UNDERCOVER FBI ROLE REPORTED IN SOMERVILLE Author: By Michael K. Frisby, Globe Staff Also contributing to this story: William Doherty, Norman Lockman and Chris Chinlund of The Globe Staff. Date: 02/18/1984 Page: ????? Section: RUN OF PAPER A PUBLISHED CORRECTION HAS BEEN ADDED TO THIS STORY. John (Jackie) Collins drove a white Lincoln Continental and lived lavishly in an apartment at Charles River Park in Boston while he worked for nearly three years as an executive for the East Bay Development Corp. of Reading. But yesterday, sources said Collins is a fictitous name used by an undercover FBI agent who was a key to a federal investigation that has allegedly implicated Somerville public officials and politicians in bribery, racketeering and extortion. As the undercover agent, posing as the free-wheeling business executive, discussed deals with city, state and federal officials, a tape recorder was strapped to his waist, sources said. On some occasions, said sources, the encounters, which they said may have included bribe-paying, were videotaped by other agents monitoring the transactions. According to sources, the FBI began the investigation in late 1980 after East Bay executives, who were developing the Assembly Square Mall in Somerville, complained to federal officials that they were under pressure from "minor bureaucrats" to pay bribes for licenses that were required to begin the project. As the investigation spread, sources said, former alderman Timothy J. Creedon cooperated with the probe and was "wired" by the FBI to tape conversations with other officials. Special Agent Lawrence Gilligan, an FBI spokesman, refused yesterday to discuss the Somerville case, and US Atty. William Weld has also declined to comment on the pending investigation. For the past five years, the FBI has had a Criminal Undercover Operations Review Committee, which approves undercover operations. The committee is composed of FBI specialists, members of the FBI's Division of Legal Counsel and Justice Department officials. One source said that "Collins" fit the role of company executive perfectly and quickly made contacts with Somerville municipal officials and employees involved with the construction of the Assembly Square development. The agent, said sources, gathered evidence on the municipal level in Somerville and gradually developed relationships with other officials so that eventually the FBI investigation spread to the State House and the JFK Federal Building. It is believed that "Collins" also contributed funds to at least one state legislator running for re-election. According to the campaign report of state Rep. Vincent J. Piro (D- Somerville), a John J. Collins who lived at the Charles River Park apartments contributed $500 last year to Piro's campaign. Piro could not be reached for comment yesterday on the contribution. He previously acknowledged that he and other Somerville officials are being scrutinized by federal authorities. In recent weeks, said sources, "Collins" has not been seen in his usual activities, leading to reports that he has resumed his true identity and is helping prosecutors in Weld's office prepare the case for the grand jury. Thus far, the grand jury hearing evidence in the case has not issued any indictments, but numerous persons, including the present mayor and former mayors, aides to the city's state legislators and city officials have been subpoenaed to testify. Sources said investigators have gathered information regarding the development of the Assembly Square Mall and have asked questions about the Twin City Plaza in Somerville. In addition, sources said, the investigators have obtained records from the city Board of Assessors, some of which document tax abatements given to the malls and other businesses. In the midst of the probe, a lawyer for Lawrence F. Bretta, former mayor of Somerville, informed General Services Administration officials on Thursday that Bretta was resigning his $69,000-a-year position with the administration in Washington. Federal agents, said sources, have investigated a T-shirt shop at the Assembly Square Mall that was owned by Bretta until it was reportedly sold last fall. Wilder-Manley Associates, a Boston firm, was hired by East Bay to handle leases for most of the retail outlets at the mall, said sources, but Bretta's store was one of a few that were handled directly by East Bay. Federal authorities, said sources, are probing whether any special arrangements were involved with the lease agreement. Sources said the store was operated by Bretta's wife and that Creedon's wife also worked in the store. It has been privately speculated by public officials in Somerville that Creedon was used by the FBI to gather information during the investigation. A GSA spokeswoman said Creedon has worked in the agency's print shop at the JFK building since 1979. One source said Bretta, who had served as New England regional director, helped Creedon get the job at GSA. Creedon, who had been an alderman since the mid-1970s, did not run for re- election last year and has moved from the city. Neither Bretta or Creedon could be reached for comment yesterday. East Bay developed the Mystic Mall in Chelsea, the Billerica Mall, the Woburn Mall, Harborlight Mall in North Weymouth and K Mart Plaza in Portsmouth, N.H. The company went out of business in 1982 after its president, Raymond H. Coots, died of a heart attack. Several of the East Bay executives formed JDC Properties in Reading. Reached by telephone last night, David Wahr, the treasurer for JDC, declined to comment on the Somerville investigation. "I'm in no position to comment," said Wahr, "and I won't be for some period of time." At the grand jury yesterday, former state Senate majority leader Joseph J.C. DiCarlo of Revere was among those called to give testimony in the case. DiCarlo was accompanied by his lawyer, David Berman, who refused comment. CORRECTION: The Globe was apparently in error in stating that former state senator Joseph DiCarlo of Revere testified before a federal grand jury Friday regarding alleged corruption in Somerville, a Globe editor said yesterday. The report was carried in Saturday's editions and was denied later that day by DiCarlo. Matthew V. Storin, daily managing editor, said: "There was apparently a faulty communication between two reporters, one assuming the other had more solid information than in fact he had. We will offer Mr. DiCarlo our apologies." DiCarlo was sentenced to a year in prison after he was convicted in February 1977 of exorting $40,000 from a New York consulting firm doing work on the UMass Boston harbor campus. In another development, Robert D. Goodoak of Reading, an architect, moved to quash a subpoena he received. In a motion filed in US District Court, Goodoak's lawyer, Robert Ford, claimed the subpoena was overly broad, unreasonable and unconstitutional and "seeks to pierce the attorney-client privilege." Goodoak received a three-year prison sentence in US District Court 1980 for his role in a kickback scheme involving the Somerville Housing Authority. The sentence was in addition to a two-year sentence he received earlier in state court on similiar charges. At the time, Goodoak admitted defrauding the US Department of Housing and Urban Development of $648,778 on modernization projects at two Somerville Housing Authority developments. Meanwhile, Somerville Mayor Eugene Brune told a press conference yesterday that he has received a subpoena to appear before the grand jury on Tuesday. Brune, however, said he has been told that he is not a target of the probe. Brune said that last November the FBI asked him for his cooperation in the investigation. Brune said he did not know the target of the investigation, but he said Bretta's name had been mentioned by the FBI. "I am deeply disturbed over the shadow cast upon us," said Brune. "I tell people of the city . . . I hope the shadow cast upon us will soon be removed. . . . I don't think it (the probe) has hurt my administation because it is not a part of it, but it certainly has hurt the city." FRISBY;02/17,17:08 BEVERI;02/19,15 B07699612