---
category: Organized Crime
summary: Thompson was originally hired by Patrick Moriarty at $10,000 per month to
  bodyguard Michael Riconosciuto.
tags:
- Person
- OrganizedCrime
---

[Philip Arthur Thompson](/people/philip-arthur-thompson/), also known as PAT or Jason Smith, was an individual involved in government drug-sting operations and had connections to [Michael Riconosciuto](/people/michael-riconosciuto/) and [Patrick Moriarty](/people/patrick-moriarty/). He worked as an undercover informant for [FBI](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) agent [Robert Barnes](/people/robert-barnes/) at the San Francisco Bureau.[^1]

Thompson was originally hired by [Patrick Moriarty](/people/patrick-moriarty/) at $10,000 per month to bodyguard [Michael Riconosciuto](/people/michael-riconosciuto/). Moriarty was unaware that Thompson was an undercover informant for [Robert Barnes](/people/robert-barnes/). Thompson was arrested on June 16, 1983, for an unrelated murder and is incarcerated for life in a [California](/places/california/) prison.[^1]

### Involvement in Drug Operations and Murders

Thompson was involved in a methamphetamine operation. [Michael Riconosciuto](/people/michael-riconosciuto/)'s statement from February 16, 1984, detailed how John P. Nichols directed Riconosciuto to have PAT recover [Ben Kalka](/people/ben-kalka/)'s assets, which included amphetamine production chemicals and acid. Thompson, along with Steve Finley, drove vehicles containing these chemicals from the Oakland area.[^1]

Thompson was suspected of involvement in the murder of [Paul Morasca](/people/paul-morasca/). Detective [Eddy Erdelatz](/people/eddy-erdelatz/) investigated Morasca's homicide and placed a comprehensive report within the "Paul Morasca Homicide Investigation File" relative to Thompson's suspected connections to the murder. [Robert Booth Nichols](/people/robert-booth-nichols/) and [Peter Zokosky](/people/peter-zokosky/) claimed that Thompson was not creative in his killing style, preferring to use a gun for quick kills, implying he was not responsible for Morasca's torture. However, they also stated that [Michael Riconosciuto](/people/michael-riconosciuto/) was responsible for Morasca's torture and death, and that Thompson worked for the [FBI](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/) under the code name "Jason."[^1]

Thompson talked to Detective [Sue Todd](/people/sue-todd/) in prison about "kick-backs" to powerful people being handled by [Michael Riconosciuto](/people/michael-riconosciuto/) on his computer. He also told Todd that he had withheld one of [Michael Riconosciuto](/people/michael-riconosciuto/)'s computer coded cards for himself, which were allegedly connected to the deaths of [Paul Morasca](/people/paul-morasca/) and [Mary Quick](/people/mary-quick/).[^1]

---

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