---
category: Intelligence & Government
created: 2026-09-21
location: Langley, Virginia
summary: Colonel who directed the CIA's Office of Security when Richard Bissell asked
  in 1960 for 'gangster-type action' against Castro, and who through Robert Maheu
  enlisted Johnny Roselli and briefed Robert Kennedy in 1962.
tags:
- Person
- SheffieldEdwards
- CIA
- CIAOfficeOfSecurity
- AssassinationPlots
- RobertMaheu
- JohnnyRoselli
updated: 2026-09-21
---

Colonel Sheffield Edwards was director of the [Office of Security](/organizations/cia-office-of-security/) of the [Central Intelligence Agency](/organizations/central-intelligence-agency/) in the years of the plots against [Fidel Castro](/people/fidel-castro/).[^1]

### 1960

In August 1960 [Richard Bissell](/people/richard-bissell/), the deputy director for plans, asked Edwards "if he had assets that may assist in a sensitive mission requiring gangster-type action." Edwards took the question to the director, who approved. He chose [Robert Maheu](/people/robert-maheu/), "a cleared source of the Office of Security," as the intermediary, and Maheu produced [Johnny Roselli](/people/johnny-roselli/). Edwards assigned [James O'Connell](/people/james-oconnell/) as case officer. "Sam Gold" and "Joe," whom Roselli brought in, were [Sam Giancana](/people/sam-giancana/) and [Santos Trafficante](/people/santos-trafficante-jr/). He informed the [FBI](/organizations/federal-bureau-of-investigation/)'s liaison, [Sam Papich](/people/sam-papich/), of the agency's contacts with the two.[^1][^2]

### 1962

When Maheu's wiretappers were arrested in Las Vegas in a job done for Giancana, Edwards asked that prosecution be dropped, and it was. On May 7, 1962, he and the general counsel, [Lawrence Houston](/people/lawrence-houston/), briefed Attorney General Robert Kennedy. On May 14 Edwards wrote the memorandum for the record, "prepared at the request of the Attorney General of the United States following a complete oral briefing of him relative to a sensitive CIA operation conducted during the period approximately August 1960 to May 1961," which Houston sent to Kennedy the next day. In 1963 [Richard Helms](/people/richard-helms/) told Director [John McCone](/people/john-mccone/) that it was the only written record of the relationship with Giancana. The inspector general found in 1967 that Kennedy "was not told that the gambling syndicate operation had already been reactivated." Edwards testified to the Senate committee on May 30, 1975.[^1][^2][^3]

[^1]: Central Intelligence Agency, "Family Jewels," memorandum of Howard J. Osborn, Director of Security, May 16, 1973, with attachments, pp. 00012-00014.
[^2]: U.S. Senate, Select Committee to Study Governmental Operations with Respect to Intelligence Activities. *Alleged Assassination Plots Involving Foreign Leaders: An Interim Report*. S. Rept. 94-465, 1975, pp. 74-83, 133-134.
[^3]: *Foreign Relations of the United States, 1961-1963,* vol. X, Cuba, document 337, memorandum for the record by Sheffield Edwards, May 14, 1962, with source note.