---
category: Law Enforcement & Legal
summary: DeFeo reportedly threatened Richard Stavin about talking about the circumstances
  of the case, or 'throwing dirt,' when Stavin quit the Organized Crime Strike Force
  in May 1989.
tags:
- Person
- FBI
- LawEnforcement
---

[Michael DeFeo](/people/michael-defeo/) was the deputy to [David Margolis](/people/david-margolis/), chief of the Organized Crime Strike Force at the [DOJ](/organizations/department-of-justice/). He, along with Margolis, reportedly called [Marvin Rudnick](/people/marvin-rudnick/), a Los Angeles prosecutor, to Washington D.C. and instructed him to eliminate [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/) from his investigation into [Sal Pisello](/people/sal-pisello/).[^1]

[William Hundley](/people/william-hundley/), retained by [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/), confirmed meeting with Margolis and DeFeo to convey [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/)'s willingness to cooperate in any organized crime investigation. [Marvin Rudnick](/people/marvin-rudnick/) accused DeFeo of having an agenda to obstruct justice in the [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/) investigation. [Richard Stavin](/people/richard-stavin/) confirmed that the [FBI](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) wiretap revealed a conversation in which [Eugene Giaquinto](/people/eugene-giaquinto/) told [Martin Bacow](/people/martin-bacow/) that he would call [Edwin Meese](/people/edwin-meese/) and have the [FBI](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/)'s investigation of [MCA](/organizations/music-corporation-of-america/) stopped. This investigation was indeed shut down afterward by the [DOJ](/organizations/department-of-justice/).[^1]

DeFeo reportedly threatened [Richard Stavin](/people/richard-stavin/) about talking about the circumstances of the case, or "throwing dirt," when Stavin quit the Organized Crime Strike Force in May 1989.[^1]

---

[^1]: Seymour, Cheri. *The Last Circle: Danny Casolaro’s Investigation into the Octopus and the PROMIS Software Scandal*. First Edition. TrineDay, 2010.