Undercover exposure

The subject of a Phoenix cover story is brought into court on wiretapping and evidence-planting charges. But why did it take so long?

by Jason Gay

This past Monday, the mysterious central figure in a December 1996 Phoenix cover story was arraigned in Middlesex Superior Court on multiple wiretapping and evidence-planting charges dating back to his work in the early 1990s.

Michael L. Taylor, a Boston-based private investigator with extensive contacts in state and federal law enforcement, pleaded not guilty March 16 to two felony and six misdemeanor charges related to his actions during three separate private investigations between 1991 and 1992. Taylor, the president of the American International Security Corporation (then known as North America Security Consultants), was not present in court for his arraignment; his not-guilty plea was entered by one of his attorneys, Fred Riley.

Prosecutors allege that between March 1991 and May 1992, Taylor participated in the secret recording of telephone conversations by Patti Roberts, the estranged wife of one of Taylor's clients, Victor Roberts. It is also alleged that Taylor and one of his associates, Phillip Crocker, planted marijuana cigarettes in Patti Roberts's car and alerted a local police officer, who later pulled her over and arrested her. (In fact, the prosecution alleges that the police officer originally had trouble locating the marijuana inside Patti Roberts's car and had to contact Taylor, who told him where to find it.)

The prosecution also charges that Taylor used electronic devices to secretly monitor and record conversations for clients on two other occasions, once in Brookline, another time in Newton. Both instances, like the Roberts case, involved husband-and-wife disputes.

Taylor is charged with felony counts of interception of communication and conspiracy to intercept communication. He is also charged with misdemeanor counts of conspiracy to disclose or use intercepted communications, possession of interception devices, conspiracy to possess interception devices, disclosure of intercepted communications, possession with intent to distribute a class D substance, and filing a false report to police.

Free on personal recognizance, Taylor is due back in Middlesex Superior Court on April 16 for a pretrial conference.

The charges against Taylor represent a major public breakthrough in a case that some people never expected would see the inside of a courtroom, given the former Green Beret's influential contacts from his years working regionally and internationally as an undercover agent associated with agencies including the FBI; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; and the US Attorney's office. The charges also raise troubling questions about why the Massachusetts State Police failed to act more than four years ago, when one of their own investigators alleged, among other charges, that Taylor had used wiretaps in a divorce case.

A year ago last December, the Phoenix published a story by reporter Tim Sandler ("The Untouchable," News, December 6, 1996) that documented state trooper Robert Monahan's investigation in the early 1990s into Taylor's conduct both as an undercover agent and as a private investigator. In the story, Monahan claimed that Taylor -- who had been the target of allegations ranging from wiretapping to embezzling money from drug traffickers -- was being protected from prosecution by law-enforcement contacts who were grateful for his undercover services. One member of the US Attorney's office told Monahan that Taylor had been paid "several hundred thousand dollars" for his work as a federal agent, adding that Taylor's reputation was so good, "20 federal agents from Boston" would serve as character witnesses for him if he were ever indicted.

When Monahan presented his case to his state police superiors in 1993, they declined to press it forward. In fact, Monahan -- who had first stumbled upon Taylor's work when he was investigating a drug-trafficking case as a member of the state police's Asset Forfeiture Unit -- found his investigation widely discredited. He was taken off the case and reassigned to highway duty on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

But last spring, following the Phoenix story and inquiries from NBC's Dateline (where Sandler now works), the state police began to reexamine parts of Monahan's case against Taylor, and launched a reinvestigation. This past fall, a grand jury was convened in Middlesex Superior Court; earlier this month, the grand jury indicted Taylor.

Citing the advice of his attorneys, Taylor declined this week to comment on the charges. Middlesex County assistant district attorney Anthony Gemma, who is prosecuting the case, also refused to comment.

Certainly, these new charges against Taylor -- particularly the felony wiretapping charges -- are serious; if convicted, Taylor faces jail time and the loss of his private-investigator's license. Still, those familiar with the case ask: why was Monahan's original investigation never advanced by the state police, despite the fact that his closest supervisor believed it merited a closer look?

"I knew we were on the right track because everyone was getting so upset, especially the feds," Monahan's supervisor, Sergeant Robert Cerra, told the Phoenix in 1996.

Reached this week, Monahan -- who has a lawsuit against both the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the state police pending in US District Court -- declined to comment. But Monahan's attorney, Eric Maxwell, believes the charges show that his client was right all along.

"I think that this vindicates Monahan's assertion that Taylor was an individual who should have been the subject of a state police investigation," Maxwell says. But instead of having his investigation taken seriously, Maxwell says, "Monahan was basically made into a leper in the state police."

Jim Sweeney, the assistant attorney general who is defending the state police in Monahan's civil suit, doubts that the new charges against Taylor will affect the case, which is scheduled to go to trial in May. Sweeney rejects the claim that state police refused to move forward on Monahan's investigation of Taylor because of the private investigator's clout in top law-enforcement circles.

"The state police believe that Monahan's investigation wasn't thoroughly done, and wasn't done well," Sweeney says.

Whatever the case, there's little question that the crop of new charges against Taylor represent a delicate situation for the state police and the Middlesex County DA's office.

A trial starring Michael Taylor may yield some answers as to why the state police didn't pursue Monahan's allegations back in 1993. But for now, those close to the case are keeping very quiet. A spokesman at state police headquarters, in Framingham, declined to comment, referring inquiries to the Middlesex DA's office; but prosecutors there are being equally tight-lipped.

And those familiar with Michael Taylor's past aren't surprised.

"Nobody wants to talk about this case," says Eric Maxwell, chuckling.

Jason Gay can be reached at jgay[a]phx.com.