Thomas Gates

Thomas Gates was an FBI agent in Los Angeles who played a significant role in the investigation of MCA for organized crime penetration and was a key contact for investigative journalist Danny Casolaro.[1]

Gates conducted a wiretap of MCA under the supervision of U.S. Attorney Marvin Rudnick and later Richard Stavin. He, along with Rudnick and Stavin, believed that MCA had been penetrated by organized crime, based on the wiretaps. These wiretaps recorded communications between Robert Booth Nichols and Eugene Giaquinto, then president of MCA home entertainment division, revealing connections to La Cosa Nostra, including the Gambino Crime Family and Bufalino Crime Family.[1]

Gates had frequent conversations with Danny Casolaro until three days before Casolaro's death. Casolaro reportedly told Gates that Robert Booth Nichols had warned him to drop his investigation into "The Octopus." Gates was also involved in learning about Michael Riconosciuto's statement to the FBI in October 1992, which implicated Nichols, Glenn Shockley, Jose Londono, Gilberto Rodriguez, and Michael Abbell in illicit financial activities.[1]

Despite the evidence gathered, the DOJ sealed the wiretaps, and no prosecutions were pursued in the MCA organized crime investigation. The Los Angeles Organized Crime Strike Force was disbanded, and Gates closed the FBI investigation. He was one of the investigators who found themselves on a collision course with the Justice Department when their inquiries led to high-level organized crime, drugs, and money laundering.[1]

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