Customs to Fire Analyst Accused of Leak
A U.S. Customs intelligence analyst has been told by his superiors that he will be fired for leaking a copy of a confidential report to a San Diego newspaper reporter, the analyst’s attorney said Monday.
Dale June, a veteran federal law enforcement official, was informed Friday of Customs’ intentions to fire him in December, according to attorney Gene Iredale.
The allegations against June were included in five-page memorandum from Charles C. Mantle, Customs regional director for internal affairs, sources said.
June has been on paid leave for more than three months while federal agents have investigated the leak of the documents. June, who declined to comment on Customs’ plans to fire him, prepared the intelligence report on a San Diego builder last year.
The investigation, directed by the U.S. attorney’s office, apparently reflects a growing concern about the protection of confidential Customs files. Earlier this month, a former Customs employee and a Rhode Island man were successfully prosecuted under a federal law that prohibits the unauthorized distribution of such information.
Customs officials were particularly concerned about the report written by Customs analyst June because FBI agents determined that the report was subsequently purchased for $5,500 by Christopher Boomis, the subject of the file, from a private investigator, law enforcement sources told The Times.
June, who worked as a Customs intelligence analyst for more than two years, compiled the intelligence report in 1989 on Boomis, a San Diego contractor who has built several hotels in the area. In addition to newspaper clippings and lawsuits, the document included unconfirmed allegations against Boomis from federal informants and a flow chart that described Boomis’ financial partners and enterprises.
Boomis has not been accused of any wrongdoing by federal investigators, and several sources said Boomis has not even been the subject of a formal investigation by Customs.
According to a Customs source familiar with the investigation of June, the Customs analyst admitted to investigators that he made part of the report available to San Diego Tribune reporter Mark Monday in the spring of 1989. Mantle recommended that June be fired for releasing the report to Monday without permission.
June also was accused of disobeying orders not to discuss an investigation of the sale of the intelligence report to Boomis. Customs sources said June was accused of discussing the investigation with Monday at an unspecified time.
Finally, Mantle accused June of lying to internal affairs investigators in initially denying that he gave a copy of the intelligence report to Monday.
June, who also worked as a Secret Service agent for 11 years, including five years at the White House, has been on paid leave since Aug. 10.
Sources said federal investigators still haven’t determined how private investigator Dennis Sesma obtained a copy of the intelligence file sold to Boomis. These sources said FBI agents notified Customs officials in May that they had a copy of the report that was sold to Boomis, allegedly by Sesma.
Other Customs sources familiar with the investigation said June denied knowing Sesma and passed a polygraph test on that question. These sources said June also denied profiting from the sale of the documents.
“Sesma never obtained any documents from June,” attorney Iredale said Monday. Iredale was retained by June when federal prosecutors threatened to charge him with criminal wrongdoing. “The initial allegation was that he was suspected of selling documents to Boomis,” Iredale said. Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Iredale said that Assistant U.S. Atty. Philip Halpern, who has been directing the investigation of the leaked documents, has assured him that June will not be prosecuted. He added that he does not believe the U.S. attorney will prosecute anybody in the case.
Officials at the U.S. attorney’s office were unavailable for comment Monday.
The Tribune reporter Monday was on vacation and unavailable for comment. Tribune Managing Editor George Dissinger declined to comment, saying he was unfamiliar with the situation.
When asked on Monday if he paid Sesma $5,500 for the report, Boomis said, “I’m not sure that’s correct. I can’t answer that.”
Pressed further, Boomis said:
“I couldn’t answer that question. I do a lot of different things. I buy businesses, and I sell businesses.”
Later, he said that he had “never purchased a Customs report from any individual.”
Customs spokesman John Miller declined to comment, saying that it is a “pending personnel matter.”
