnahan, a prominent San Francisco attorney, was presented as Silberman’s attorney in the money-laundering case.

Brosnahan, 55, a former assistant U.S. attorney in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, joined several others in 1986 in testifying against the confirmation of Justice William H. Rehnquist as chief justice of the United States.

Silberman and Petti are charged with conspiring to launder $300,000 they allegedly believed came from Colombian drug traffickers. The money actually came from an undercover FBI agent posing as a middleman.

Also charged in the complex case are Darryl Nakatsuka of Los Angeles, described as a “bag man” in the money-laundering operation, and Jack N. Myers of Malibu, who has been associated with Silberman since the days when both raised campaign funds for former California Gov. Edmund G. Brown Jr.

All four defendants have pleaded not guilty in the case and all but Petti are free on bail.

The hearing on Monday centered on whether Petti, who remains in the Metropolitan Correctional Center, has violated terms of his probation on an earlier bookmaking conviction by not reporting to authorities that he received the $6,500 from Silberman during the alleged money-laundering scheme.

But Goodman said that any money Petti may have received from Silberman was later given to Robert Benjamin, a longtime associate of Petti’s who turned government informant to help the FBI in its 2 1/2-year investigation of Petti. That investigation later ensnared Silberman and the other defendants.

The judge in the probation revocation hearing continued the matter until Friday, when Benjamin is scheduled to testify about the alleged transfer of money from Silberman to Petti.

Charles B. Walker, the FBI agent who supervised the Petti-Silberman case, described from the witness stand how agents arrested Silberman at the Hyatt Islandia hotel while he was allegedly negotiating to launder $1.1 million that an undercover agent had told him were illegal drug proceeds.

Walker said Silberman was taken inside Room 719 of the hotel, was told why he was being arrested, and advised of his Miranda rights. He said Silberman at that time “made a statement.”

“Mr. Silberman told me that he paid Chris Petti approximately $6,500 for having introduced him to the special (undercover) agent whom he knew as Peter Carmassi,” Walker testified.

“He told me the $6,500 was given to Chris Petti during a meeting at the Denny’s restaurant. And he told me he did not give money to Mr. Benjamin because he told me Mr. Benjamin would be paid by Mr. Carmassi.”

On April 3, federal agents had observed a meeting at the downtown Denny’s restaurant between Petti and Silberman.

“Mr. Petti and Mr. Silberman were observed at the counter at the Denny’s that day,” Walker testified in describing the FBI surveillance of that meeting.

“Mr. Silberman was observed giving a package to Mr. Petti, who put it in his pocket. It was a small envelope.”

The government contends that the package contained part of the money paid by Silberman to Petti as a fee for Petti’s introducing him to the undercover agent.

The government alleges that Silberman assumed all along that the undercover agent was a middleman trying to hide money for Colombia drug dealers.