AGENCY : RECORD NUMBER : RECORD SERIES : ' AGENCY FILE NUMBER : ORIGINATOR : FROM: 7 TO: TITLE : DATE : . PAGES: SUBJECTS : DOCUMENT TYPE : CLASSIFICATION : 7 RESTRICTIONS : CURRENT STATUS : DATE OF LAST REVIEW : OPENING CRITERIA :. COMMENTS : JFK Assassination System : : Date: 2/23/201 Identification Form , - Agency Information HSCA 180-10088-10087 NUMBERED FILES. 006649 (PT 1.) Document Information HSCA STURGIS, FRANK A. "HEARINGS BEFORE THE SELECT COMM. ON ASSASSINATIONS: HOUSE OF REP'S... 03/20/1978 191 CIA. CUBA. _ STURGIS, FRANK A; TESTIMONY BEFORE THE COMMITTEE. ANTI-CASTRO ACTIVITIES. CASTRO, FIDEL. DEPOSITION. ‘Unclassified 3 Redact 01/01/2003 Duplicate deposition follows in next folder. Box 128. DocId! 32252529 Page 1
Florida iami, TABLE OF CONTENTS — ran} March 20, House of Representatives, “7 “t wn 1° n. ow tn en PAGE 1 1978 MBANY, ING. ara ‘ene et € ad EPCRTING EASON RE Sturgis ALS 10ns . Select Committee on ssassinat A INTERROGATORIES OF Frank A. : : wcosces mene ec area eee tm ey memantine Tee _ ged o 2 mn oc Bn ek ~ wm Fs ed & rane ar > SUEZ NSS (Z02) HZOUZ “BU “HOLDNUNGEN SDNIGTINA SHSLNGdAY “MOS LAUWES WEL VUE . ~ (Docld:32252529 Page i
F ; INTERROGATORIES | : MONDAY, MARCH 20, 1978 | 7 ~ 2. | Es 5 | House of Representatives, ! Y i 7 7 Select Committee on : 3 | Assassinations, | ~ | Miami, Florida. 3 7 The. committee met at 10:20 a.m., pursuant to | 3 i = 19 | notice, in the Grand Jury Room, U.S. Attorney's | : | Office, Federal Court House, 300 Northeast lst a 1 i J (2 Avenue, Miami, Florida, William K. Triplett, Esq., | = 123 Staff Counsel, presiding. | | - . | : ‘<4 Present: Albert Gonzales and Gaeton Fonzi, | = la Investigators; and Edwin Lopez, Researcher. | = 18 Also present: Frank A. Sturgis, the witness; ° a and Ellis Rubin, Esq., Attorney for the witness. | : 13 Mr. Triplett. We will come to order. = 9 Mr. Shapiro. Sir, I am Herbert S. Shapiro, : 2 20 United States Magistrate. I'm a Federal Judge. | Would you please raise your right hand? | i (Thereupon, the witness, Frank A. Sturgis was sworn. ah . { a4 i , i i INTERROGATORIES OF THE WITNESS, FRANK A. STURGIS “4 Mr. Rubin. Before we begin, Mr. Sturgis has a number of friends out there, members of the press. u Docld:322525279 Page 3
i 4 on 3 4a 4 a. = 5. oe : =. a é o~ on , bf 7 — S 3 fog o™ = = 10 o = ge , & ft] “, = 42 7) ; z 1 = 13 iad = a t4 ca te Ee 33 Cra the ae + = is = a VW a ‘aA zm YW ~ Sag = 20. 21 Boe » an a ae ig a Zu pls! au Docld: 32252529 “I'm sorry to do this to you. They' re not my friends that to my Attorney is to show that -- to give me He has no objections. They ‘ve asked if they could be in at tendance at this. I thought ‘that I would ask, if it is permissible. The Witness. I would like to correct my Attorney. because the press is not my friends. Mr. Rubin. - Personal: acquaintances. Mr. Triplett. We full understand that. — Mr. Sturgis, it has been the ‘custom and the habit of. this committee to conduct closed hearings. | And for that reason, I would point out to you that. it is not within the purview of this committee to conduct open hearings at this tine, and the press would be excluded. / The Witness. Well, one reason why I suggested some credibility that I’m openly and honestly, even in the past, where it pertains to the United States Government, -I have nothing to hide naturally. And that's one of the reasons why my. Attorney and myself asked that question. Mrs Triplett. We understand that. However, just ‘for the orderly conduct of the hearings we prefer to have the press excluded at this time. Now as you are aware this proceeding is being ALDSRSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC.
ood transeribed ‘and the: transcript will be prepared of 20024 (202)-954-2345. nec. HASHTNGTON , REPORTERS BUTLDING,- WV. § —_ st 300 7TH STREET, 5S eee oe -- soete eo eee: y; ¢ N & noo. ‘ i i the. proceedings, and it's” “my duty ‘to. ‘advise you that: my.” name is William. pripiett. | Pursuant to Ar Rule 4, I. have ‘been. designated counsel on “behalf! of the ‘committee to o.* ; that's what we will be doing today. |For the record, you are Frank A. Sturgis. Ts that ¢ correct? oe : . oe oe ‘The Witness. © ves, sir. My name is Frank anthony Sturgis legally. I was bornhwith the name Frank Angelo Fiorini. My | gathers $s. name was. Angelo ‘anthony. ‘Fiorini. — My mother’ ‘S | name was Mary Vona, V-o o=n- ae My: mother remarried at La later date which. in turn, legally through ‘the: I kept “my: ‘family | i House. ‘Resolution. 1222 ana Committee take statements under oath ana . rT When I was born in Norfolk, Virginia, courts -in “Norfolk, Virginia,’ my name’ was changed to her new husband's name, ‘to: Frank Anthony Sturgis. Pare a name’ as ‘aiueH as” I possibly coura. ME, ‘Triplett. |, ety - good: rs we . wit a ‘and for the f, The’ Witnegs. oF record, ‘you. are: here to, make’ a ; statement, ‘of your: own: volition. ‘This is voluntary: ey ra and not | under any compulsion. Is that right?” Yes, sir, as I have’ done before. in’ “the Senate Watergate Committee -~ well, the. Grand. “Jury -- the. Rockefeller Committee: and any” committee - ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY. INC. _ Docld: 32252529 Page 5
Mr. Triplett. Very good. uy pertaining to anything, I shave always went voluntairly. i I was not subpoenaed nor was it necessary to subpoena 3 | me. | 7 Mr. Triplett. ‘phat's right. That was my next 5 s| question. | | | : ' | . : ‘ B 6 | You're not here under subpoena, are you? & 7 : The Witness, No, sir. E a Mr. Triplett. And you do have Counsel present. gg | And for the: ‘record, “would Counsel. identify. himself? .c Hy . 3 10 | ‘Mr. Rubin. Ellis Rubin, fami, Plori@a, A = | member of the Florida and “the Federal Bars. | a i te . ae - Mr. Triplett. Now at ‘this, ‘time I'm going to hand 13 | you a: copy. ‘of the rules of the. House Select Committee 2 4 | on Assassinations, House Resolution 222, 433 and 760. e i pe, 1S Mr. Rubin. - Are ‘we ‘allowed to keep. these? & 16 | . Mr. Triplett. Yes. | | “, 17 | | “At this time I would request you, Mr. Sturgis, = | Be - Ei | and your Counsel, ‘to- read Rule Number 4 in the top z "| pampniet ‘in: that package. & ai - Mr Rubin, Rule Number | 4 is entitled, “Statements Under Oath ‘by Designated counser." ; Mr. Triplett. That's correct. a Mr. Rubin. Fine. We've read Rule 4 and Mr. | Sturgis ‘is aware ‘of its contents. a id i Hi ALDERSOM REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Docld: 32259599 Page 6
s D.C. SHINGTON ,; S.W. 300 7TH STREET, Doclda: 32252599 20024 (202) SS4-2345 REPORTERS BUTIDING, WA “, { 1 . ‘Now as I mentioned earlier, this entire 2. “deposition will be transcribed and you, Mr. Sturgis, 7 and your Attorney, will be sent the original of this 7 deposition, the original transcription, and asked to 5 | sign and verify it. And at that time we request you 2 Select Committee on Assassinations. If you have any changes in ‘the transcript or desire to make any changes, you should get in touch with myself and .we will. make arrangements for you to - make the changes and initial those changes that you so ‘return the signed and verified copy to the House ‘desire ‘to make , and that will have to be done before i Mr. Triplett. Now that the press has been advised, one further matter. Mr. Sturgis, I'm going to hand you a Xerox copy 13 a Federal Magistrate. aa I would suggest at. ‘this time, . possibly, Mr. Rubin, | | 1 iS} that you might inform the press: that it is a closed | 1 1 yan are . a. ey hearing, since they' ‘re waiting outside. 17 | . | 13 | I | { i | i | | | “1 Of our Committee Document No. 06327. It's a letter to the Chief ‘Counsel and Staff Director of the 47 ow | | | Mr. Rubin, All ‘right. | | | | ‘Select Committee | on Assassinations from the Legislative rm a Wo tn i | | { I | Counsel of the Director of Central Intelligence regarding : | | your testimony. i i i i i “ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY. ING. 7 , Page 7
INO 7TH STREET, S.W. REPORTERS BUTLDING, WASHINGTON, N.C, 20024" (202) S5u-2445 d 4h { Docld: 32252529 The Witness. Fine. Can we have a copy of this Ww | also? 3 | Mr. Triplett. We have a copy of this for you. + | Do you understand that letter? Do you have any | problems with it? 6] The Witness. No. I understand it. As far a as I'm concerned there is no reason why I shouldn't 3 | | appear to testify. Mr. Triplett. . That's correct. Mr. Sturgis, just a few clarifying questions. What was the date and place of your birth? ‘The Witness. I was born December 9th, 1924 at — - one — 40 Nm —~ o oO wr ee Norfolk, Virginia. i “| Mr. Triplett. And I believe you've already | statea your parents full names on the record. is | ‘The Witness. Yes. a Mr. Rubin. Don't volunteer anything. Just answer ‘8 lnis questions. It'll go faster. "9 Mr. Triplett. And again, I don't know if you 20 . a told us what was the date you changed your name? The Witness. I don't recall, but the Government \does have the records of when my name was changed in iINorfolk, Virginia. 24 | : 7 7 . i - Mr. Triplett. And what was the purpose for f 7 . ichanging your name? I: ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Page 's
7- | a: . The Witness. Well, two. One, because my mother 2 | remarried a Sturgis; and secondly, I thought it was 2 convenient at that time because there were so many | | | oe oO +) Frank Firoini's in my family. a 3 | Mr. Triplett. Just to make it very clear, I ' Woo. ; , , . : 2 5 | believe ‘on the official court records your former = "| name.was listed as Frank Firoinio, ending in an "0". S : Was that a clerical error? co 9 | The Witness. Well, I've always, since the day io | og was born, signed ny name and knew my name as Hl. Pei-r-o-i-n-i. - Mr. Triplett, Where did you attend grammar ‘school?— The Witness. Holy Rosary Catholic School, REPORTERS BUTLDING, ‘WASHINGTON, rey Germantown Philadelphia; Roosevelt Junior High, . 16 Germantown Philadelphia; Germantown High School, ‘ 7 | Germantown Philadelphia; later I went to William a . 2 | and Mary College in Norfolk, Virginia, which is the © = | extension of William and Mary College. § | “Mrs. Triplett, “And when did you attend William pe 2) “The Witness. Oh, again we're going back so many "S| years. It would be on record. ‘The Government would «| nave that on record. _ | | i } : — 5 Mr. Triplett. Well just roughly the year, if you | oe Docld: 32259599 Page 9.
can recall? The Witness. I would. say in the ‘40's, the late '40's I would think, yeah, the late ‘40's. ra Mr. Triplett. All right. When were you first married? 654-2345 paren tsarer ennai antnaanr Sosa art ater Soa teats Ee 3 .The Witness. I got out of the Marine Corps in g 7 | 1945.0 1 believe I was married in 1946. 8 3 - Mr. Triplett. and what was the maiden name ‘ “oi of your first wife? | | | 7 oo a Le . . . . z 10 . The Witness. I forget off-hand. - Zon Mr. Triplett. What was her first name? Son] The Witness. You've got me in a blank moment. Eon /° Mr. Rubin,” It will come to him. : ae ‘The Witness. “It'll ‘come to me. I'm sorry. é 1s mr. t¢iplett: "How many times have you been : 13 | married? es 7 S ; “ : The Witness. This is my third time. “Mr. Triplett. All right. What was the maiden name of your second wife? The Witness. These experiences have been, ‘because of the particular time, were very unhappy experiences with ie. . Like I Say now, it's a complete blank to me. . “Mr, Triplett. Do you recall when and where you 23 Sd ere e a - ““ | married your second wife? i . wo SF i. - Docld:3272527579 Page 10
wife at Norfolk, Virginia and my first wife I think was in Carolina. South Hill, North Carolina, I believe de i : : The Witness. At Norfolk, Virginia. My second . { | | it was. | ce = 3 i - Mr. Triplett. And your first wife. Did you 7 t- i ; , 3 | divorce her? 3 "| The Witness. My first wife? She died. My & a ‘second wife, we divorced. - As a matter of fact I was 3 a heré and she applied for a divorce and I did not z 10 | contest it. z no Mr. Triplett. And do you know where your second = 12 wife is presently. located? Pd nee ¢ = wy 4a The Witness. No, I don't. I assume Norfolk, 3 " | virginia. —— E 13 : oe Mr. Triplett. And you remarried a third time? = 8 | - The Witness. Yes. | | ° 7 ' Mr. Triplett. And what was the maiden name of Sf _ a ~ 9 2 8 e third wife? EF The Witness. | Hunt, H-tien-t. : | Mr. Triplett. And what is her first name? ee : The Witness. I call her Janet. — She calls PR 2 | nerseit Jan Hunt. | | | aa oy, Mx. Triplett. ..And when and where did you marry Ber? op. S@hevWitness. Here /in Miami, Florida. i . , an ne | ALgengon azsoatiNe COMPANY. ING. Docld: 32252529
4 4 ey | = 31 ~ i iL i eg i. I ~- s 7 | oS = 7 ~ | = i N fo : pas 3 cS ~N rs} S = S = a x i = 12 ° 1 eo 1 =z i = 13 | = i e 1 | % a -; 1s | A i7 | o i Sig | ad t ct | = 19 4 ~ i t t | Sy Te it rs. H $27 22 i 23 i i 22 | ; it 23 | Docld: 32252529 Page 12 Mr. Triplett. Approximately when? The Witness. Oh, it's 15 years, I think. These Mr. | things are very minor things. | 1963 you The years. Mr. And The — 3 | { | ey an happily married. Mr. year was The Mr. Triplett. So that would be approximately Married her? Witness. ‘'63. Possibly '62. Sixteen, 17 Triplett. All right. you're still married to her? Witness. Oh, yes, sir, certainly. Very Mr. Triplett. All right. When did you first enter the military service? The Witness. I joined the United States Marine Corps,. volunteered,when I turned 17. Well, I was. 17 years old, in Germantown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Triplett. And going back, approximately what — that when you were 17? Witness. It would be 19 what, '42 I believe. Yeah, 1942, Triplett. And what. units were you in? Do ; you recall? The Witness. I believe so. . I took about seven weeks of basic training in | | I [the Marine Corps at Paris Island, South Carolina. I | ALDERSON SEPORTING COMPANY, INC. 10
yor “got on the H. . Allen, they: sent. me through the” ol ea “| Panama: Canal; went to ‘American ‘Samoa. o was in’ a. 1 | 21 raining « outfit there ard: L volunteered for the First. | | Raider Battalion. which was. on ‘Guadocanal. I was I fT ashe, 20 to. Guadocanal eo join ¢ the. virst’ Battalion, and I 3 & | staves with the same. Company. until the end of the ware re ater ‘SO First 8 Raider Battalion. and then we. increased. = a i g 7 | type: activities. g..0) the First Marine Battalion, ¢ ‘the: First, Marine a eI] Regiment. to the: First Marine Brigade to. “the Sixth - @ 2) Marine Divisten: to. the tenth “Army. under the commana. S Bot og General ‘mucknét, who’ was” ‘Army Commander of the. ae | seoes army, which, we made ‘the invasion of okinawa. BO Mr. Triplett.” What rank did: you attain in the fe Bg : 7 eT he - The Witness. — corporal. Eula Gipgharged co wether a i: ; ES | ny rank, fluctuated. And when I was. discharged q. | = "| weatay forget. I was a ‘corporal. | tr ‘think I was ja * % | Corporal | i¢hen: Tr was: “Gigcharged. ; 2 Mr. rriplett. You say, your rank fluctuated. rs Fae | arse vo 5 ere’ YOu , higher than’ “a. ‘Corporal, during. eigeie be The: witness... Well), during the times ‘you had “acting: ‘Sergeants: ‘and so “forth. And being out in the. arr po ’ ‘oe . : ’ : co jungles. and out in the ‘islands there, | Like one. time | ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY..INC. ‘Docld:32252529 Page 13 an | We were losing the war then: our actions was “eommando -
12 | | Le . ets, oo, 7 wy | I went on: a “bombing raid over. Bouganville, that. 1" J was not ‘supposed, to go ‘fron Guadocanal, and when rm 1 i 4a peers know, lost my rank. But! these. are: the fluctuations: eye “tn | _ Mes Hebpredes- What types. of training aid you. { \ receive™ in the Marines? Did. you: receive any special. | “type of training? 2N024 -(202) $S4-2345 " oo- Be “The Witness. Well). the Marine Corps: was. a nigh ‘the efemy lines.” . ¢ oe ‘ ‘specialized, well, a. highly. trained ‘organization as. ay ; : S ea. whole. But. when r Joined the Raider Battalion, we. = 1 H aa a Nl were t ‘trained specifically 6. ‘do behind the a} Ho. a —_ 2 | activities. _ For: instances, assagsinations, infiltrating ‘ =. . i ae neopets ee . an ; . 8 Pico canaere ‘these are. ‘the types: that'we aid Sy S ona 1 time, 2g Ye ~ We "Gl coke mo He eo bo & “ie were’ “Yosing’ ‘the war, SO. we had’ to. operate ce. Mr. Triplett, Okay. _whexe. aia you receive. this: raider train po the Witness. On American Samoa. ‘And, the ‘ LL W. So nw i) OR , 2 | of | ob an oes | ae | | L i ao | | | =| ‘| A a ace af \ |) training continually, naturally, as we went fron . i ee, oe [Loperation’ to. operation. It was continuous training of Lp Sp sa a J as oh -_ i. out ain ‘the Pacific. | re “| SON REPORTING. COMPANY. ING. “Docld:32252529° Page 14,% fs 0
ZNOQWH (202) S54-2345 D.C, REPORTERS BUTLDING, WASUTNGTON, WV. iY . om oe Sans = Sal n = = ~ J iad Pe) Docld: 32252529 ta fm Ov | Mr. Triplett. What type of discharge did you receive from the Marines? | the Witness. Honorable discharge. Mr. Triplett. What did you do after you were discharged from the Marines as far as an occupation? The Witness. I came home and because of the influence of my family, the Fiorini family in Norfolk, Virginia, I got on the Norfolk Police Department. I spent -- not at the beginning “- but I was a plain clothes police officer. I did go through training that we had which they called the ‘Police Academy training. And from then I was working as manager. of several ‘bars there in Norfolk, Virginia. Mr. Triplett. Did you subsequently enter the military service, any other military service? The Witness. Yes. I was in the United States ‘Naval Air Reserve, stationed at Norfolk Naval Air Station as a Radio Gunner there. And eventually I *@did receive an honorable discharge. Mr. Triplett. When did you enter the Naval Reserve? The Witness. Oh, that was, I would say after I got off the Police Department. I would think it might have been in '46 or '47. I'm not too sure of ALDERSON RESORTING COMPANY, INC. 15
REPORTERS BUTLDING, WASHTHGTON, D.C. S.u, Docld: 32252529 in 2n024 (202) S54-2345 30 7TH STREET, ‘the date. Mr. Triplett. ‘Did I-understand you correctly, you were a radio gunner? s_ > The Withess. Yeah, in a PBY Squadron on the Naval Air Station. | , Mr. Triplett. What was your function as a ‘radio gunner? - | | the Witness. Well, we took our’ training with the PBY's. We learned radio. And weapons was no - problem because I:had my basic training with the’ Marines as far as weapons were concerned. “Mr. Triplett. And did you receive any special training in. the Naval Reserve?. “the Witness. No, sir. ot was already prior trained. | | 7 | Mr. Triplett. What rank did you attain in the Naval Reserve? _ | | 7 | ‘The Witness. ‘Seaman, or whatever. Mr. Triplett. Again, approximately when did I. you enlist in the Naval Reserve and when. were you The Witness. .Honést, it's a complete blank. - | You'd have ‘to check with: them, you know, the military records. . mw ta Mr. Triplett, ‘Okay. | ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Page 16
‘Roughly, -how many years were you in the Naval a Reserve? ‘The Witness... Oh, I would say I stayed with them rye ' a couple of years. Maybe more, maybe less. Mr. Triplett. And what type of discharge did you receive? _ | _ The Witness. Honorable discharge. 2NG2" (202) SSH-23n5 Mr. Triplett. Did you subsequently enlist in ~ a a the Merchant Marine?_ “The Witness. Yes. Mr. Triplett. And when did you enroll, or enlist inthe Merchant Marine? o 7 ————————— The Witness. Again, it's so many. years back. Mr. Triplett. Early ‘50's; late "50's; early REPORTERS BUTELDTNG, WASHINGTON, D.C. "60's? . a ay ‘Phe Witness. It could be, yes. I would say ou. soa S ne in the '50's. ‘Could'be the late '40's maybe, or early '50's. Mr. Triplett. “And what kind of training, if. 300 7TH STREET, ; - The Witness. Actually no training at all. -Because | | any, did you receive in the Merchant. Marines? | t I did join the-union.. In order to get in the Merchant | Marine you had to be éleared. You had to -get a U.S. — i. Customs clearance, ‘a security clearance, which I - '- did get that security clearance. . And I was part of — 4h ALGQERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. . en Docld:322527599 Page 17
20024 (202) SSH-2945 n.c, HINGTON, WAS 16 a. 47 eS ta es 1g a =. 19 ~ € a Ss .20 mo te : 23 Docld: 32252529 REPORTERS BUTLDING, the union, the Maritime Union in Norfolk, Virginia. t. . And through’ them I naturally received certain jobs on Merchant ships. Mr. Triplett. Okay. In line with those jobs, did you have occasion ~ to travel? The Witness. Yes, sir. Mr. Triplett. And do you recall, or can you list some of the ports you traveled to during that period? ‘I went to theone.up in Greenland, which. was one of our biggest air bases that we had, about 200 miles this ‘side of the North Pole. I'm trying to remember the. name of it. I forget the name of it, but it's one of our biggest bases we had, military bases we had _ - in Greenland. 'Mr. Triplett. And did you have occasion to travel back and forth between this country and Europe ‘in the Merchant Marine? the Withess. ‘Yes. Mr. Triplett. Approximately how long were you in the Merchant Marine? 7 The Witness. Not too long. I'd say possibly a year, a year and a half, approximately. ALCERSON REPORTING COMPANY, IMC. 13 ‘The: Witness. Well, I'll give you one in particula ‘16 | | | | : |
‘| JON 7TH STREET, S$... REPORTERS BUILDING, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20024 (202) SS4-23N5 IAS Docld: 32252529 10 | Marine. a leaving the Merchant Marine? The Witness. - the situation, international situation with the United States Government as far as shipping was concerned, was getting very bad. They ‘were doing it more with. foreign carriers than they wa | 17 i : : ; . Mr. Triplett. And what was your reason for oe | | | were with American carriers, and naturally American so - unions were a little upset with that. So I could not make a living really, by staying with the Merchant Mr. Triplett. I see. ‘.did you do as far as an occupation is concerned? | fH 12 : And after you left the Merchant Marine, what ! | The Witness. Well, I had a night club that I was involved with called the Top Hat Night Club ‘on Virginia Beach, Virginia. I also was part owner “partner. I had a bar on Main Street in Norfolk called | in that. Mr. Arthur Bass was my patron and also my ‘the -- I was part owner in that. It's been so many “years ago. Anyway, before I went with him to the night club I was part owner at this bar and then when we sold nN oS the bar that's when I started to go to the Merchant 3 ne “Marine thing. Ww in And one of the reasons why I quit the Merchant 4 ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Page 19
re) de | | | | | | | | | | w = § N 1 “ 9 ~~ ~ , lm] a 7 —_ Ss 8 ao ™ Pe § e = ‘19 5. g etl a s - 12 o = ~ a 13 = Bot gS = aa : = 1s 3 Bo | , = 616 | ~ | “. | an. | ‘eC | told & 13 | pa 5 ‘= 19 | eA e° 19 | roe] 4 j i ; rh Seer ee 24 i oo 24 | 1 0) ih al Docld: 322525279 Page i ! i ! | { t \ Ie ' ! i | it. | S = jwent to Fort Dix, New | Jersey. . I passed my ges, test they sata yes, they d did. And they lied to > THe al oo : ; : Marine: was: because ‘he convinced: ‘me to go into the business. of the night club. Now it's coming back. Mr. Arthur Bass. | So I went into the night club business with him. * This was another reason why I discontinued going with the Merchant Marine. | . Mr. Triplett. And how long were you.in the night club’ business with Mr. Bass? | - The Witness. I imagine a good couple of years. Mr. Triplett. And following that, aiaYyou subsequently enlist in the United. States Army? ‘The Witness, Yes, ‘I did. Mre Triplett. Sepronimataly when, Af Yoh secnn, did. You. enlistudn the United States Army?. ‘The ‘Witness. t imagine it would, be in the” “50: S. This was at the time of the Russian blockadg. Of. ‘Berlin. . When I joined the Army, I signed. Up in: ‘Norfolk, Virginia. I believe | (ait was Norfolk, Virginia, and they were, “going, ‘to send me to: Officer candidate School, and tasked if they had one | in Europe“ana So when .I went to Europe: I found out. that. the Army. lied to me and Phey. aid: not have an Officer. Pa f at ‘Candidate School there. That I ‘would have to’ stay in, eae oe ALDERS OM REPORT! N S.COMPANY, INC. 20! 1a8 So ee s:)
7 you know, a year in order to come back to the States — | 2 and go to the Officer Candidate School back here. | 2 $0 I immedi ately asked to go overseas and a few a weeks later -- I did not have to get training because | | of my prior training and because of my ‘combat experience 3 6 | I was sent to, I believe it was Marburg (phonetic) , | _ Germany; which was a repo depot there, a replacement | : 8 ! outfit there, where they sent me to Berlin, Germany, | od a | and I was with the Fourth Regiment there, and I was z 10 | with General Clay's Honor Guard, | = os | | Mr. Triplett. What was your purpése in asking | v3 an ; ‘ = V2 | to be sent to Europe? | re — oe 5 12 | The Witness. To go through Officer Candidate . | 14 | senoos. | / | | : | : is | Me. Triplett. Well, Officer Candidate School : 1s | was -avatiapie here, but you said you wanted to go to “ "| oes in ‘Europe’. Whatwas your’ purpose in wanting to A 2 |e 2 Bereeer ” . | | ae the Witness. Well, 1 wanted to go back. to Europe 5 * | pecae 1 had been to Harobe fore and I likea | See" Evrope. And 1 felt well, 14 prefer to goto Europe pe 2 \ and I was having problems with my first wife at that \ time and I just wanted to get away from the United States. Mr, Triplett. What rank. did you attain in the Army?  ALDERSOM REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Docld: 32252529 Page 21 a]
nw. Oh, when I left Berlin, Germany, I was having a very close ‘affair with ‘a young lady. there who happene TS . “he Witness. I was ‘discharged a PFC in the Army... to be going with a Colonel on General Clay's Staff, so I was immediately sent out of Berlin back to Marburg || wen in turn they sent me to Heidleburg,. Germany, which was headquarters, UCOM Headquarters, and I was assigned to Armed Security Agency, which I had the clearance for. | | Mr. Triplett. Okay. Besides Marburg, Heidleburg and Berlin, were you stationed in any other places in Europe?: Phe Witness. Not that I recall. I went other REPORTERS BUTLDING, WASHTNGTON, D.C. 29024 (202) S5%-2345 en : As _ Wo os “| placed in Europe, but these were the places that I | was actually stationed, | 7 ‘Ae | Mr. Triplett. ‘Now will you again describe, you “ 7] say you had gecurity clearance at Heidleburg?~ | ot : ar _ _ 8 | ' The Witness. Oh, you would have to have security = | 7 | se e 1 | clearance with the Armed Service Security Agency. S: 20 | Mr. Triplett. Okay. | | oe ‘Exactly. what were your functions there? ! pe 22 The Witness. Well my functions were, I was | 2 | under command’ of, I believe he was a First Sergeant, | -who was directly in command of a Colonel and my “| functions was typing, which if you asked me to type | ALSERSON REPORTING COMPANT, INC. | ; oo i Docld:32252529 Page 22.
0.c. WASHINGTON ; Sou, . 900 7TH STREET, Docld: 32252529 2N024 (202) S$54-29N5 REPORTERS BUTLDING, S |training, but specialized training. . For instance 7 |iike aemy Security ‘ageney. As you went along you 8 | receivea that particular type of training. ae Mr. Triplett. Well, 2 presume you were trained 20 [an something other than typing. what, if anything, 2 Iwere you trained in within the confines of. Army a a , % sp 35 i — hua ; | 23 | 21 “today I couldn't do because I haven't typed in a many years. I received training for typing at that time before ‘I went there. And one of my duties was- to type the "Cc" numbers on all classified and top ‘secret documents that we burned in the incinerator. “And this ‘stuff naturally was activities concerning our headquarters, the uUCOM Headquarters in Europe. | Mr. Triplett. What functions did you have. besides typing? | "the Witness. That's it. Mr. Triplett. Did you receive any specialized a in de w nN oo ste Se se eS ‘ training in the Army? | The Witness. My training. in the Army, as I went. along, was being trained again. Basic military fo training was not necessary because of my past military { ppecurity? | | - The Witness. Just to type these ‘"C" numbers . 24.4 oo ‘ jot the classified documents and top secret documents — 23 | Co . : -ithat were going to be destroyed by fire in the be 7 ALDERSON REPORTING. COMPANY, INC. Page 23 #1
p6C. “17 co. tes i3 = , Ne) + =. 19 ~ ‘ tet, fang Ss ° 29 31 Oe 23 24 Z5 Docla: 32252599 20024 .(202). SSN-2345 | “REPORTERS BUTEDING; VASHTNGTON, | [rather than a military’ function? | Looked good, i | incinerator. That. was my particular job and that was it. I don! t think anybody needed specialized training to do. that. 2 -Mr. rriplett. You also mentioned you were in | General Clay’ s Honor Guard? ‘the Witness. Yes. 2 “ Ume. tipiéet.) “What, exactly was the Honor Guard the: ‘Witness.’ Well, “the function of thé ‘Hohor laa was a specialized group of military ‘persongel that | was “trained specifically that when any high ranking officer or political VIP that came into. ree, jazea, vat the ‘aizport to nilitary bases, the Honor: louara would perform. for these. particular people, ° | | | | | | i and what . was your” function - in it? coe oo . i \ i | Me. Triplett. So- bt was more a show function - | ‘The Witness. Military, right. You would call. it a military function if a General came iny) pyou, know. | | That would be a. show military function for them. rt . | , { - Mr. Triplett. Okay. Let's get into. qnother Joos “I want to know if you had any relationships. with “jany United States Government Intelligence agency , whether ! i at be- FBI, CIA, Military Intelligence or ‘whatever. ‘Have | “ALZERSON 2eP0aT! NG company, imc. Page 240°
202 .(202) REPORTERS BUTLDTHG, WASHINGTON, B.C. S.u. cee sr esd Docld: 32252529 55-2395 — 300 7TH STREET, | | | | re) _~ > a) I" lw | I. | te 7 of I ] a) aw nr” ry | i id iH i tt | i peo Page you shad any relationships with any of those agencies I enumerated, or any other Federal Government intelligence agencies? The Witness’ Yes, sir. Mr. Triplett. “And what was your first contact with any? | The Witness. Well, I was in the mountains in Cuba with Fidel Castro. My first contact with any | was with the Vice-Consul in Santiago, Cuba. One lof my missions when I.’ came out of the mountains. was | to deliver some secret messages to the underground in Santiago. — When’ I was in Santiago I always went to the Casa Grande Hotel, which was the biggest hotel there, and - one evening, which was on a Priday, I sat down to play: bingo. and an. American. came to my. ‘table ‘and made. ¥ contact with me “and was playing ‘bingo, and he identified himself as: ‘we ‘went. along ‘in a. few hours, he told me was the Vice- “Consul. Also, he was the Chief of the | CIA stationed there in Santiago. And he » “questioned me and so forth. This is where I first started to SPY on Castron’ forces for the» | jUnited States Government. | HL i Mr. Triplett... So. that was your First contact? ‘The Witness. Yes, sir. ens ALSERSON REPORTING C COMPANY, INC. 25
oo a | 24 Mr. Triplett. “And that would have been what, 19582 | The Witness. I would say it was 1958, approximately. Yes. Now what month I don't know, sir. 3 Mr. Triplett. And this was while Batista was 3 still in power in Cuba? 5 The Witness. Yes, sir. Mr. Triplett. Do you recall the name of the “ Vice-Consul? z The Witness. I did have the name of the Vice- E | Consul. It's on record. His name is on record. : Mr. Triplett. Would it be Clark Wollen? : The Witness. No, sir. No. Mr. Wollen, I : believe, was the Consul, but the Vice-Consul -- as : a matter of fact this gentleman is retired today. = It'll come to me. Unfortunately I didn't know what v questions you were going to ask me, otherwise I would : have written it down because I have it ath ome. I E would have..written down his name. | ¢ . a 5 | Mr. Triplett... But in any event you could provide Sr that name later to Mr. Fonzi or myself? The Witness. Oh, certainly. As a matter of | fact I think I spoke to Mr. Fonzi before, spoke to him about him. I gave him the name. But I. could | give Mr. Fonzi his name. No problen. ALDERSON REPSCRTING COMPANY, INC. Docld: 32252579 Page 276 -
Mr. Triplett.. Okay. While you were gathering this information | ‘presumably in 1958, were you paid for these services? te The Witness. I was offered money, but I refused it-and the reason why I refused it was the fact that | j | | | | é | x fe1t that in helping my country at that particular Ho . | | time, I had my own resources which was with Castro. | Money was no problem, so I didn't feel that I needed | to take ‘money from my own Government who I voluntarily, ‘| when he asked, to go ahead and spy for the United States Government there. oo “Mr. Triplett. So you rejected: any money at. | that time? a “/ The Witness. . Actually, yes. We _ Mr. triplett. | When aia you first arrive in ae “@he Witness. Well, my connéction with the -- ia oh, my uncle, after I got out of the Marine Corps, | came to Miami to live and my uncle married a Cuban 300 7TH STREET, S.W. REPORTERS BUTLDING, WASHINGTON, D.C. 2nn2% (202) SSH-2345 rm { here in exile. -This is how I had.a source -- naturally Stee ANS LF Nat jae a ‘young lady, at that time, whose family was ! : . ; . ; , ; . . { |) had a family, or married into my family. This was on the Vona side. “My uncle's name.was Angelo ; Vona. He married this young lady, which he's still 25 1. . 7 Hs ; | married to today. I have not been in contact with them. ae ALDERSON REFSORTING COMPANY, INC. | Docld:322525279 Page 27°
‘2n024"(202) SSH=23N5 ** ‘REPORTERS “BULLDTNG , WASHINGTON, D.C. iV. -lagw ru sreeet, 5 < Pocld: 32252529 | | SE 2 pats: family. op Pe wo in for a number of years. 1 don! t know where he! s ate: | And my connection with the Caban colony was “through - Fidel left. Mexico, came to the united States, | and. I met Pidel. here in. the United ‘States. ‘This, i Vas how. ‘iT. got involved in the cuban ~~ got! out, ‘of the; Marines? soe | | | i Mrs Triplett. (Intexpesing) this was after you. | the witness... ean. Ts ener Triplett. woinia” “that! be Before. "you ‘went i mo, pinto: the. Army? a in ! woe he a ‘Then T met Cartos: rio, the ex-President of | *leaba and I had an n association with creed As time » went Is jon, Ir ‘Believe. it was, it might have been "56, or 187, 7 Lae: time went’ o: on r tried | to convince “President. carlos” JS lprio’ that ¢ the ‘people, his. gorilla force. ‘in: ‘the. PJacuntains 0 of Cuba was not very active. . vhat. 1. felt, fant that ‘it might be a. good idea’ for me, to go" ‘there to” an i cppede i in ‘the. ‘training of the gorillas and’. ‘to step uP Pe he L it the military. ‘actions. there. 23 ree ee | 7 He’ agreed, ‘but | ‘that wasn! t the question, the ., ‘question that. he. needed was naturally the: arms that. the. gorilla forces ‘needed to- fight against the ‘Batista Page 28. i “the, witness.) Yeah. “The. first. contact with ‘the -
D.C. 20024 (202) S54-2345 REPORTERS BUTLDING, VASHTHOTON, 1, oul, Docld: 32252529 300 7TH STREET, S “a : wo tn forces. So it was decided that 1 would go and join ‘the Castro forces because he wanted to know what was . ‘going on with the Castro forces because he was, at times, helping finance Fidel Castro. Mr. rriplett. Okay. This was a decision. between you and. Carlos Prio? The Witness. Yes. | Mr. Triplett. So when did you finally go to ar Cuba? . . 7 | i The Witness. Well, let's make it 1957. Within vthat range. | | - Mr. nriplett. And where. dia you residd then when you arrived in Cuba? =. | The Witness. I made contact directly with the Catholic Church. I went to Santiago and Iwas’ in touch with certain people in the Church there who ‘90K me personally -- I'm sorry; they didn't ‘take me personally. ~~, they told me to go to Notongos.. to ‘JO. sto the Catholic Church there, which I made Gontact with a, priest there who took me out in the countryside to meet a Cuban fellow ‘who was the ‘manager. of. the a Coca Cola. plant there in Montonzo. And I stayed. at -his. place where he took me to a farm house this . -Side Of: the mountains where I waited for a Cuban -patrol, a ALDERSON REFORTING. COMPAN YING. | re - de
tN co- Castro forces. 7 When I say Cuban, I mean a gorilla patrol, to pick 2 me up and take me into the mountains to see Pidel. . — . 80 I did not see Fidel for a period of about *| oh, I would say seven or eight days later, that I came : ; | across Fidel. I forget the name of the small -- in Bs | the mountains -- a small. conglomerate of houses that 7 [we along the mountain side and this is where I : Yl met Fidel again. Because remember, I met Fidel in C >| wiami, Florida before he went to Cuba. Z to , . Mr. Triplett. All right. E " ! once you met Fidel, I presume you joined up : 3 with him, or stayed with him? | 3 "g a 7 The Witness. Well, not exactly joined with : in | him because my sympathies were with the Cuban exiles 2 ‘3 | against the Dictator Batista. . | : ae , It was decided later with Prio that I would ‘ | go ahead and join Fidel's group of people. oi 4 ed é ac ‘Mr. Triplett. And prior to Fidel taking over : | ana throwing out Batista, what functions did you || Bextor for Mr. Castro? | cee a (The Witness. Helped train the gorillas in the aw | mountains; went on missions, secret missions for "| messages; bought guns and equipment for the Castro * | sorces; delivered these guns and equipment to the | a ALOERSON RESORTING COMBANY, INC. DocId: 32252529 Page 30
an | 29 When the revolution was finished, I went to vand I left Santiago and. came over. That's how we made contact and we got to be very: ‘friendly, Ht it as ae 2 | Havana about a week later. a Mr. Triplett. Let me interrupt and back up +i) here. a si You say you went on secret missions. Were these “6 Il -the secret missions you referred to earlier as being S 7 directed by the Vice-Consul, or were these secret : 8 | missions on behalf of Fidel Castro? S 9 | - The Witness. . Yeah, these secret missions on a “Up. oz «(10 | behalf of the gorilla forces. “But they were aware & Hoof most- of my. activities. “ES ya ere ~ OW : Mr. Triplett. — All right. a3. And once Fidel ‘Castro was victorious, what * a [fesetone aia you, perform at that time? -. Ey EIS, @he Witness. Well, I went a week later to = is || Havana’ and I changed ovér from the Cuban Army -- aan) rather the Rebel Army -- to the Cuban Air Force. 2 ‘Sie. My eriena,- Pedro Diez Leaz, who on one (of ie) . . = the other missions during this period of time, him = 20 Ba? 22 | fs Pedro was nominated commander-in- Chief of the. 23 [Cuban Air Force. I was made the’ Director of Security, ‘which is a high ranking ‘intelligence position, | / i oe Now ~~ go ahead -- this was my position at that | re tt : i Hi - ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Docld: 32252579 Page 31.
“particular time. _ | co Mr. Triplett. when you say Director of _ : The Witness! (Interposing) ‘For the: cuban air | i Force, ‘or “the: FAR whieh § is the Revolutionary Air Force. a Me. Brtpieee. And what were: your “functions” as x. | Director of Security for the Air. Force? | a in ‘The. Witness. I maintained all of the security: rh o£. all the. military bases ingide: of cuba. Bs set up~ san’ intelligente ‘apparatus ‘for Castro, ‘outside of cuba, HT namely, ih, the unitea” States. ‘which in. turn I notified aon 3 “the Government of ‘the. Agents | that: ‘were being set. uD here. Set Up ‘an intelligence: apparatus. here in the “United States “through, the. cuban air. Force... a at the same: time ‘the “American Government: was)" advised of: these Cuban agents “working in; the » south ‘Ploriaa sarees | _ 7 a “So that was. not ‘clandesting a6 fae ae the. 1. gan 7TH STREET, Siti. REPORTERS BUILDING, HASHTNGTON, O.C. 20024 (202) §54-2345 2 mw _~ ao) —— . — : i re tS _ American Government was concerned? SE aon The witness. certainly it was / clandestine. EN ‘Triplett. Well, was the American Government weap eo : “, [aware of. ‘the names and activities of. these ‘Cubans? eed, : . an The Witness. ‘sure. I gave ‘then ‘the. names “Of. re oe a the. agents. ‘that. was being formed and sent here. ‘to: spy | ott i = ALDERSON "REPORT! is COMPANY, ING.” | ! Le “Docld:32252529 Page 32°
Nn | | “for the Cuban Government. 7 Mr. Triplett. And was Fidel Castro or Pedro | _. acne nn RE i ene et nn van fie neta 3 Diez Lanz aware that you were providing this information * to the United states Government? zs “phe Witness. I'm not sure: whether they were. 3 é | wo, I don't think so because they did not know of 5 7 my contact with the Embassy at that time. . S a I was advised to make contact with Colonel | Nichols. Colonel Nichols was the military attache z (10 | for the cuban Air Force. E M |: - Mr. Triplett. And. is he” the one to whom you : 12 | provided the names of these agents? : 13 The ‘Witness. Not only provided the names of © & re | these asents but also the various conspiracies that : 13 were taking place within Havana, of people from = ‘Costa Rica, from Panama, people from the Dominican Republic, people from Hati. the various Centrat -and South American Countries came “there trying to make contaét:directiy | withoFidel or members of the chierachy, which I was part of this. But they themselves ‘could not get direct contact with Fidel which was a na ION PTH STREET, SLM coo | “ |-very very difficult because of the turmoil that was 23° ; ‘going on there. I was “contacted and I was involved in the “conspiracies to overthrow and send gorilla forces into ‘ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Wye Docld: 32252529 ‘Page 33
2NN24 (202Y S5u-2345 WV, s 300 7TH STREET, Docld: 32252529 REPORTERS BUYLDING, WASHTNGTON, D.C, the Central American countries and these Caribbean things which again the American Government was being advised through me. | Mr. Triplett. Were any Castro agents arrested as a result of this information you were giving the "American Government? The Witness. No, sir, and I'll tell you the reason why. Because I didn't find out until years ‘later that through. many of the meetings that we had had in Havana at the very beginning, many of us ‘suspected that the American Embassy was helping in ‘guiding Fidel Castro, especially CIA. At one of the meetings I was asked to bypass “the Embassy and go directly to Washington, D.C. to ‘make contact with Mr. Hoover because being that we ‘were strongly anti-communist and because of the ‘information that many of our people had and the “contacts that they had pertaining to the Embassy, had the sympathies of many of the Embassy personnel -and also of the CIA personnel assisting Castro which, jeat that time, we didn't know this definitely. But |-we suspected it. Later we found it was a true fact. | So I did bypass with information pertaining to. ‘the Castro brothers and pertaining to many of the ‘Communists who were being put in various positions by ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. 34
33 the Castro brothers, which we were definitely against. eat least outwardly working with and for. the Fidel - | So I went. on a special mission to Washington. 3 Made contact with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 3 | I believe -~ I did not speak with Mr. Hoover personally en ee : a ae . 2 °°] but I believe I spoke. to his right-hand man. a 6 ys “Mr. Triplett. | Do you recall his: “name? zs 7 | The Witness. No, sir, Iodon't. But it. should es 8 | be on record. ~ oo Co, : oo Saas ie Mr. Triplett. Would it be Sullivan or DeLoach> a i . z (10 | (phonetic)? ‘Do those names -- ey The Witness. (Interposing) No, sir. It's been = 12 | SO. many years I don! t recall. ‘3 \ a Mr. Triplett. Olsen? . . i The Witness. I-don't recall. 2 7 Bo = Wot. But later on “Pedro: Diez and Marcus Diez Lanz = * ls | themselves had, either one of them. had contact, “ "| personal contact with Mr. Hoover. en oe a ee . z 8 oO Mr. Triplett. Now when was this you went.to- = 19 | . Ba | Washington? - = 20 I : The Witness. Oh, gee, I'm not sure whether t . + . vee * . at! “ , See | ait: was February of, (1959. or not. ‘I'm not sure. mie 22} Ne | vanuary, February or March. One of those three ‘months. + a | | But I'm sure it was " inmediately in ‘February, 24 | | i ‘Triplett. “And still at this time you were i | = ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Docld: 32252529 Page 35
| Castro regime?” moo. | } | | . The’ Witness. oRight. At" ‘the: same time working oa with the: embassy and ‘trying to go" ahead and® ‘find out of | vs | who: you. gould: trust and who- “You, ‘couldn’ t ‘trust. _ ta But: ‘that particular time” when I went to. Washington he “nobody vat the umbassy ‘knew that, I went directly: to. |, Hasmington. OMe. Triplett. Now’ ‘when’ you say ‘you ‘were working H.C.. 2002" (202) 554-2345 “I “for the: ‘pmbassy » who | precisely. at that ‘time were: you, A “working with? : the witness.” Weal; let » me. ‘say I, chad - an WASHINGTON , association: . r m. ‘SOrry,! because. sometimes t get overt. Je oMy. association with the pnbassy was’ ‘through. Colonel | Nichols who” wag'the pilitary | attache at the ‘embassy. fo wo each ™ i . Mr. nriplett. | “and was. there anyboay else, also?. REPORTERS BUTLDING , & ‘ The Witness. I bes your pardon? (Mr. Triplett. - Was. there. “anybody else you | were associating with in your capacity? The witness. The only one. or had ‘contact with “300 ITH STREET, owas: Colonel Nichols. Mr. tripiett. ALL right. 7 a rn ‘the: Witness. I. went to the Embassy, séveral times. A document, which: I'm sure. Pedro or “Marcus. nw. 7 a | Diez Lanz has, in: order to cover my . association with Ww tn the Embassy, namea me -- I forget how it. is. again a Me ee, 7. “ ALRERSOM REPORTING COMPANY. INC. 20.0. 5° = 7 Docld: 32252529 Page 36
S.u. 309M ITH STREET, ADocId: 32252529 | Director of Security, was | Going at the. ‘Embassy, I 2NO2H (202) SS5H-23Nn5 | of the. Air Force and the American Air Force mission | -that was there at the time. es Mr. ‘Triplett. As a matter of fact, at ‘that REPORTERS BUTLDING, WASHINGTON , B.C, | the Consul, the American Consul there, and I don't named me. the contact between the Cuban Air Force and the American Embassy, ‘in order to. protect me being at | the Embassy if Cuban Intelligence found out. Mr. Triplett. But this document was merely a subterfuge, is that. “what you! re- telling us? The Witness. Yes. So in case the Cuban Intelligence Service wanted to know what I, ‘as had a document that it was an “official. visit because time, what was the nature of your association with | Clark Wollen? The Witness. Well, Clark Wollen was down in Santiago. When I left Santiago, that was it. rT finished with them. ‘Then my contact was with Nichols “in Havana. And to be ‘honest with you, ‘the Chief of Station, which | was the ,Vice- -Consul, because Clark Wollen was | believe =~ again I! m going ‘back so many years -- I | don' t believe my contact | was- with wollen. I believe + ho. _jmy contact” was with’ ‘the Vice- -Consul and. again | I! m- w trying to remember his name. Anderson comes to my min ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY. ING. Page 37 | d, | i ' i I ' 1 i i
202% (202) S5%-2345 A.c, WASHINGTON , W. REPORTERS BUTLDING, | 360 7TH STREET, S$ & es / Docld: 32252529 de ~ > ~ se a en a ae Fa e nN) rm but I don't know whether that was his name or not. Again, I have it at home and I can turn it over to Mr. Fonzi. | Mr. Triplett. Could it have been Jim Knowles? The Witness. No, sir. Jim Knowles worked out of the American Embassy. | Mr. Triplett. All right. Does the name Stewart ring a bell? The Witness... Jack Stewart? No, sir. I know who you're talking about. He worked out of the ‘Embassy. | | Mr. Triplett. Did you have occasion to recruit or enlist the support of other people in this — intelligence gathering activity? The Witness. Yes, sir. Mr. Triplett. And what would be the correct for help? How would you describe it? The Witness. Well, I would describe it as making contact with people within the Cuban military, the Cuban political and even the American colony that was there. Naturally my friends Pedro and Marcus Diez Lanz are. very pro-American and they had the right contacts ‘with a number of people in the American Embassy ALDERSCN RESORTING COMPANY, INC. designation? Recruiting? Enlisting support? Asking .
2nn2H (202) S54-23945 He $ 300. 7TH STREET, —Docld: 32252529 REPORTERS BUTEDING, WASHENGTON , N.C. a vor in — _ in Se including the Ambassador. And I would’ say ~~ well, I can't speak for them because I'm not sure whether “they haa direct contact through me or to themselves with the Chief of Station at the American Embassy. Mr. Triplett. Any other people besides Pedro. “and. Marcus Diez Lanz that you recall? The Witness. That I asked for help in the ‘intelligence gathering? Mr. Triplett. Yes. Geraldine Shamma. She ‘lives in Hollywood, Florida. She was turned over ‘to Major Van Horne (phonetic). She ‘worked with ‘Major Van Horne ‘in the American Embassy. As a matter of fact this woman here had a close “contact with me when she was working in Havana. We ‘had the Brickell. House here on Brickell: Avenue that _ the MRR was using. We all gathered there. She had ‘a small apartment in the back of the Brickell House, — “to Havana. a shew was ‘later arrested and given a ‘ten’ year sentence for: spying. Served three anda - hale years ain Guandhi (Phonetic) ‘prison, came over. “here, to the ‘united States. Geraldine and I have been very. very ‘Close. “And unfortunately, physically, this prison sentence that Lehe received hurt her very bad both mentally and ‘ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Page 39 a safe house. And she was traveling back and forth -~
4 contacts with Colonel Kail? fs, the Witness. I don't recall. “fT spoke to a ' rn : \ , : . . 3 é | number of people, you know, who were attached to g 7 | the Embassy and 1 honestly don't recall cértain agents: S a | You must understand one thing. When I was S 3 | -associated myself with Colonel Nichols, I received z= id | bits ana pieces from Colonel Nichols that many of Z 1 Pehe people -- not many -- his words were somewhat like, = 12 | you cant trust’ some of the people in CIA. there. As 5 0. |-1 went’ along I found out that CIA aia help Fidel, guide = + | nim into pover, “he. Communists,. Cuban Communists Party : 1g lata maxe.a coupie of. attempts to kill Fidel and I & ne . 1 Lpelieve “that cra Wai advising Fidel of what was going “ bon and so forth. They were. very pro-communist, these ons ne ae 2 18 jrsente. Jim Knowles, to me, was one of them. The E 17 station Chief. ‘§ 20 i As a matter of fact Ambassador Smith accused, a fyou know; the Chief of Station at a meeting with the pe e vother agents of, you know, being pro-communist by 2 Inaving a Close association with the Castro brothers. 8 ovr, Triplett. When you're talking about 75 Ambassador smith, are. you referring ‘to Ewing smith? | | ee yo Docld: 32252529 bh Page 40 a SSS SS foe “Mr.. Triplett. — In. the same line, regarding your) ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. -physically. She was of good service to this country. . contacts with the American Embassy, did you have any. ’
20024 (202) 554-2345 REPORTERS BUTLDING, WASHTUGTON, 1.C, 3 n od tad ne) =. o ne) = ~ e¢ e o Sr. . DSi az By ks : Docld: 32252529 | | | | i | him directly? ; - oe . | | doesn't, you know, you must understand in intelligence * beyou know), you do recall because something will. come [up and you say oh, I remember you, you were working this particular thing because they'll come up ‘with ja Story and then you, "11 know that they have’ ‘worked yin that particular position. Se cet bide ‘for Colonel Nichols, or ‘the CIA or what have. you, at on behalf of the American: Government or Colonel, Nichols?) lof. the gonspiracies.: For “instances, there. were. forces The Witness. Yes. Mr. Triplett. Did you have any contacts with The Witness. No, sir. Mr. Triplett. Were you aware that Colonel Kail was in the CIA? The Witness. No, sir. Like I say the name people use code ‘names. Mr, rriplett. Right. Likewise from othér resources you do learn their veal names. | The Witness. Sometimes. And sometiiies you”: don't, you know. You know, like people down, chere, over. a period of years, if you still maintain contact, mr. Triplett. Other than providing information that time; were you perforhing any . other functions are he | | : | | | | : on ‘The Witness. Just that. “Notifying the. Government. 4 oy ' ern — =; . 4 as - 1 ' LALSERSON REPORTING COMPANY. NG. i
being prepared, the Air Force was involved in it, ; | | | where there were aircraft on our ramp with no | designation, you know, no number, insignias and so + | forth. They were just plain aircraft. The numbers Z 5 were taken off, the insignias were taken off these g &.|) -aircraft that were going to be involved in certain = io = / | invasions of certain countries. For instance, the : ? | Dominican Republic and also Panama. | oO And these invasions did occur and they did zg " | fail. | : " i ‘Bill Morgan, who I tried to recruit for the jt | amin Government, which I gave a list to Nichols : | of people that I felt would be in sympathy with the : ibe | American Governnent, would help intelligence wise. E i Naturally they have their own means of making contact. : Is | re it isn't directly through me, they make their own “ 7 | contact of these assets that would be assets to, : 18 | you know, American Intelligence. And Bill wanted E ° | me to be involved in several of these conspiracies. = 2 | ane one was the Panama Canal. I told him I thought Pe ! he was crazy and he said look, I'll be the overall i i ‘commander and I want you to be the second in command ‘of this expedition that is being formed to invade no bh. ‘Panama. Ww in: And if I'm not mistaken, later the invasion was ALCERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Docld: 322525279 Page 42
p.€, WV, s 300° 7TH STREET, Docld: 32252529 2n02% (202) S58-2345 REPGRTERS BUTEDBING, HASHTHGTON, be oO. te | | a i | a | | | | Morgan, I thought at that time, would be an asset to oe oe eee eee. were till in Cuba? arene ore sete intent Sa eee number one. Bo , me ed sent to Pariama which naturally failed. Mr. vriplett. You say you tried to recruit. William Morgan? “The Witness. Well, I told Nichols that ‘William intelligence. | Mr. Triplett, Were you involved, or "aware of any attempts to assassinate Fidel Castro. while you The Witness. -Yes, sir. pig tes Mr. Triplett. “Were you involved in any? °” “The Witness. Yes, sir. Mr. Triplett. And when did those occur? ‘The Witness. Well, I don't recall the exact month because of the confusion. It was very : difficult at that time ‘because I had to stay: alive, ° "Marita Lorenz, Tr made contact with, I, think - maybe in. February or. ‘the. ‘beginning of March. she “was. Pidel' s mistress. And I thought, ‘you know,” ‘Like well she" s an American and. I dian' t know too, much of her background - ‘at. that time because I was hearing some > information through my people, through. Fidel} Ss. people ‘that Fidel was living with her. She went to work as { REPORTING COMPANY. INC. Page 43 But this is the type of things that I was: doing.
1 2 < = 5 ™ ‘ a =«6 “- ~ i c a 7 LC. es .8 <¢ ™ - 4 a . ~ 10 S pad 3 aT] aan . = 112 oe ed ¢@ 2B = . = S td ost =~ ie & ts we w. So. & = 14 = mo ONz: & 13 ad a wn = lf. a ; ig = 20 ee Canker) on cee a ta an. mens dak aw 24 an aa Docld: 32252529 -.his secretary. I knew that she was an American, not Knowing her background. Her. mother was American. and her father was German working for the Commodore, I think, but the German Government, but this cruise “ship bit. But I. made an approach: to Marita and the approach was successful. Thad. to be very very careful. _ She. could have gotten. me killed. “and in ‘making an approach. to: her, I did recruit het to go ahead and do’ some spying for me, ‘like I did ‘Geraldine Shamma. And also 4 some of: my friends in Cuba, who naturally we. were. all against | Castro because we knew ; about ‘the Conmunist : infilteation and what was ‘going on. before 1 went to washington. There were some conspiracies. going on to kill Fidel and I was aaa involved: in: the. conspiracies. ana 1 told Colonel Nichols, you know, about ‘this. I saia hey, you know, like this guy here is a Communist and he’ 's even tried to put Communist people into the Air Force, and I'm trying to keep them out under orders of Marcus . Diez Lanz. ‘And: I almost got myself killed one day because » a “Sinmy Gentry (phonetic), who was. very close to Raul Castro and who was a pilot, made some very “-derrogatory remarks against Pedro Diez Lanz, and said  ALCERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. oy Page 44 . . *
i i I 4 | ody + | H wn | = gS ; ” - | ~N : i 1, | a p | wt fe] | ~ , S 7 — e ey Go| e ~ to! o | ~ : g i S fli = { = ia | 1 . ara ge | S 130) = | = 14 | E13! S a 1 ~ | = | ive 7 | 18 | = a | = 19 | yo] S29 | a 20; ae . oy 4 Docld: 32252529" nN - ne ON t Wo ia A ———————— ———— . 45. he would kill Pedro because Pedro was very anti- communist, ; and he pulled his _gun on me and I in turn took his .45 “away from him and ‘marched him to the ‘Air Force office of Pedro. And ‘naturally rT ran him off the base. So there was friction there against. Raul castro. But Fidel was ‘more diplomatic and. against (Us, many of the military commanders who helped ‘him, who was in high positions, so Fidel had to go ahead and smooth things over. But he knew who was vagainst him. Mr. Triplett. Okay. On’ how many occasions. were you aware of -- well, “strike that. — On. how many - occasions were you involved in plans or attempts” to assassinate Fidel Castro? : The Witness. Well, I would say -- "well, there were © nunerous plots that I was involved in. And I would say the most serious . plots -- 1! m talking about © the real serious ones that I was involved in -- was about three. | | Mr. Triplett. Now you mentioned Geraldine Shamma and Marita Lorenz. other than those two, were ‘other people involved. in these plots? -_ The Witness. . Well; Geraldine ‘Shamma was not involved ‘in’ any’ plots in- ‘particular to kill Fidel Castro “AL DEmson REP ORT NGS “COMPANY. iNC. ; | | | | | | |
| 44 " She was strictly intelligence. Strictly intelligence. | : “I've asked Marita Lorenz to be involved with | me if and when the time came. | I was told, well okay, unless we get the word from Washington, don't do anything. But at the same time I had meetings with military commanders who 20024 (202) S54-2345 ‘wanted to kill him. | Mr. Triplett. These were Cuban military commanders, or American? The Witness. No. They were Cuban military commanders who wanted to kill Fidel. and who were trying to, you know, devise away. And I offered ‘like, hey, I've got command of the military police, “at the same time being Director of Security, same REPORTERS BUTLDING, WASHINGTON, D.C. i i | which I was personally training these people. See, i -time spying over here, same time being involved in -all these damn conspiracies, you know, so I had a hell of a time being involved in all of these things. And so I suggested, you know, like hey, Fidel comes to the Air Force Base. “Tf he goes someplace as raat ea alll a in the country he flies in with a helicopter. He iy iS > ’ ‘comes over, he sees me, he hugs me, you know, and 3nn 77TH STREET, S WwW —~ — —~ o ve) oo “I he has meetings on the second floor of the headquarters ‘Air Force Headquarters. Hey, supply me with plastic in explosives. I'11 kill him right there, you know, on | 8 ALSSRSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Docld: 322525279 Page 46
S.u. Docld: 32252529 REPORTERS BUELDTNG, UASHTHGTGN , N.C, 20028 (202) 854-2345 300 7TH STREET, “the second floor. or if you want me to stop him || a outside the gate I'11 stop him outside the gate.: Mr.- Triplett. Now who are you making these a suggestions to? oot oo Se The Witness. Yes: This was. the early part of a The Witness. Colonel Nichols. é Mr. Triplett. Colonel Nichols? 7 The Witness. Yeah. - 8 Mr. Triplett. And this again, just to 3 clarify it and make sure we have a good record, 10 ‘this was all during the period you were an officer i -in the Cuban Air Force? 1959. Mr. Triplett. Okay. - + — £ oh And you mentioned a little earlier I believe 4 Is | that you discussed this possibility of killing Fidel Le. , Be " | castro with Marita Lorenz in. February of 1959?_ “| _The Witness. Well, that's when I first met 13 | her, in February. So it might have been in March “because I had to get, you know, I. don't just cone ‘2 ~ out when I just meet her, you know,.I had to gain »her. confidence. Because it was a-very ticklish | situation, and she was crazy about Fidel. This is | i} the thing... — _ i iH . . ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Page 47 riplett. Putting all‘ this in context though, | | { | | | | | | | | | | | | ! | | | i i ‘ i i
2N02" (202) $54-2345 BUILDING, WaSHTHOTOH, D.C. REPORTERS .- 8. 300 7Tit. STREET, Ne Docld: 32252529 46) Fidel Castro took over in Cuba January 1st, 1959... In ! | 2 | relation to that date, when. did you first become | a disenchanted with Fidel Castro and when did you first | have a suspicion that he was a Communist? : The Witness. All of us -~- I'm talking about 6 any friends like Commander Ricardo Lauria (phonetic), ‘Commander, Hubamartis (phonetic), Commander Pedro: ‘Diez Lanz, Commander Marcus Diez Lanz, myself and “other -commandérs, had various meetings all over | Havana secretly. ana I would say that by the time | of February, 1959, it was definitely decided, because “Of all the activities that was going on with. the " -various top Communist people, that Raul was trying ae ne 2 3 "y get. them“into the Air Force’ because I. was running | them off). you see; But ‘we suspected. and damn well “the Communist Party. - .:. I | \ | | | | | | | { ‘¢ | to get into the military. And so far he couldn't | | | | j | ~ Also by February we suspected that CIA was ! . | | ! i = that Fidel was a Communist and working with guiding Fidel also in this thing. . 7 _ This is’ why I was sent -- it might have been j Repruary or March -- I was sent directly to Washington. a : toot , 8 re | To bypass thezEmbassy. ! | { 24 al | os mo, _+Mr,.Triplett. You were sent there by whom? i The Witness. By Pedro Diez Lanz and Marcus and : os " * ALBERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. | Page 48 7
S.u « ~ Be Pe a oo g no = = ~ e ° re] Docld: 32252529 D.C, 2002" (202) SSW-2345 . REPORTERS BUTLITNG, VASHINGTON, ry Le} vn tn Ricardo Lauria, to go to Washington and give a list of names of all the Communist agents directly to the | “FBI. Bypass that damn Embassy. | | Mr. Triplett. If you could give a reason, what would be the reason for the failure of any attempts | -on Fidel Castro's life at that time? | The Witness. Well, I would say that the individual, persons that were being used in order to go ahead and kill him. “I.was in the best position in the world to go ahead and: really kill him, if I was in charge of killing Fidel. I was in the best position because I could have stopped him right at that gate there. Every time Fidel would come in, he ; would come in in a convoy. I would stop the convoy because I was out there one day when I was inspecting and I could have killed everybody. . Because I had people and I trained people, you, know, to check the roofs, the main street, the main entrance of the air ‘Force Base. We checked the roofs out, and I could | have had machine gunners up there with hand grenades and machine guns and i could have wiped that whole "goddamned convoy out. | Could have killed everybody. a Mr. Triplett. But you apparently were not | in charge. You didnot have the green light. ey ‘Who, if anybody, was in .charge?,” oe ' ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, ING. Page 49
REPORTERS BUTLDING, WASHTNCTON, eM, s 300 7TH STREET, Docld: 32252529 H.C, 20024 (202) S$5%-~2345 as < oad Page the Witness. Right. Absolutely 1 did not have the green light. | See, my loyalities were divided. To be very honest with you, my loyalities at that time were divided and I'm sorry they were divided because I woulda have spit at the American Embassy, believe ‘me. If I knew then what I know today I would have spit at the American Embassy and I would have said the hell with the American Embassy and everybody there, see. And I would have listened to my friends and I would have killed Fidel. But because I was an American, my decision ‘was more toward the Americans than my own friends, which I should have went along with my friends. I ‘would have killed that dirty bastard. Mr. Triplett. Okay. But who specifically told you not to, if anybody? | | The Witness. Nichols said don't do anything. ‘Leave him alone until we get word from Washington, and that's it. | So trying to be a good American, forget it. tas a ‘ Mr. Triplett. When did you finally leave Cuba? The Witness. June the 30th of 1959, because of ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. 450
DG, Tou, iG Ss... Docld: 32252529 2024 (202) $S4=234S. REPORTERS BULLDING, WASHTH “ ad te =< od a = ~ ce ce. o- ip in: ae - a meeting: ‘that I had secretly with. the ‘Second ‘Chief , of ‘the Cuban Intelligence, Army” Cuban Intelligence. “Sangenis family for years. ‘And: he ‘asked: to. speak - ‘the restaurant t across: ¢ the street; I believe it wan "across. ‘the. street szon the Havana milton. Te was at onight time, because we ‘sat in a dark corner. of. the” restaurant and | he. ‘said, "rank, Raul ‘Castro suspects you" re. ‘working with. ‘American “Intelligence, so’ ‘me ca ‘favor. “When you leave here, pretend you don! t know amiss? That! “s Pate: Get youx ass out: of Cuba, tonight, there Because if he picks you up. he! s going to. kill left? “later. As. a matter of Eact, Pedro Diez Lanz, with. “t wis | mame was- Sangenis. Tr have been friends with the’ a “with mes. He sent someone, over. ‘to speak with me. And IT went across, “the. street -= oT forget the name of ~_ r. Triplett. . And as a result of that -you - (The Witness. a dian’ tt leave. until days: tater. | rT went against what he. said. or dian' it leave | ‘for days atl. the troubles he was having with the Castro brothers, he. was. hiaing, secretly ‘the. last month. ~This was in une? and ‘y went to the’ ‘American, Embassy to. try to ‘get hin to gets what, do you! “call it: in. the American ‘Embassy when a: person: goes: in “the: “Embassy ‘to protect ie. ALBERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Page 51- "
~ 50 | themselves, ‘santiary, asylum. in’ the: American Embassy. “You know they refused? They refused Pedro: Diez. Lanz Tig going ‘into the cpmbassy. Here! E a guy that respected oh this country respected this Government. At that. ae 3 Sy t time the guy was _tisking, his lite, ‘Like ‘We vall were, S 6 | for ‘the American Government, we thought. | may ‘= asl ‘out. of. that God-damn “Bubassy Fight there. and here. F) dike the dummy that we were. at that time, trying ‘to iol. go. ahead and notify the American ‘Government, ‘trying to go ahead ana help: the ‘American: Government; all. | the anérican Government. was “doing. to us was “screwing ™ yy put ‘there: was: & betrayal and the: ‘betrayal, came | “us. Believe mee = -triplett. “When, you, say there. Was (a. betrayal, | REPORTERS BUTEDING, WASHINGTON, 0. Cy J : re ‘you. able | to inpoint, ‘any specific person? aan “the® witthed’s.. Ee “would say ‘the: CIA ‘Station’ chief Dolan ‘the American Embassy. 28 | Se weiplete. “and: ‘do, you know. who that was at) &. HF ehat t time?. ae “es eon werk ets phe . ae . 3 | me one witness. That. was == r dian’ es know the man pte by be “honest, with you. Tye got his. ‘name. -Evean a earn. it over. I" m getting a “mental “block again. oT, - to ‘turn. ate over, to Mee ‘Fonzi. who ‘the Station Chief "| was. er _ People. like this God=-damn David Phillips who was_ ab i ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY. INC. St Docld:32252529 Page 52”
' , there, that PEO! bastard .son- -of-a- bitch. . ‘Excuse me. that pro Communist bastard son- -of-a- bitch. . T dislike ‘these people: very much for what ‘they did to. Us” in - « + : cuba and which they continued to do in the Bay of. Pigs 4 invasion. “they! re the same people that got involved: in: the Bay, of. ‘Pigs invasion cand betrayed us . again, you. know, which cost people! s_ ‘lives: “And oh, 2002 (202), SE4-2345 ‘ny. mind: sometimes: gets screwed up. But where were we eo EB ome Triplett. . I was ‘asking you if you knew- who specifically, but apparently you don’ it have: a . “once you returned to the United States. Be | name at the. moment. Let! S move along now. ! | ! “The Witness. (anterposing) That was “gune ‘the 30th, yeah. HEPORTERS. BUTLDING, VASHTHGTON, D.C. | a ae 16 > te = . | “or. ‘Triplett. Were you contacted by any ae “17 . representative of. the CIA or. the Federal Government, The Witness. Noy sire No; siz. 7 300 7TH STREET, | | nF for ‘a: debriefing or anything ‘of that’ nature? t } | an i. Mr. riplett. “After. you. left Cuba, dia anybody ese Or. approach you ko perform services. or ‘gather information oo BEF a te : , : oS on behalf of the. CLA? ie ae oh mne | Witness. “After I left Cuba? Rds. ~, Mrs Triplett. ‘Yes. ho in “he Witness’. No, sir. Se ALDER ON REPORTING COMPANY, ING. rr es SGN REPORTING COMPANY, ING © DocId: 32252529 Page 53° | rr pee TTS
S.W. 300 7TH STREET, Docld: 32252529 2N02% (202) S54-2345 REPORTERS BUTEDING, WASHINGTON, 0.C. in “w tw Se —————————————————————— Well, let me tell you what happened there. I Had to arrange the escape 6£ Pedro Diez Lanz because of the Embassy because they refused him aslyum, which I resented bitterly. Marcus Diez Lanz also. All right Meantime, at that time we thought CIA was still all right, but we had our suspicions within the ‘Embassy. Marcus Diez Lanz was helped by CIA later to get “out. This was, I would say, a month later. But when I came over on June the 30th, I took two aircraft from ‘Cuba over here. One was a C-46D, that was in my name, a ne i ee nen res mee ett cell ett ee at = a eR and a B-25 bomber that was in my name. Okay? Now, so I had to arrange to get those airplanes ‘over here before’ I defected. I had meetings over there with Pedro and so forth and I wanted to cause an ‘uprising there. I said look, I have command of 1,000 troops here at the Air Force Base. Let's get ‘hold of President Arukia (phonetic). I'11 put 500 men around the Capital, the Presidential Palace, if President Arukia will denounce Castro, you know, and ‘the Communists. President Arukia said no. That Castro was “Misguided and said no. Well, he was saving his own ass is what he was doing. | | : But also I wanted to go ahead and destroy much ALDERSOM REPORTING COMPANY, INC. 54
. Ww 20024 (202) SSN-2345. - on = 3 0 ow “OF vy cence evn neem ee we a ene cane ee eee ee pom ee ee : enna ne - rs) and destroyed the base and our fighters and bombers = would attack Camp Columbia, try to get Arukia. out = a, O8t | qi toga 5 ‘of the Palace and try to kill Fidel: By having.a =" military coup. there, starting with us in the. ‘Kir, Force z 13 | because ‘we aia have | some “manpower. — But they, ‘turned Se ih oe a oMr. Triplett. Again, these. ‘were the. people 3 Hoe pe i “ ep ae’ the: Embassy - that turned it down? o 7 Fe . The Witness. I} tm: not sure the Embassy was ee Woo... ; = j8 | 2 aware. At least they - were not aware of this . ; -E a particular: operation: ‘that T wanted to do. omey Bo [ore ‘not aware through. me... | . en SE Mr Triplett Okay. Getting back to after 7X = |) you returned to the United. States. 3 . . , ae ‘ 23 To your knowledge, were you ever contacted by a 44: any ‘representatives of the CIA for any purpose? | TS a eS cet rr ano ...,The. Witness. I was contacted by an official of i: ‘ . tes oe ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. DocTd: 32252529 Page “a? (of the Air Force Base. Because I asked Pedro, send “our pilots up in the air, get every airplane ‘we can up in the air, get all our. troops that we can, put them in the transport planes that we have and send. them over to the Isle of Pine. We grab the Isle of ‘Pine. . We get the Batista prisoners that Fidel had . 54 of an army there. Because we could have took the islan in the Isle of Pine prison. | That would be the nucleolus
= _— - oe o Wo Diez, Lanz", half brother, Surgio Diez, to get a ship, cal - OF , ‘ = an to get ‘a boat at one of ‘the yacht companies here, z 1 | vache. brokers ,. because, a went with, him to get the Shey pes ‘ ost ; S| 0") boat. i . | . pe Ee } he ‘surgio’ got | ino the’ ‘boat with: somebody else, went red 22 over to Cuba and got Pedro. and his wife. out, smuggled Docld: 32252529 REPORTERS BUTLDING, WASHTNGTON, D.C: 20024 (202) S5%-2345 the Government because I was making arrangements here: ‘to get a boat to go into Cuba and get Pedro out and 3 jet Marcus out: and his family. 4 . vt, 1 was told, Frank, leave it alone. Don't touch . 3 | r) |; them out. 7 = Mr. Triplett. who approached you and told you 4 j that? oo | | a a 9) ote the Witness. oh, God, I don't rE know. Let me. of ae. one possibility was ~~ 1 can 't remeber his. name. He's in Washington. No, it couldn’ t. be him. | Mr. Triplett. " Schaklee (phonetic)? | = | tee, Schenley (phonetic). oS | | Oo | The Witness.” It might have been Schenley, . ! dp 18 | go anyplace. Because I was arranging with Pedro» 73 | them here, The ‘Government knew about ‘ait because _* | this, was the arrangements that we were making to get. | i Pedro out, “but. they didn' t want. me “personally to. gee TING COMPANY, INC. . Page 56. , , it because arrangements are being made by CIA to get | 54 1s 4 Shackler. One. of the ‘two. ‘Told: me, stay. here, don't
‘gnn2m- (202) $54=2945 H.C. oe | kee | | ye 80. what ‘the halé ‘brother a did. with the. boat, we 7 2 | used it, they alloved Surgio to 90, ‘but didn't: want me at to gO. because I was. an. American. and they knew Castro 4 vous os catch ne. | | oe “then. CIA. aia d make arrangenents ‘to get Marcus Diez ms . ; . é | Lanz- out “because Marcus was. in touch with an agent in B fe a CIA agent. and thee agents 6 y you tae like to 3.1 know. who he is, that | was Bernard: Barker. ay . Mr “triplett. -AlL ‘right. to Now after. you returned to 5 the United States, - | aia y you. have. any contact with any castro tntelligence WASITHGTON , eo. : 7 3 Fhe Witness. Noo At least not to my: knowledge. Po pecsuse some (of ene peopte we atdn® t know.. No. x : ni You would assume. ‘that, Castro, with what people — = 16 | we knew over here, if they vere agents, would change “ a them around. 80 no. We kept to ourselves .. 2 8] . tie reason “for ‘that is, emember, we were = '7 | cupan, revolutionaries, all right? We helped overthrow - ie patigta Government. “So the first group of Sap Ais Docld: 32252529 | Agents? Here. in the. united States? ‘Page 57 ca rae Sls refugees that. come » ‘over here were. the Batista people, nh ba | “or at least ‘the. people ‘that were very ‘sympathetic, + [whieh they had. reason to. leave. there because Castro — was. shooting everybody, which was, wrong on his part. ‘So naturally when we came: chere: we more. or less’ kept wo in cs : “: neste eee rere ee see  ALDERSON RERORTIN COMPANY, INC. . Sede?
2N02h (202) S54-2345 REPORTERS BUTELDING , WASHINGTON, D.C. 200 7TH STREET, SoU. ES ; =, & of) e HY Docld: 32252529 ti 4 4 * Qa we in nm a rw ae nm i) > da: Page to ourselves. But as time went by we did start to associate ourselves with certain, at least not myself, but Pedro and Marcus, with certain people who were, you know, of the Batista faction. And then myself later Mr. Triplett. Did you receive any money or “any pay grom the CIA prior to the Bay of Pigs? The Witness. I received -- well, not myself personally. But before the Bay of Pigs invasion, we had a special flying group. Mr. Triplett. When you say we, who? The Witness. Pedro Diez Lanz, Marcus Diez Lanz ‘and myself, using my B-25. Now this is the ‘same -- Mr. Triplett. (Interposing) how about the C-46? The Witness. Well, that was not used. We ‘sold that eventually. That was not used in the Bay ‘of Pigs. | | Mr. Triplett. This was your B-25? The Witness. Well let's say the B-25 was in my name. Registered with the FAA in my name. . Mr. Triplett. Well, whose was it if it wasn't yours? The Witness. Well, it was money that was paid for by the revolution, you see, and naturally being ALOERSON REFORTING COMPANY. INC. 56 -
re a 5 nn Pa eee a 74 rod . Jd a “if ae . H ft rane | = o = 42 eo, Wy = ih ome ee =o td th vad 4 2 it 2 ; mo Tg! re v7 wad . _ 18 i ct 5 = ty? < a. 20 | an American citizen. | name in “order: to. be on the license. > My. name: was oe “at 7 F ¥ ay ' ) . ‘f 2 on on + ot part, of the ‘revolution | “and being that ‘the other : People ‘were, ‘Cuban revolutionaries, they ‘used. ‘my “used: because. you: ‘couldn’ t get somebody that wasn te ; Mr. “Triplett. ‘Who, else was there? ne the ° Witness. Just ‘us. ‘Lanze, Pedro and a oy “the, Witness. - (interposing). ‘And myselé. the monies | that’ went to. ‘the repairs of the B= 25, was. < CIA money, oa AS” a> matter of fact I was told later.while I ‘wag-in prison. by. Howard,that Howa¥d --/ Howard Hunt “I! m, talking about | ~~ Howard Hunt said he did give: ~ ‘Barker $10, 000 to turn over to ‘Pedro to pay the | “bills of the Bs 25. . I “think we had an L. “BY smith. over “here: at 36th. Street. Airport being repaired. to be used, which we. were fixing the airplane Up Because we. were going to, -put- on> “the tail of ‘the’ B- 25, a “long. anterinea’ that would be. stretchea out while - the aircraft was in ‘flight with. tape, recordings and» radio equipment in. the’. BS 25 to broadcast ‘Propaganda +e i mT may + . oa ot eh Ge ‘ ee OS aE i ; : . et Le - . - : - 2 “2 saan" APSERSON.REBORTING COMPANY, INC. tt ie oa . yee tae _<e > eee . aoa ‘Docld:32252529°. Page 59° - tg ’ Heat ae co Mr Triplett. - “the three of E you. “Mareus Diez. Well, the money, before the “Bay, of Pigs invasion, “And one: ‘of the. things that the B- 25 was, going a
Docld: 32252529 ‘| - 3900 ITH STREET, S.U. REPORTERS BUTLDTING | VASHTHGTGN , D.C. 20020 (202) SS4-234S, /*§ ; b&w n a . inh 2 ord ot am t . 1 vod | | 24 4 : 4 “4 23 | an t H i yi Page . for thé repairs and ‘the bill to the B-25.,. the’ change that was happening within, you know; the ‘groups, the CIA and the Revolutionary Council, because che was the political officer of the Revolutionary “Council. I haa no ‘contact with Howard Hunt. 1 never ‘knew Howard: Hunts at. &11..° t/knew. there ‘was an Eduardo ‘and Eduardo.was Barker's boss.” . - Barker would not tell me. I believe his: new-boss - in Cuba while the B-25 was in flight. . This was one of the operations. And the monies did come from CIA Mr. Triplett. And did you know. at that time it came from the CIA? | . BS The Witness. Certainly. Sure. 'T didn't know who it came from because the money ‘cane from Barker. Because I didn't know who Barker's boss. was. You must understand that a week before -- this ‘a week before the invasion, Bernard Barker was the -assistant to Howard. . Howard, from what Howard told me, that he disagreed with the policies of what was happening, » ok BL * “But he left the outfit and Barker was turned over to a new CIA’ control officer, I -believe. And was Jim Knowles. Mr. Triplett. And what led you to believe that? ALDERSON. REPORTING COMPANY. IMC. - 4 60 I found out through Howard Hunt while I was in prison --
. . ogg A woe . ? ard ’ 4 n° 1 8 The Witness. I'm not sure really. I'll be | very honest with: you, I'm not gure. itm not. sure 2 whether Howard Hunt told me that Barker's new boss . “| was Jim Knowles or not. Because you know, sometimes es 5] you don't say things, you know. I'm not sure. But. a | Barker never told me who his new control officer was. = 7 | But I believe “it was Jim Knowles. 5 7 . again, this B-25 was the sane B-25 that Pedro < | Diez Lanz and mysélf as pilots and ‘Marcus Diez Lanz z= 10 | and another Cuban fellow by the name of Itchgoia E nl (phonetic) flew over on October the 21st of 1959, 3 * 7 over the City of Havana, and dropped several hundred E 13 | thousands of leaflets over that City. And several : 16 | cone I think maybe 31 or 33 Cuban people. were i killed and wounded on that air raid that we did. : is : Mr. Triplett. Dropping leaflets? ‘ "7 | | . The Witness. ‘Leaflets, yeah. Well, you see : 18 | we were 1,000 foot off the ground over the City and gE 19 | the gunners from Cabana Fortress and the three B-26 S20 | fighter bombers tried to shoot us down and the shells an exploding killed or wounded 31 or 33 people. And pe | Fidel raised a lot of hell about it. 3 oo And as a matter of fact, charges were brought a | against Pedro Diez Lanz in Federal court here about ‘25 | — . these. things and it was thrown out a half hour later H i | ALDERSCN REPORTING COMPANY. INC. Docld: 32252529 Page 61
20024 (202) S5u-2345 REPORTERS BUTLDING, WASHTNGTON, D.C. S.W. 290 7TH STREET, Docld: 32252529 Bh de a’ re) 4 Lo ee 7 Sn ee in court. A fact that they could not prove because there was 2,000 Americans there at that time and they watched us throw these leaflets out. any other B-25's other than this one? | The Witness. No. That's the only B-25, and the B-26 that was ever purchased. And that was in my name, registered with the FAA, or at that time I, think it was the CAA, or whatever. Mr. Triplett. Did you have any contact,.or | have you had any contact with Rafeal Hanscomb? The Witness. I don't know the man. Mr. Triplett. How about Ray Sanstrom? The Witness. Yes. Mr. Triplett. Okay. When was your contact and what was the nature with Ray Sanstrom? The Witness. Well, Ray Sanstrom is an Attorney up in Fort Lauderdale. Ray Sanstrom is also a pilot. Ray Sanstron, I believe, worked for CIA. | Me. Triplett. What was the nature of your contact? | The Witness. He was a lawyer. He still is a lawyer. Mr. Tripdett. Was he your lawyer? Did you go ‘ , oJ - are ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. Page 62 Mr. Triplett. Did you have occasion to purchase
to him for legal advice? a | ‘The Witness. © Yes, I went to him for legal advice. de . That's the type of association I had with Ray, for 7 legal advice.. Things that I. would. do and Cuba and... | ape Mr. Triplett. ‘Regarding your activities against “i | Castro? 2NN2y (202) SSW-2345 om Mr. Triplett. ‘Did you ever have any contact. N.c, a me The Witness. Yes. That!s right. with Carlos Blanco?. : (phonetic) The Witness. Carlos Blanco? . That sounds like that Communist Carlos Blanco in Cuba. Carlos Blanco. The name sounds very familiar. I don't ‘recall. in cow You see many people that knew us in those days, REPORTERS BUTELDING, WASHINGTON, : is fae you never had a close association with’ them over ” 7 | a perioa of time, you would forget. But the name” nn , E ie | sounds familiar. I don't recall. EIS | Mr. Triplett. How about Paul Bethél? (phonetic) 5 20 | The Witness. I know Paul Bethel, yes. de . Mr. Triplett. And what type dealings have you ; had with Mr. Bethel? .. rl a) .- The Witness. None whatsoever. - But I know | ae Paul. “I've spoken to Paul several times. H - ; . ‘ . | 25 . Lo, . ~ i Mr. Triplett. Anything other than social 7 4 : if i i 4 “ALSERSON REPORTING COMPANY. INC. Docld:32252529 Page 63
20024 (202) $5¥-2345 n.c. REPORTERS DUTLDTNG , WASHTNGTON , i. S. Docrd: 32357529 3n0 7TH STREET, ta Le ‘ ~ to nm 4 ~ . sO “ho te no. ° Page conversations? The Witness. | Cuba. Nothing social at any time. It was strictly about Cuba. ome, ‘Triplett. Has he “sought information . from you, or have you. provided information ‘to him? The Witness. No. No. Mr. Triplett. ‘Your planned activities? “the Witness. No.. Not with Paul, no. The Witness. Oh, yes. -Manola and I, I trained him before the Bay of Pigs.: | | | Mr. Triplett, You trained him? ‘the’. Witness. ‘Sure.’ wr. triplett. And have ‘you, been on any raids © with him or any other activities with him? © The Witness. No. He was involved in the Bay of. Pigs naturally. After that he went his _way and 'I went my way, and. he “got. to ‘be the Vice “Mayor of Miami. Mr. Triplett. When did you first meet him? | rr a a imagine che: came ‘over to’ my". house on 60th Court that _ I had at that: particular time, or the group. had. And a that’ s how Tr met ‘him and many other people that eventually got to work for the agency. — ALDERSON RESORTING COMPANY, INC. - 64°. Mr. Triplett.. How about Manola Rebozo? (phonetic) ‘The Witness. Well again, before the Bay of Pigs.
_ fee agit ae eek rest ae we triplett._ Lien? | | © the mbtnes " "ve. tows hor ‘for. many years. “Not in” cuba. Here, int the United ‘states. get owe. ‘nripietes What was the nature of. your _-association with Mr. Barker? 2024 (202) S54-2345. The Witness. . Strictly. with Pedro and Marcus. — , . The. association with: the ‘Be 25. D.C Mr. _. Triplett. Providing you the money: “anything i} otner: than that? a | a. | The” “iettness. He didn't provide me. He gave the money to te nee a a | ) ‘Triplett. “How about Eugeno. Martinez? (phoneti¢ us | when aia you first meet: him? REPORTERS BUTLDING, VASRINGTON, _ The’ Witness. Eugeno, Martinez? In Cuba. He S iW: ‘y was working. at that time, I. believe -- well, he owned’ | several businesses in Cuba ‘and I met ‘him once ‘or oe ae corns eee —— - ae a rs oe re several times. during my inspection of the casinos. 300 7TH STREET, Because. one of my other, jobs for Castro at one. time, ge 21 he wanted me ‘to take charge of the. casinos for. Pasternit OSE He/ - Nunez, who was in. the: mountains with me “and with Fidel. ral And: if I'm not mistaken, I met Martinez.’ He. was Jk working for the’ Havana Hilton at ‘that time. - - | Me. griplett. 1 And what was the: nature. of your i \ ALDERSON REPORTING Cc MEANY. INC. J DocId: 32252529 Page 65°
300 7TH STREET, S.W. REPORTERS BULLDING, WASHTHGTON, D.C, 20024 (202) S54-2345 Docld: 32252529 nD my association with him? The Witness. At that time there was no association at all. Mr. Triplett. How about after arriving in the | United States? The Witness. Oh, yeah, when we arrived in the United States. Because of the Bay of Pigs many of us got together. Many people we didn't know, you know. Mr. Triplett. Are you talking about because of the planning for the invasion or the aftermath? The Witness. No. Because of the planning before the invasion. We came in contact with many people we didn't know and some people we did know from Cuba. Like, you know, Nino Diez I knew from Cuba. And Nino was involved in the Bay of Pigs. And Artime. I didn't know Artime in Cuba, but I met Artime here, you know. As a matter of fact the people I was with didn't like Artime. Mr. Triplett. By the way, when and where did you first meet Bernard Barker? The Witness. I met him when he lived in the Northwest section. I met him, I believe, either with Marcus or Pedro Diez Lanz. We went over to his house. ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. 66
“D.C. Ss. 300 77H STREET, Docld: 32252529 zno2n (202) $5¥-234"5. |° 1, REPORTERS BUELDING, WASHINGTON, res “t-.  (O oO. oO. | SG tn ry “ . 2 ‘> + - at Fas) a 00 "~The Jenis? Mr ‘the Witness.’ 0 oh.; Like’ Tr say —- let! 8 see, the’ ~ tke, The Witness. April, "61. .So it had. to be " Sometine. in ten. Seto ES : : . ; -F 7 . vu vee ws woe tate The Mr. By ‘sangenis? . the I. know, Roger Sangénis. ‘and I believe ‘that 's who 7 you' re ‘probably galking about. op ‘knew Louie Sangenis. 2 | Mee ~The Page 670.453 656 | ‘Witness. Yeah. Jo Triplett. You knew him by thé name Sam + Triplett: ands when, was ehaae wot a ES te Re ' _ invasion was ; what, 1961:0r 622 161 I ‘think it was. “e “Triplett. tei. ‘Triplett. Before the ‘invasion? Witness. Oh». yeah, ‘Either 60 ‘or ‘61. Yes. Teiptete. ALL right. the way, aia’ you: ever meet. and ‘know. Jose Witness. “You! re talking about Sangenis? Triplett, ‘Sangenis. Witness. Oh: I know the Sangenis ‘family. since,. 1 believe, 1956 I! ve” ‘known them. Priplete. How ‘about gose? © Witness. You're talking about sam Jenis? “Triplett. , Yes? Witness. T° knew him, yeah. “Triplett. And what was the nature of your ALDERSON REPORT: NS CoS Dany, ING.
We S. tS UPS i Docld: 32252529 2no24 (202) $$4-2945 REPORTERS BUILDING, WASHTNGTON , p.c, ~ 900 7TH STREET, association with him? exactly was Operation 40? —————————————— ————— ‘he Witness. Well, sam Jenis is a code name that he used. sangenis is one name. So what he did is cut the fame in ‘half and said Sam Jenis. So that was his. code name | Mr. Triplett. Code name for what purpose? 40. One of my Watergate associates, Phillipe Diego. (phonetic) was. also Operation. 40. Mr.-Triplett.. Now just for the record, what The Witness. It was.an intelligence operation. Understand, before the Bay of Pigs invasion, you had three different groups that the CIA controlled. CIA controlled the Revolutionary Council, which was political. ‘This was where Howard Hunt was in the political end of it. okay, I had nothing to do with the political end Sf ity even though I knew, Tony a “Lahone (phonetic) and. some of the people in the’ political. . 7 - | | | “Mr. Priplett. . You're talking about the CRC? -Thenyou had “the Brigade, which another person controlled that. : Oe Then you had Operation ‘40 which Sam Jenis_ controlled. ALDERSON REFORTING COMPANY, INC. 68 The Witness. - CIA. He was ‘the head of Operation “Yeah. Cuban Revolutionary Council.
a re 7 67 | | . | ‘4 Td So I had my associations in between really because - | here we had a special air group that ‘we were | associated with, Pedro Diez Lanz and myself, various - ae a ne as 7 - 4 | pilots and myself, towards this special air group. 7 | Cs Ce TR ee an = $i At the same time I had, naturally, association with 2 ‘ps Sangenis family. S 7 I Operation 40,-the primary job was intelligence. S 3 In other words once a beach head was made inside cs 9 | of Cuba, the people to follow the beach head would. ee . OO PO 7 | z= 10 | be intelligence, which would be Operation 40, which S il - Ce . mot already had contact inside Cuba through the CIA- have direct contact with Operation 40. ! 12 naturally. The Cuban CIA agents would immediately | . ‘ . ‘ I ! And being an intelligence organization going i | REPORTERS BUILDING, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 1S 4 into Cuba, in other words, to maintain contact with . i. the local populace, the political and the military a 7-| connections. That both CIA and members of this eS oy oo g 18 whole invasion group, whether it was the Revolutionary a doo. . 2 | comet or the Brigade or from Operation 40 or. CIA, s | nace contact. And it's understandable that you have eee! an organization like Operation 40 to make contact PRI | with cortain people. If there's any betrayal with | the people you make contact with in Cuba, well an naturally it's logical, in order to fend your | 7 | | | intelligence operation you would eventually start | | i | | :, tems rat i ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. . . ; H Doclda:32252529 Page 69
spreading out and you'd have to go ahead and kill people, both political or military. That's part of de i | | | : fighting a war, you know. | Mr. Triplett. Well, you mentioned Antonio | : 7 | = 3} pevarona (phonetic). Tony Varona. : a 6 ‘The Witness. Yeah, Tony. a 7 Mr. Triplett. “When did you first meet him? s 3 : The Witness. I met Tony here in exile“before ~ y- . - S 9 | the Bay of Pigs. Because we all got together trying z '0 | to get the Cubans together to organize a resistance g " | movement in exile against the Castro Government. . ~ 4 | Mr. Triplett. When you say get together. Did a wm ; . ‘ = | : . oe pa I iH you have brief meetings with Tony and the rest. of ~ 4 | the people? Pi Ho a iS 13 | The Witness. Myself? No. I went with various a i - ‘3 | other people. For instance I went with Pedro, Marcus. - ig | We even went to New York with Marcus Sterling up 2 a oe . wi . Wwe = | there... We spoke with ex Presidents, you know. = igi oo _ c | Mr. Triplett. You did have oné or more meetings se 2, | ° | with Tony Varona at the time? a ee Sea i | The Witness. Not too many. ‘I'd be very honest c ®) =n i Pe, 22 4 “oN | with you. Not too many. ai. a SO i Mr. Triplett. Three, four, half a dozen? 24 | a oo , . a The Witness. Yeah, maybe a couple of meetings. ae | . ae Because again I'm not politics and my friends would be ALDERSON REFSORTING COMPAN’, INC. Docld: 322525279 Page 70
i an : a Cuban. ' So it' ‘8 better. for them to. make the . contact ana talk. and. talk polities. as “Mr. triplet. Up. ‘to this point ‘while we've the’ ones. | Becduse’’I''m American remember. I'm not 4 5 been talking about intelligence, we've been talking '- ' 3 ¢ | primarity about the (CIA. 5 7 | Did you have any contacts with. ‘representatives — 5 ae of Army Intelligence? . | 3g aH The Witness. Well, it's possible. Again, CIA. e i To. , , : z 10 | draws from all intelligence services, both Naval, FE YN | army, Air Force Intelligence, and takes them away a . “. . ; SO = 12 c their own service and then uses them as CIA 2 jf. : - = 13 1 agents. zg oo : Me ‘Triplett. Okay. a Cot, i To your knowledge, did you provide any oe i . mo, a : Is information. or perform any activities on behalf of Es 7 ° 7 Army, Air Force or Naval Intelligence? eo | - a S ‘8 | The Witness. ‘Yes. a a . = I | Alex Roark (phonetic) went ona mission to 20 [conten America and I did secure, or i dia ask for Se Naval Intelligence, to ask for help, you know, to ye ° | locate where Mr. Roark and his pilot -- Sullivan an was. his pilot who made ‘this trip to. hat America -- 24 | “Mr: Triplett. “(anterposing) This’ was the time that Mr. Roark turned ‘up missing? ALDSERSON RESORTING C ‘MEANY, INC. Docld: 32252529 Page 1 .
‘ . 2 the ene Raat: sebered seni a 2) alex: Roark. ee nas | | 7 af ne Mr. nriplett. cand to -your, “knowledge, dia Naval. mo rae intetligence provide any: assistance?. | . | ed : , 3 cs aS The Witness... Yés, they. aia. they immediately 7 BG bsene’ oat, believe, coast Guard’ aircraft and: ‘I FE Aleuees possibly Naval Air Force, Ir! 'm not sure, you z°3)| know, what they dia, but. L ‘know they dia. JO. out and. 9 | provide th the. iiecessary: search. mission for, locating the . Ft | atrerates | a a 7 | | 2 ae “Mr. Triplett. And was this ‘becatise Mr."Roark Ean] was a a member | Of Naval “Intelligence, or an associate? & 3 | the: wiemess. Taian’ 't kriow ‘too. much’ ‘of Alex’ Ss Bal bteome Alex, was a: friend of mines. very, strongly | Ea | ents-comimtets Alex aid Have’ an’ association in. the : : 1s) past: with ‘the, FBI. ose would say ‘that . 4 i7"| she. worked for: “them, ‘not as. an informant, but. for them, . E ie'| am iwnat position, ‘tdon! Mt known. a | Ele. OMe. Beiplett: | oxay. Bel “what was. your purpose i in » approaching Naval agg" rtttttsence on nis behalf, as opposed to State” - 7X © | Department, Coast cuard, 1 Navy in. general, Army? : Bosse the. wienesd.t- “Tt oer be | very | honest with you. At ' c that particular time. 2 aiant t knows I wanted some | iquick action: and r got on “the plione | and, Ir made ‘the call ae ge 4 vot yews utp ow - “.CALGQERSON REPORTING COMP ANY, INC. | rn ae | i i 7 i Roe a Poa Docld:32252529 Page 72 -
_ to Naval Intelligence. ww. i | | { ' / a, | Mr. Triplett. It was your assumption that the quick action would come from Naval Intelligence as sf opposed to any other source? ~ 3 | The Witness. Yes. a oo . é | As a matter of fact I:did have a meeting with a 7 Alex the day before he left on this mission, on this trip, at opa locka .airport. 7 ; - Mr. Triplett. You say he was on a mission. | On whose behalf was that mission? | The Witness. I don't know at that particular time. all I know. is, we had the meeting at Opa locka | airport. He told us he was on his way to Central | America and then he completely disappeared. | Mr. Triplett. Have: you had occasion on other. | occasions to. phone Naval Intelligence and ask for | | assistance? The Witness. No. i 300 7TH STREET, S.W. REPORTERS BUTLDING, WASHINGTON, D.C. 2002" (202) 554-2305 a 1 oo. ree = | ; . oe . 7 | - toe pele : 7 Mr. Triplett. Or to provide information? 20 i The Witness. No. i a . Lot _— . . ee i Mr. Triplett. Have you been involved with NSS | os . Pe ve | organizations that have raised funds privately to a4 | . oo . oo ' oS | *° perform anti-Castro activities? Raids, propaganda 22 | or whatever? 1 o. 25 | The Witness. Can you repeat the beginning of ALSERSON EEPORTING COMPANY, INC. Docld: 322525279 Page 3
nw i | | | 3 4 | { 2! Pe] ~ | nw ‘| 2 6 t =e | a 7 4 es 38: S i ™ Go| 2 = 10 | S a Pat i x i = { = 12 | = = | = 14 | = - | z IS: Ss H | “0 74 wt = 19 | S 79 : S 2 | 2 wes | ‘Docld: 32252529 ed Be Ww in of that?. Mr. Triplett. Okay. Have you been involved in any organizations that have raised private money for the purpose of fighting Fidel Castro or providing propaganda against The Witness. Yes. Pedro Diez Lanz, Marcus Diez Lanz and myself. Again, they made ‘the connections with various people for funds in order to, you know, operate against Castro. | Mr. Triplett. Okay. When you say with various people, could you be more specific? How did they raise the funds and from whom? | The Witness. Personal contact. I will go ahead and tell you one of the groups, because most of the people I don't know who they got the funds from — because it was not my position to do that. From Bacardi Rum Company, which the Vice-Consul, the 4 Station Chief in Santiago works for the Rum Company after his retirement. ‘Mr. Triplett. And as a result of raising this ‘money, did you personally make any trips into and ‘out of Cuba? ALODERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. 74.
ul |The Witness. Yes, sir. | | Mr. Triplett. -on how. many occasions? | “the Witness. _ Well -- oh, rir give you another ‘| ands ne toute cont Aguerro, which is separate rs a7 Coe ne oad toes was being trained and g 7 being financed by the. United States Government, went S a. over to Europe --- | - : a | Mr. rriplett. (Interposing) Okay. “So this : 10 | wasn't privately financed. “This was again Government : 1 I. ‘money? | | $ a ' The. Witness. -I can not exactly tell you that : 13 Fhe received the money directly from the Government. a i | Bot he contacted meat a meéting at the Miami Springs E is | villa one time with a whole room full of Cubans there a i : = is | who knew me, many of them knew | me. One (of the | 4 7 | persons that was with him was. Oscar Mastre ¢ (phonetic). : | like GMQ in. cuba, his ‘family. Which. these = " | peopte naturally had very close ‘CIA connections. and g 20 jee their own. _ financing. You' ve got to understand Pee Nha lot of these people, they: have ‘their own financing. FZ = | mney would give money and the Government would | reimburse then. So.it isn't like it's coming directly 24 | from the Government. That's how they work, Go through 75 i . , os t-their fronts. — ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, INC. -Docld: 32252529 Page 75
D.C, WASHINGTON, REPORTERS BUTLDING, S.U. 300 7Ti STREET, Docld: 32252529 20024 (202) S5u-27345 | de te i] . Qs ror 23 a a we ta . t DES mn So ee .the United States? The Witness. Possibly I met him in) Cuba. If not in Cuba, it had to be here in: the United States, in the Miami - area. The Witness. No. I never met Carlos Marcella. Mr. Triplett. “You never met him? The Witness. Not that I know of. Mr Priplete., Never talked to him over the ‘phone? | | “the Witness. No. | Mr. Triplett. How about Sam Giocana (phonetic)? The Witness. No. Fog . Triplett. you' ve ‘never met him? The, Witness. Never. met Bam. * wt a age Triplett.: gona Rozelli.” (phonetic)? The Witness. No’.never: met him. Fae % Again I will say if these “people were ever ‘in Cuba,” went back | during the ‘time I was inspecting the casinos, “I was introduced to several people, you know. and who knows? I may have met. these people, hello and goodby, and that was the end of it. But - to my knowledge, today, I don't believe I ever met these people. Mr. triplett. How about Joe Rivers? When and. ALDERSON REPORTING COMPANY, ING. 120° Mire Triplett. How about Carlos Marcella (phonetic - i : | ; | | | | | |