Mr. Schiff: Hello I’m Neal Schiff and welcome to Inside the FBI, a weekly podcast about news, cases, and operations. The FBI has what is called the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. You may know it as the Top Ten list. It’s on the Internet and there are dangerous criminals and terrorists up there.
Mr. Bryant: “Probably the most well known is Usama Bin Laden. He’s wanted for an act of terrorism, particularly for the bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, in 1998.”
Mr. Schiff: That’s Bradley Bryant, an FBI Supervisory Special Agent who is the chief of the Violent Crimes and Major Offenders Unit in the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division. Because of some Top Ten fugitives being caught, there were three openings on the board, and Bryant says they’re filled now.
Mr. Bryant: “The first one that we added was Joe Luis Saenz. He’s wanted for four murders and one rape, and that included the rape and murder of his girlfriend. He’s wanted out of the Los Angeles Field Office, and we added him on Monday evening to the Top Ten list.”
Mr. Schiff: Who is the second one that was added on Tuesday?
Mr. Bryant: “Eduardo Ravelo. He’s wanted by our El Paso office. Ravelo is wanted for involvement in racketeering activities; conspiracy to launder money; and conspiracy to possess heroin, cocaine, and marijuana with the intent to distribute. And he’s been described as a leader of the Barrio Azteca criminal enterprise that operates in the Juarez, Mexico area.”
Mr. Schiff: And on Wednesday we filled a third slot, tell me about that fugitive.
Mr. Bryant: “That fugitive is Semion Mogilevich and he’s wanted out of our Philadelphia Field Office for his alleged participation in a multi-million dollar scheme to defraud thousands of investors in the stock of a public company. It was incorporated in Canada but it was headquartered in Pennsylvania between 1993 and 1998. The scheme collapsed in 1998 and thousands of investors lost in excess of $150 million. He was indicted in April, 2003.”
Mr. Schiff: The FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives program has been around a long time.
Mr. Bryant: “It’s been around since March 14th, 1950. The idea behind it began about a year earlier, in February of 1949, when a reporter from the International News Service asked the FBI for the names and descriptions of the toughest guys the FBI would like to capture. The story that resulted from that generated so much publicity and public appeal that Director Hoover decided to implement a Top Ten list, which we did on March 14th, 1950. And it’s been a part of the FBI ever since then.”
Mr. Schiff: Actually, sometimes there have been more than 10 people on the list?
Mr. Bryant: “There have been a couple of times we added an extra fugitive because of something that just came up, and we added that person on there just because they needed that extra publicity right then and there.”
Mr. Schiff: Who are the other seven who are presently on the list and what are they wanted for?
Mr. Bryant: “Well, the other seven…I’ll start with the probably the most well known, Usama Bin Laden. He’s wanted for an act of terrorism, particularly for the bombings of U.S. Embassies in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya, in 1998.
After him we have Jason Derek Brown. Brown is wanted, he shot and killed a Dunbar armored carrier driver in Phoenix, Arizona, back in 2004.
And we have James ‘Whitey’ Bulger, wanted out of our Boston Division. He’s wanted for racketeering activities and a variety of things: murder, extortion, narcotics distribution, money laundering, all kinds of things that were in his criminal enterprise that he operated.
We have Robert William Fisher; he’s wanted out of our Phoenix Division. He’s wanted for murder—three counts of first degree murder, actually—and arson of an occupied structure.
We have Victor Manuel Gerena, wanted by our New Haven Field Office. He is wanted for armed robbery of about $7 million from a security company up in Connecticut.
And Glen Steward Godwin; he’s wanted for murder and escape from prison. And he’s wanted out of our Sacramento Field Office.
Alexis Flores, wanted by our Philadelphia Field Office. He’s wanted for murder and for kidnapping of a 5-year-old girl.”
Mr. Schiff: How is it decided, and by whom, who makes this prestigious list?
Mr. Bryant: “Well, whenever a Top Ten fugitive is captured, the Violent Crimes/Major Offenders Unit, which is my unit here at Headquarters, we immediately prepare a communication to all the field offices asking for candidates who would be eligible to go on the Top Ten list. Once we receive those submissions, our unit reviews them in conjunction with the Office of Public Affairs, and we rank the candidates and prepare a packet for executive level management to make the final decision as to who goes on to the Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list.”
Mr. Schiff: The FBI’s Top Ten list has been around almost seven decades now—what about its success?
Mr. Bryant: “It’s been very successful. We’ve had a total of 494 fugitives put on the list, and that includes the three we put on this week; 463 of them have been apprehended (or located), so it’s been very successful.”
Mr. Schiff: Not all have been men.
Mr. Bryant: “ No. We’ve had a few women. I think we’ve had eight women, to be exact, on the Top Ten list. The most recent female to be added was Shauntay Henderson; she was added on March 31st, 2007, and she was arrested that same day.”
Mr. Schiff: Well, is that the shortest amount of time someone has been on the Top Ten list, one day?
Mr. Bryant: “No, actually, it’s not. We had an individual, Billy Austin Bryant, back on January 8, 1969, was on the list for just two hours. He was arrested right here in Washington, D.C., as a matter of fact.”
Mr. Schiff: How can the public play a role in finding these dangerous people who are on the FBI’s Top Ten list?
Mr. Bryant: “ We encourage the public to look at our Top Ten posters, particularly to go to our website, www.fbi.gov, and look at the Top Ten fugitives on there—study the write-ups, study the photographs—and if they have any information at all on these individuals, to contact the local FBI office and provide that information to them.”
Mr. Schiff: What if they’re out of the country and they want to call the FBI or American authorities?
Mr. Bryant: “If they are out of the country, they should contact the nearest U.S. Embassy or Consulate.”
Mr. Schiff: There’s a reward program for all of those on the Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. What’s that all about?
Mr. Bryant: “Yes, there is a reward program. Automatically for all Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitives, the FBI offers a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of that fugitive. For some of the fugitives on the Top Ten list, we’ve increased the reward amount. For example, Usama Bin Laden is up to $25 million for him; James ‘Whitey’ Bulger is up to $2 million for him; and Victor Manuel Gerena, a million dollars for him. But the standard reward offer is $100,000 for a Top Ten fugitive.”
Mr. Schiff: The public is encouraged, as you said, to call us and not take action on their own.
Mr. Bryant: “Absolutely. Call the local FBI office; don’t take any action on your own because most of these fugitives are very dangerous and that’s why they’re on the Top Ten list. But call the local FBI office and let them know what information you have, and the FBI will follow up on that.”
Mr. Schiff: The FBI’s home page has all the information with pictures and descriptions, even some videos and audio, of these bad guys, and you can help find them. Check out the wanted flyers at
www.fbi.gov. If you happen to know something about any of the fugitives, on or off the Top Ten list, give a call to your nearest FBI office. That’s our show for this week. Thanks for listening. I’m Neal Schiff of the FBI’s Office of Public Affairs.
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