So why did Sharpton agree to become an FBI informant? And why was he willing to risk the dangers inherent in such cooperation?
He thought he didnt have a choice, one Genovese squad agent recalled.
In the course of an investigation being run by Spinelli and his partner John Pritchard, Sharpton was secretly recorded in meetings with an FBI undercover agent posing as a wealthy drug dealer seeking to promote boxing matches.
As previously reported, Colombo crime family captain Michael Franzese, who knew Sharpton, enlisted the activists help in connecting with Don King. Franzese and Sharpton were later surreptitiously filmed during one meeting with the undercover, while Sharpton and Daniel Pagano, a Genovese soldier, were recorded at another sit-down. Paganos father Joseph was a Genovese power deeply involved in the entertainment industry (and who also managed the crime familys rackets in counties north of New York City).
During one meeting with Sharpton, the undercover agent offered to get him "pure coke" at $35,000 a kilo. As the phony drug kingpin spoke, Sharpton nodded his head and said, I hear you. When the undercover promised Sharpton a 10 percent finders fee if he could arrange the purchase of several kilos, the reverend referred to an unnamed buyer and said, If hes gonna do it, hell do it much more than that. The FBI agent steered the conversation toward the possible procurement of cocaine, sources said, since investigators believed that Sharpton acquaintance Daniel Pagano--who was not present--was looking to consummate drug deals. Joseph Pagano, an East Harlem native who rose through a Genovese crew notorious for narcotics trafficking, spent nearly seven years in federal prison for heroin distribution.
While Sharpton did not explicitly offer to arrange a drug deal, some investigators thought his interaction with the undercover agent could be construed as a violation of federal conspiracy laws. Though an actual prosecution, an ex-FBI agent acknowledged, would have been a reach, agents decided to approach Sharpton and attempt to flip the activist, who was then shy of his 30th birthday. In light of Sharptons relationship with Don King, FBI agents wanted his help in connection with the bureaus three-year-old boxing investigation, code named Crown Royal and headed by Spinelli and Pritchard.
Ping.