L.I.J. O'Neill person
also: O'Neill, U.S. Attorney
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Related entities (most co-mentioned)
Daniel Blantonperson · 14Alan Finsterperson · 13CIAintelligence service · 12U.S. Department of Justiceorganization · 8Contrasorganization · 5Ricky Ross Trialevent · 4United Statescountry · 4Marilyn Huffperson · 4Floyd "Freeway" Rick Rossperson · 3Jesse Katzperson · 3Los Angelesplace · 3Menendez Familyfamily · 2Mexicocountry · 2Los Angeles Timesorganization · 2Maria Fordperson · 2Nicaraguacountry · 2Juanita Brooksperson · 2San Diegocountry · 1FBIintelligence service · 1Washington, D.C.place · 1Miamiplace · 1Hondurascountry · 1Riverside County Sheriff's Departmentorganization · 1Anastasio Somozaperson · 1
Claims (1)
L.I.J. O'Neill covered_up
Daniel Blanton book_quoted
“told the judge that she was very disturbed O'Neill had hidden from the defense the fact that Blanton was a member of an organization responsible for numerous murders in Mexico. O'Neill denied it. While he admitted that Blanton had gotten in…”
▶ The Colonels Corner Dark Alliance Part 23 @ 42:38
Mentions (39)
▶ 46:18
in jail without bail because they posed a threat to health and the moral fiber of communities. The file contained a transcript of a detention hearing held to determine if the couple should be released on bail. Blanton's prosecutor, Assistan…
▶ 47:16
He had a business in Mexico, relatives in Spain, phony addresses all over the U.S., and unlimited access to money. He's a large-scale cocaine trafficker and has been for a long time, O'Neill argued. Given the amount of cocaine he'd sold, O'…
▶ 48:58
Five months after his arrest, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and charges against his wife were dropped. After that, his fugitive co-defendants were quickly arrested and pleaded guilty. But they all received extremely short sentences. One e…
▶ 49:57
Tellez, T-E-L-L-E-Z. He'd done 28 months for a 10-year cocaine trafficking conviction. The last page of the file told me why. In a motion filed by the U.S. Attorney O'Neill, asking the court to unseal Blanton's plea deal and a couple of int…
▶ 50:25
cooperated with and rendered substantial assistance to the United States, unquote. At the government's request, his jail sentence had been secretly cut twice. O'Neill then persuaded the judge to let Blanton out of jail completely, telling t…
▶ 50:56
All of this information had once been secret, I noticed, but since Blanton was going to testify in a case in Northern California, the Cornejo case, O'Neill had to have the plea agreement and all records relating it with the reduced reductio…
▶ 51:55
I struck out every call. One of the lawyers was out of town. The rest of them remembered next to nothing. It was all over so quickly I barely had time to open a file, one said. The consensus was that once Blandon flipped, his compatriots sc…
▶ 37:30
Daniela Blanton was the biggest dealer in L.A. for about two years, the Torres brothers said. The U.S. officials were even more generous in their appraisal. Mr. Blanton is considered to be the largest Nicaraguan cocaine dealer in the United…
▶ 37:58
O'Neill had been monitoring the activities of Blanton and his associates since the 1980s. The other guy by the name of Jones, Charles Jones, he was a DEA case agent, said they had been watching Blanton since the 90s. Becoming the biggest de…
▶ 33:53
I.J. O'Neill, who investigated Lister and Blanton for several years, said the sheriff's probe was compromised by an FBI agent who did a clumsy investigation and contacted someone who knew Blanton, and they told Blanton about it. In an inter…
▶ 58:02
That was later admitted by U.S. Attorney L.I.J. O'Neill, who handled the case. Blanton had sent three of his assistants out to snap up 339 money orders, O'Neill said, because he overloaded the delivery system with cocaine supplies and cash …
▶ 58:32
Blanton had been instructed to hold off on carrying any more cash to them. While a cursory check of the customs database would have revealed that Blanton was a known cocaine trafficker and Guerrero had no criminal record, it was Guerrero wh…
▶ 38:31
You should read this thing. It's amazing. The motion written by Assistant Attorney, U.S. Attorney I.J. O'Neill, again, was as bizarre as Finster claimed. This is what it said. The U.S. believes that at least one defendant will attempt to as…
▶ 38:57
in this case, sold cocaine to raise money for the Nicaraguan Contras, and that he did so in conjunction with or for the CIA, unquote. O'Neill said the government was sure the information was false, but the motion made it clear that he wasn'…
▶ 39:24
The only purpose for asking questions in this regard would be to attempt to bully the U.S. into foregoing prosecution. If the CIA was involved in drug sales, it would be classified? That was a good one. The whole legal basis for O'Neill's m…
▶ 40:45
There was the ballgame. All the connections between Blanton, the Contras, and the CIA and Ricky Ross were going to come out in public. And the LA Times was going to beat me to my own story. Nine months worth of work down the crapper. I want…
▶ 41:16
carrying a box load of records, followed by a DEA agent, Jones and Gustafson. O'Neill looked at me and looked at Jesse Katz, and then he blanched. When federal judge Marilyn Huff called the courtroom to order, O'Neill immediately asked to a…
▶ 41:46
I have reviewed the government's request that the court seal certain portions, Huff announced. You may be heard at sidebar, Mr. O'Neill, and defense counsel. The lawyers again walked up to the bench and began animated, whispered conversatio…
▶ 42:15
O'Neill looked at us and turned back to the huddle. He warned the defense attorney, Juanita Brooks, to lower her voice. The reporters that Mr. Finster had brought to court today are listening very carefully, he said. As with most federal co…
▶ 42:38
told the judge that she was very disturbed O'Neill had hidden from the defense the fact that Blanton was a member of an organization responsible for numerous murders in Mexico. O'Neill denied it. While he admitted that Blanton had gotten in…
▶ 43:08
That's something I'm not even sure I can say yes or no to because that comes within the realm of, look, I have no reason to believe he had any contact with the CIA and I would defy counsel to come up with any kind of credible information th…
▶ 43:40
10 minutes into a 20-minute conversation, and it dawned on us the entire motion was going to be heard in whispers at the judge's bench. I had never heard, seen anything like this, and I had covered many trials. They can't do this, he insist…
▶ 45:08
And this is like literally the trial of the century. Once again, Finster demanded that the government turn over its records about Blanton, arguing that it prejudiced Ross's chance to cross-examine his chief accuser. O'Neill calmly assured F…
▶ 45:38
I don't think my client's life should be up to the government to determine what he's allowed to see and to know about Blanton's credibility, Fenster told the judge. The system we've set up has the government review all information in the fi…
▶ 46:05
So we're supposed to trust the government to tell us if the CIA was involved, Finster said. They said that there was nothing that exists. I don't know if they really know that. I mean, I don't know if they checked with the CIA to determine …
▶ 46:37
Even though he had personally assured the court several times that the government had no grounds to believe Blanton had CIA ties, he had never asked the CIA. He kept saying there was no need. One hopes that whatever the CIA does is in the b…
▶ 47:38
wasn't relevant. Huff denied Fenster's motions. There was one other matter the U.S. wanted to take up if the court would be so kind, O'Neill said. Reaching into his briefcase, O'Neill yanked out a copy of the Morning LA Times and waved it o…
▶ 48:05
Huff appeared shocked and looked angrily at the defense table. O'Neill noted that Katz's story contained a phrase from a Justice Department memo that explained Daniello Blanton's deal with the government. I submit to the court that our reas…
▶ 48:32
It's not a filed document. It's not a public recorded document. But somehow, somewhere, it was given to the journalist. Huff gave the defense lawyers a hard stare. I'm not saying that there's any criminal wrongdoing here, O'Neill said. I'm …
▶ 48:59
I am also concerned with the safety of the witness and the witness family. There is a real safety issue here. We have heard through reliable sources that there are death threats. O'Neill stroked his beard and looked reproachful at the defen…
▶ 49:24
that Mr. Ross personally is attempting to manipulate the media and may be attempting to affect the outcome of the trial through the media. As I say, I think this happened by Mr. Ross personally, and I'm not sure that he is under any obligat…
▶ 49:53
of the four copies. The defense attorneys shaking their heads, chuckling. One of them was federal public defender Maria Ford. She got to her feet. Mrs. Ford, I find it personally offensive that Mr. O'Neill would take the position that someo…
▶ 50:20
he would have been able to remember that this document became a part of a public record when it was filed as Exhibit A of Mr. Fenster's motion to dismiss because of egregious Bradley violations. It's a document of public record. Oh, the jud…
▶ 51:42
He shrugged and said, sorry, what can I do? O'Neill called Blanton up to the stand and led him carefully through his testimony. He touched on the Contras, admitting that Menendez had recruited him to sell cocaine for them. He said he'd stop…
▶ 55:23
There were certain families in Nicaragua that were part of the ruling cartel in Nicaragua. Is that correct? He asked him. O'Neill turned and glared at me and then jumped to his feet. Excuse me. I have an objection. What is the relevance? It…
▶ 56:23
Oh, he looked at O'Neill and O'Neill was staring at him from other people because the order prohibiting CIA testimony, Finster was unable to pursue the line of inquiry. He quizzed Blanton about his meeting in Honduras with CIA agent Enrique…
▶ 56:51
And several times the prosecutor leaped up to object to Fenster's questions. Most of the time he was overruled. Blanton was like a deer caught in headlights. Every so often the DEA agent Jones would turn and give me an evil eye. He knew whe…
▶ 21:58
At the end of the first week, I returned to San Diego for Ricky Ross's sentencing. That was where I had my first inkling of the firestorm I'd touched off. Radio stations were blanketing the newspaper with interview requests. Before heading …
▶ 22:59
and his connections to the CIA. O'Neill protested angrily, accusing Ross of dreaming up the whole CIA plot and feeding it to gullible journalists who were spreading ridiculous conspiracy theories. But Judge Hoff looked troubled and told O'N…