Case 1:10-cv-00649-CMA -MJW Document 37-7 Filed 02/21/11 USDC Colorado Page 1 of

EXCERPTS FROM HANDWRITTEN NOTES FROM REVIEW OF SUMMARY OF

REPORT

Investigation into Dan Tang was initiated in July of 2007. Page 1. Dan Joyce was the
lead agent on the case. He was supervised by Sergeants Carbone and Bell. Page 3. Task Force
asked DEA to get involved in September. Wiretaps were initiated in January, 2008. On
February 13, three additional wiretaps were put into place. The next day, February 14,
investigators overheard conversations that lead them to believe that the members knew they were
being investigated.

Then-Sergeant Carbone fought against having investigators move in and arrest the
members. Page 106.When investigators did move in two days later, they found a letter in an
envelope in the back of a closet in an apartment at 11801 York St. which was rented by Yue De
Deng (Brother #3). The letter was addressed to: Heaven Dragon, Attention Dan Tang.” It was
postmarked February 13, 2008. The letter warned Tang about the investigation and offered to
“minimize” the damage to Tang. Tang was instructed to call a certain number. Tang’s associates
had written their number and $300,000 on the back of the envelope. The letter was addressed to
Tang, with his birth date noted after his name.

Two DEA agents, Mike Santavicca and Paul Roach were assigned to investigate the leak.
Page 7. The Board assigned two officers to provide assistance as needed. The DEA agents kept
Sergeant Villano apprised of the investigation “from start to finish.” Page 3.

The DEA investigation revealed that the number mentioned in the letter belonged to a cell
phone purchased at Westminister Mall on the afternoon of February 7, 2008. Page 9. The sales
person remembered that a young girl in her teens purchased the phone. Page 10. The name and
address the girl gave was Taylor Adams, at 6280 Allison Street, Arvada 2003. The house
number was non-existent non-existent on Allison Street. Page 12.

The DEA agents could never find a girl named Taylor Adams with the birthdate given
and determined that the name was an alias. Page 14.

The DEA interviewed numerous employees within DEA and the Task Force. “However,
many NMTF employees expressed serious concerns about talking to investigators. They worried
that what they said could lead to retribution either at the NMTF or at their parent police
departments.” Page 29 “Many employees commented on the amount of case specific details in
the letter that should have been known only to those intimately involved in the Tang
investigation,” and the use of “cop speak.” Page 33. Some of those interviewed also commented
that the “tone [of the letter] suggested an established relationship.” Page 34. There were six
officers identified who had the most knowledge of the case: Special Agent Marshall, Sergeants
Carbone and Bell, and detectives Joyce, Garcia, and Oser.

The contents of the letter suggested that the person leaking the investigations were from

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the NMTF because, among other reasons, (i) it was common for NMTF members to put birth
dates after names; it was not common for DEA agents to do so; (ii) the letter mentioned a
friendly rivalry between Tang and his wife, something NMTF members knew, but DEA members
did not; and (iii) NMTF detectives were more familiar with surveillance than DEA agents. Page
36-43.

“But of the 29 DEA and NMTF employees interviewed approximately half questioned
Sergeant Carbone’s integrity and/or suspected that he may have been involved in compromising
the Tang investigation.” Page 35.

In April and May of 2008, polygraph examinations were conducted by the DEA of the six
suspects. Detectives Joyce and Oser passed. Sergeant Bell declined to take the examination.
Decetive Garcia’s examination showed deception. Page 48. “On May 13, 2008, DEA
polygrapher Special Agent Robert Dwyer administered the examination to Sergeant Carbone. In
the opinion of SA Dwyer, Sergeant Carbone was deceptive in answering ‘no’ to the relevant
questions. Special Agent Dwyer determined that the result of Sergeant Carbone’s polygraph
examination was ‘Deception Indicated.’ Special Agent Dwyer noted that as the polygraph testing
began, Sergeant Carbone began to sweat profusely. According to Special Agent Dwyer, at one
point Sergeant Carbone asked a question to the effect of, ‘Does everyone sweat like me.’” Page
47.

According to investigators, Sergeant Bell advised detectives not to take polygraph

examinations. “Specifically, Detective Garcia and some other detectives at the NMTF reported
to the investigators, prior to Detective Garcia’s polygraph examination, that Sergeant Bell was
attempting to organize a group of detectives who would refuse to take the polygraph
examination.” “When later asked about the claims, Sergeant Bell stated that he was simply
relaying information from upper management at the Westminister Police Department that a
refusal to take the polygraph examination would not be looked upon unfavorably by the
management at the Westminister Police Department.” Page 49.

The investigators found that Dan Tang was very politically connected. Tang knew Dante
Carbone’s first name. Tang’s closest relationships were with Kent Fenzel, a former police
officer. He was also close with Tom Meyer, a Thornton police officer. Tang was close friends
with Noel Busck, former deputy Mayor of Thornton. He had a close relationship with Marty
Flaum, former Adams County Commissioner and a lobbyist for the Republicans. Tang reported
being friends with Thornton Mayor Eric Hansen and all City Council members. He also knew:
Sean Ford, the former Mayor of Commerce City, Joanne Schaefer, wife of Fred Schaefer and the
Chairwoman of the Adams County Education Foundation; Mary Lee Bella, Thornton Police
Department Lieutenant, Don Quick, District Attorney, and Adams County Sheriff Doug Darr.
Pages 55-57

Tang also raised money or contributed to numerous campaigns. He raised $50,000 for
Bill Owens, and raised funds for Senator Allard, Governor Ritter, Bob Beauprez, Governor

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Hickenlooper, Senator Salazar, and Senators Salazar, Udall and Campbell. Tang contributed
money to Bob Beauprez, Senator Salazar, Senator Udall, President Bush, Senator John Thune,
Representative Robert Schaffer, Rick O’Donnell, George Allan, Mike Coffman, and Sheriff
Doug Darr. He also contributed to the Republican Campaign Committee, the Colorado
Democratic Party, and Americans for Truth in Politics. Pages 56-57.

The investigators found that, at the end of may, 2008, Quick was heard to have said that
“he did not want to prosecute [Tang] because Tang was a significant political contributor to
various elected officials , and also contributed financially to the community as a whole.” Quick
supposedly said at a subsequent meeting “that he did not want to prosecute Tang because Tang
and Busck are friends of his.” Page 58. After Tang’s arrest, Tang stated that Carbone said to
him: “Dan, this looks bad for the community.” Page 107.

The investigators investigated two subjects in particular, Detective Oser and Dante
Carbone. They found no concrete evidence to support accusations against Oser. Oser stated that
“the author of the letter undermined the safety of everyone working the case.” Page 76. Oser also
thought that “Sergeants Carbone and Bell demanded constant updates on the case, which
Detective Oser considered unreasonable.” Page 73. According to Detective Oser, Sergeant
Carbone criticized Detective Oser and the NMTF case agents for allowing DEA agents to seize
control of the investigation.” Page 73. Oser resigned, in part, because author of letter
undermined the safety of everyone working this case. Page 76.

“Approximately half of those interviewed, including 2 of the other three members of the
NMTF management, questioned Sergeant Carbone’s integrity and/or suspected his involvement
with the compromising of the investigation.” Page 90. The “most frequent mention reason” was
“that Carbone had a prior relationship with Tang that he did not mention to NMTF and DEA
employees.” Page 91 Carbone and Tang admitted that they “had known each other for years.”
Page 99. Tang said that Carbone “has eaten at Heaven Dragon a couple of times per month for
many years” and said that he had known Sergeant Carbone for 6 or 7 years. When Tang was
interviewed on February 18, 2008, he “said that he was disappointed because he looked bad in
front of his friend, Dante.” Page 100. Further, while the investigation was active and ongoing,
Carbone continued to eat at Tang’s restaurant, Heaven Dragon, even taking other NMTF
detectives there on February 8, 2008.

Detectives also stated that Carbone “micromanaged” the Tang investigation, wanting to
“know every detail” and “wanted to direct and control the case himself.” In addition, “Sergeant
Carbone seemed concerned about the political implications of the Tang investigation.” Page 93.
Carbone also “seemed to have little interest in discovering who had compromised the Tang
investigation.” Page 94

Commander Hersee described Carbone’s behavior as “unusual or suspicious.”

“Commander Hersee said that he and Sergeant Carbone discussed the investigation of the
compromising of the case nearly every day, with Sergeant Carbone attempting to obtain

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information from Commander Hersee. Commander Hersee stated that he shared with Sergeant
Carbone details about the investigation that he had learned from the investigators. According to
Commander Hersee, Seargent Carbone told him several times that he thought that the author of
the letter never thought that it would be discovered.” Page 94. “Commander Hersee said that he
was eventually directed by Broomfield Police Chief Deland to stop sharing information with
Sergeant Carbone. Commander Hersee stated that once he stopped discussing the investigation
with Sergeant Carbone, Sergeant Carbone became ‘unduly concerned’ and ‘extremely nervous’
about the investigation.” Pages 96-97.

The investigators stated that their investigation showed instances of questionable ethics
on Sergeant Carbone’s part. In an earlier leak of information about a case, the person receiving
the information, Carl Scherk, a former Westminister Police Officer fired for corruption, said that
he learned everything from Carbone. Pages 96-97 In another instance, a gang member claimed to
be an in-law of Carbone. Page 97 Also, an officer came to Carbone with suspicions of a dirty
cop and Carbone discouraged the officer from pursuing the matter. Page 97

The Timing of the Cell Phone Purchase and the Mailing of the Letter to Tang

S.A. Marshall told Carbone on February 5 or 6 that he was going to get a warrant to tap
Tang’s wife’s phone. Pages 102-103. The wiretapping actually started on February 13, 2008.
The cell phone was purchased on February 7 and the letter was mailed on February 8, 2008. The
NMTF learned on February 13 that the subjects knew they were being investigated. Carbone was
strongly against taking immediate action. Detective Joyce was for taking immediate action. The
DEA finally made the decision to go forward. Pages 104-106.

In an interview with Carbone, Carbone told investigators that he had seen the letter in a
Board of governor’s meeting on February 28, 2008. The investigators found that Carbone was
only one of 25 officers who didn’t comment on the contents of the letter, just asking whether
there was a photograph of the girl buying the cell phone. Pages 108-109.

Investigation of the Purchase of the Cell Phone Described in the Letter Mailed to Tang

Investigators found that a relative of Carbone had been in the vicinity of Westminster
Mall, where the cell phone was purchased on February 7, 2008.

Bell
Some thought author might be Bell. Seemed to be undermining investigation. Page 149.

Incidents Involving Noel Busck

Noel Busck, the former deputy mayor of Thornton, is a friend of Tang’s and Carbone’s.
He is a Tang confidant, having known him for 20 years. Page 126. Busck is also a friend of
Carbone’s, describing Carbone as his “bud” who “watches my back.” Page 126.

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On February 17, 2008, a friend told Busck that Tang was likely to be arrested. Page 122.
On February 20, 2008, after his arrest, Tang asked Busck to hold $400,000 for him. Tang took
the money and eventually put it in a safe deposit box at a local bank. On February 21, Tang
asked Busck to give the money to Tang’s wife. Busck refused and Tang came to Busck’s house
and took back the money. Another officer heard about this matter from Dan Joyce. The officer,
Detective Dudley, told Carbone about the incident on February 26, 2008, at which point Carbone
“became ‘visibly upset,’ ‘irrational,’ and was ‘physically shaking.’” Page 123. Carbone
threatened to fire Joyce. Page 123.

On March 7, 2008, Carbone and Wayne Campbell, a prosecutor in the Tang case, met and
Campbell decided not to prosecute Busck. Page 124. Carbone and Campbell had been friends
for a long time. Page 125. Campbell said that he did not know what to do with Campbell at that
lunch. Page 125.

On March 7, Carbone then called Busck and told him that Bisck would be ‘a witness’ and
not a “suspect’ in the Tang case. Page 124. Busck called back and said “Thanks, Dante, I know
you had something to do with this.” Page 125 Busk does not remember being told that he was a
witness, he never testified in front of the Grand Jury, and he was not contacted by authorities for
months after the call from Carbone. Page 126

Possible Motives

The investigators said that a possible motive for Carbone to author the letter, if he did so,
was political, that is to”limit the exposure of Tang and associates,” especially after the warrant
was allowed for the tap of Tang’s wife’s phone. Page 139.

The DEA investigators heard that “Tang is close to Thornton’s city officials and was “a
favorite” in Thornton. Page 146. The investigators reported that they had been told that
everyone knows Tang’s restaurant is involved in tax evasion. Page 146