LAS VEGAS: Judge Melanie Andress-Tobiasson claimed that the FBI agent investigating police corruption told her that he didn’t trust the FBI Las Vegas division.
She made the allegation during an exclusive interview with the Baltimore Post-Examiner last year when this online newspaper published several news stories relating to her interview. The Post-Examiner is continuing to vet many of the statements she has made before publishing and reporting on some of her statements. This allegation, however, warrants more coverage.
But think about what the judge has claimed. The FBI can’t even trust its local office.
Here’s the background to that startling claim.
It began in 2015 when Tobiasson, said she was providing information to Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (LVMPD) vice detectives involving after-hours unlicensed clubs that were being run by local pimps. Tobiasson said that the information she provided to the police was never followed-up on. Those unlicensed clubs Tobiasson said, were promoting prostitution and targeting underage girls, with the clubs frequented by off-duty LVMPD officers.
Judge Melanie Andress-Tobiasson
After receiving no help from the LVMPD, Tobiasson said she made contact with FBI Special Agent Kevin White of the FBI Las Vegas Division and was providing White information on police corruption.
At one point White, Tobiasson said, he told her that the agents at the FBI Las Vegas Division could not be trusted. She was stunned at what was about to happen next.
Tobiasson said that White eventually told her that then LVMPD Assistant Sheriff Todd Fasulo told White’s boss, then FBI Assistant Special Agent-in-Charge, Patrick Brodsky, to have White stop talking to Tobiasson.
Jamal Rashid aka Mally Mall and the LVMPD
In September 2014 the FBI raided the Las Vegas home of music producer and alleged prostitution kingpin Jamal Rashid aka Mally Mall and the offices of his escort service. The FBI did not ask the LVMPD to accompany them on those raids.
Allegations of some of the LVMPD’s vice detectives being corrupt, on the payroll of Mally Mall and targeting rival Las Vegas pimps for Mally Mall surfaced when a now five-year-old FBI federal corruption probe of the LVMPD was made public by Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo in 2017.
Jamal Mally Mall Rashid (Facebook)
As the Baltimore Post-Examiner reported in several stories, neither Mally Mall nor any member of the LVMPD have been charged, even though affidavits from several people allege there were payoffs by Mally Mall to former and current members of the LVMPD and also allegations that the police were involved in sexual relationships with prostitutes, who were witnesses against Mally Mall’s rival pimps.
Allegations also surfaced that Clark County Chief Deputy District Attorney, Elizabeth Mercer coerced witnesses in those rival pimp cases.
Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo who runs the LVMPD told the media in April 2017 that his department was cooperating with an FBI federal corruption probe of some members of the LVMPD.
That statement though seemed odd when juxtaposed with the fact that in 2017 the LVMPD hired attorneys to prevent the testimony of other detectives in court because their testimony would have implicated other corrupt cops.
The LVMPD attorneys fought to not have any of those officers testify in court, even those no longer employed by the department and LVMPD attorney Jackie Nichols admitted in court in October 2017 that former LVMPD Vice Detective Christopher Baughman’s testimony in court would implicate other officers.
Subsequently, District Attorney Steve Wolfson cut early release plea deals to a convicted sex-trafficker and dropped charges on other sex-traffickers.
So, did Lombardo and Wolfson weighed the scales of justice and determined that it was far more prudent to cover up corruption?
I wonder if they would feel the same way had it been their daughters who were recruited in prostitution, as it was for the daughters of police officers, judges and even an FBI agent, who by the way was in charge of the Public Integrity Section of the FBI Las Vegas Division.
That says plenty about Lombardo’s efforts to uncover further corruption in the LVMPD, not to mention Wolfson’s actions that allowed sex-traffickers back on the street. So much for public safety in Las Vegas.
Excerpts from Judge Melanie Andress-Tobiasson’s recorded interview
BPE: Did you ever contact anybody from the FBI and tell them what’s going on?
Tobiasson: Yes, I did, and I spoke to somebody for a lengthy period of time and we spoke on burner phones, because we were so afraid that the other FBI agents and Metro would find out that we were talking because he knew that there were people that he worked with at his agency, that if they found out that we were talking he’d be shut down. I’m talking to the FBI and a deputy chief contacts the head of the FBI Las Vegas field office, who then calls in the agent that I was talking to and tells him he’s not to talk to me anymore, that I’m a problem and that Metro’s concerned that I’m going to go public with my story. Yes, that’s what happened.
BPE: You’re not talking about Todd Fasulo?
Tobiasson: That’s who I’m talking about, yes I am. Who now works for the Wynn and guess what? The head of the local field office, of the FBI, [ASAC Patrick Brodsky] is about to go work there too because Todd Fasulo got him a job there. That’s the same head of the local FBI office who told his agent not to speak to me anymore and then I believe that they probably found out that we were still talking, and he got kicked out of the public integrity unit and sent to the opiate squad.
Tobiasson: I’ll tell you his name but I’m trying to still to protect him even though he’s not, he won’t talk to me now, so now I don’t have anybody to talk to. I can’t go to Metro; I can’t go to the FBI.
BPE: What was the FBI agents name just so I get that on the record, what was his name?
Tobiasson: Kevin White.
BPE: Is he still with the Las Vegas Division?
Tobiasson: Yeah, but he got transferred out of public integrity and moved to the opiate task force, even though he’s the one who spearheaded this entire investigation that started in 2014, because Metro apparently has enough pull to control the FBI behavior here in Las Vegas.
BPE: Do you have any information that that FBI investigation, the alleged FBI investigation, do you really think there is an FBI investigation going on since 2014 or do you think it’s just a bunch of nonsense?
Tobiasson: Well according to Kevin White there is and according to him there’s going to be ind…well I shouldn’t say that. And everybody keeps saying, don’t worry, once the indictments come out, you’re going to be okay. You’ll be safe. I go, I should be safe now, but I go I’m not because I can’t call the police and I can’t call the FBI. I said where the fuck do I go if something goes wrong. I said, who do I call?
BPE: Do you think the FBI agent was told not to talk to you because of the ongoing FBI corruption probe and thought maybe you may jeopardize that investigation somehow?
Tobiasson: No. No, they told him specifically, I am a problem for Metro. Metro’s afraid I’m going to go public and it would make Metro look bad. No, it had nothing to do with them being concerned that it would compromise the investigation. I was giving them information that bolstered their investigation. These guys are covering for Metro, just like Metro’s covering for Metro. This is different. This is a completely different investigation. The thing I’m involved in although it’s tied to Mally Mall, resulted in three murders. That are not being investigated, that are not part of that investigation. They ignored me for a year and a half, and it resulted in three murders. And I was giving that information to the FBI in hopes that at some point they might investigate that as well. Whether it had a connection to the ongoing investigation, or it resulted in an additional investigation. I was providing them with information on my situation in hopes that they would investigate it and they shut their agent down and told him he was to stand down, not to speak to me anymore. They were not investigating this. They were not going to take the information on it, and he was not to speak to me anymore.
BPE: Do you think by talking to that agent that aside from the stuff you just told me about the murders, do you think there was an active investigation with the FBI going on, on Mally Mall?
Tobiasson: Yes. He told me there was. Metro was able to call, I don’t care why; it doesn’t matter why. Metro finds out that a judge is giving information to the FBI and was able to call the FBI and tell their agent not to get information from the judge anymore about the prostitution activities that she reported to Vice, that were ignored and resulted in three murders, it doesn’t matter why. The fact it happened, is the story. Who cares what their motivation is, it’s disgusting, why would they not want me to give information to the FBI about this? Because it makes them look really fucking bad.
BPE: It sounds like the reason why that FBI agent was told to stop talking to you, because of the ongoing corruption investigation the FBI’s got against Metro and they didn’t want anything at that point to disrupt it.
Tobiasson: No.
BPE: Metro does not control the FBI, I’m telling you?
Tobiasson: I’m telling you they control it at the local office. In fact, that FBI agent said to me. He said, “If I was in any other field office in the country and a local police department called my boss and were upset about me talking to somebody they would tell them to go get fucked.” He said this was the only field office in the entire country where the local police department can call and complain and get the agent to shut up. He specifically said that to me. So, with all due respect, you’re wrong on this one. The FBI agent personally said that. He then gave me a burner phone that he bought, because he didn’t want one in my name. We then spoke on burner phones. I said the only reason I ever had a burner phone is so that Metro and the FBI wouldn’t know I was talking to an FBI agent. Here’s what I can tell you. They have taken it away from the field office here because of what happened. It was being investigated here; they took it away from them because of what happened.
BPE: When they told you that the case was taken out of the local office, did they tell you where it was going?
Tobiasson: Washington. Well, it wasn’t there from the start, I can assure you. I’m just telling you it wasn’t. It didn’t make sense to me. I didn’t understand how somebody at Metro could call the FBI and get me basically black-balled so I can’t talk to an FBI agent who was very interested in my story and knew that I was telling the truth. I don’t understand that either. Let me tell you something, the FBI agent I was talking to, he will not talk to me, he is so afraid to talk to me because he knows he’ll get fired. He’s as mind blown as I am. He’s afraid to talk on his phone, his work phone because he doesn’t trust the other agents he works with. I’m not crazy okay. He’s told me. He and I talked at length. We would meet at churches, libraries, so we could talk. He was terrified to be seen with me in public because he knew they wouldn’t want me talking to him. Once he knew my story, he knew what would happen if they found out that we were talking, and he was right. He told me what would happen if they found out we were talking and exactly what he said would happen, happened. So, if it makes sense to you or not, what it should say to you, this is bigger than, this is stuff that they really, really, really don’t want to become public. That’s what it should say to you and that this shit is huge.
One of the last times I spoke to this agent before he quit calling me and I will tell you this, he’s gotten messages to me, to let me know that I’m okay, that he knows what’s going on, he knows I’m scared, and he’s managed to get me messages, but he’s also got me the message that if they ask him if he’s talked to me, he doesn’t want to have to lie. That’s why he’s refusing to talk to me because he doesn’t want, you know, but what does that tell you. That he’s afraid of them finding out. Do you know what I mean? I’m telling you they did not want me to be giving this agent the additional information that I have. This thing with me is a completely separate but huge issue for Metro because it involves judges and police officers and human trafficking and the allowing of it to happen to our children. The ignoring of it when somebody brought it to their attention repeatedly and then the murders. What I’m saying is, Fasulo called the head of the Las Vegas field office and advised them that this guy was talking to me and he was then told to stop talking to me by the head of the local FBI field office [ASAC Patrick Brodsky].
Closing comments
Fasulo retired from the LVMPD in December 2017 and went to work for Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas. His current title is Vice President of Security and Crisis Management.
Brodsky retired from the FBI in April 2018 and take a guess where he went to work? You guessed it, Wynn Resorts as Executive Director of Corporate Investigations. Quid pro quo?
Fasulo, when contacted by the Baltimore Post-Examiner stated that we were “going down the rabbit hole” and had no further comment. Brodsky did not return our calls.
“Going down the rabbit hole,” as Fasulo said, is not an admission of denial. In fact, I’ve been down many rabbit holes and that is how an investigator uncovers the truth. You will be amazed at what you find at the bottom of a rabbit hole.
The Baltimore Post-Examiner has learned that several other individuals, both civilians and police officers, also spoke to FBI Special Agent White and he was no doubt investigating police corruption.
The Baltimore Post-Examiner was provided White’s email and cellphone number. He did not return repeated calls or respond to emails.
One retired LVMPD officer told the Baltimore Post-Examiner that White also inquired of him if he knew anything about the Las Vegas casino industry facilitating sex-trafficking.
Neither the FBI nor the LVMPD have ever challenged what Tobiasson told the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
Tobiasson told the Baltimore Post-Examiner that the unsolved October 2016 Las Vegas double homicide of Sydney Land and Nehemiah Kauffman happened because she and her daughter were outed by LVMPD vice detectives hours before the murders: “And they know that the fact that they outed me, got two people killed. It wasn’t the two people they were trying to get killed, me and my daughter, but it got two people killed. I tell you, Joe [Lombardo] does not want this story out there.”
Tobiasson’s statement also never has been disputed by the LVMPD. The Land/Kauffman murders are less than two months away from being three years unsolved.
Allegations that the integrity of the FBI Las Vegas Division was compromised by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department is extremely troubling.
Interfering with and halting an FBI agent’s inquiry into police corruption opens the door to even more questions. Obstructing justice by interfering with a federal agent’s investigation into police corruption is criminal.
An FBI agent can’t trust his own people, worse than troubling, it’s dangerous and mind-boggling.
Does the LVMPD have something on the FBI that the third-highest police official can simply call the second in command of the local FBI office and have an agent stopped from talking to a judge about corruption?
Was Brodsky’s boss at the time, Special Agent-in-Charge Aaron Rouse, aware of what was going on between White, Brodsky and Fasulo?
Lombardo, Rouse, and Brodsky at a press conference. (Screenshot)
Rouse and Brodsky were seen standing behind Lombardo at press briefings many times after the October 1, 2017, Las Vegas Massacre.
Did Lombardo give the order for Fasulo to contact Brodsky and have White shut down?
Even after repeated requests for comment to the FBI Las Vegas Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada, they remain mute.
The FBI can comment if they wish to, because then Director of the FBI James Comey blew the FBI directive out the window that they do not comment on the status of investigations when Comey told the country all about the investigation into Hillary Clinton and that she was not going to be prosecuted.
So what does the Department of Justice in Washington D.C. have to say? They have received all of the stories published in the Baltimore Post-Examiner.
Apparently nothing either.
Last month I visited the FBI Las Vegas Division and requested to speak with White. FBI Special Agent Justin Todd Smith, who came down to the guard shack said he did not know White. Smith said he couldn’t comment on any of my questions and when I asked him if there was somebody who could, he told me to file a Freedom of Information Act request online.
So I went home and did just that and filed on online FOIA. Among other questions, I inquired if the FBI investigation into police corruption and Mally Mall was completed and if so was it forwarded to the US Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
On August 2 the FBI replied in a letter: The FOIA does not require federal agencies to answer inquiries, create records, conduct research or draw conclusions concerning queried data. Rather the FOIA requires agencies to provide access to reasonably described, nonexempt records. The questions posed in the referenced letter are not FOIA requests because they do not comply with the FOIA and its regulations. Therefore, your request is being administratively closed.
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