MIAMI, FLA. - Being in plain clothes and not able to discuss the average day on the job has been the everyday norm for the men and women of the Coast Guard Investigative Service, but recently, and unprecedented number of agents in Miami were recognized for their hard work and dedication.

At the 2004 Annual Outstanding Law Enforcement Officer (“OLEO”) Awards ceremonies held in downtown Miami Aug. 11, seven CGIS agents were recognized from three separate cases.

The ceremony was held to honor the outstanding work of South Florida’s law enforcement community in investigations and cases in nine counties that make up the Southern District of Florida.

Special Agents James Kelly, Randy Thompson, Christopher Crawford, Ronald Bradley and James Breen each received the OLEO Award for Operation Dutchess. This case led to the successful prosecution of Freddy Alvarado, who conspired to smuggle illegal aliens into the U.S. by use of fraudulent crew letters to obtain work visas from the U.S. State Department. 

Special Agents Christopher Crawford, James Breen, Alfredo Ferrer and James Kelly were recognized for the Maria Diaz-Machado case, the investigation of which led to successful indictments and convictions of five individuals for providing false crew letters to smuggle illegal aliens into the U.S. by obtaining work visas. 

Special Agent James White was nominated and recognized for the McKenzie/Jerome case. The investigation of this maritime alien smuggling case resulted in successful criminal prosecution of two individuals.

These awards stand as examples of what CGIS agents do every day, while keeping their successes low key within and outside the Coast Guard.

“[The awards] reflect the positive changes in the CGIS program, especially in the southeast region,” said CGIS Southeast Region Special Agent-in-Charge Jon Sall. “In recent years, we’ve really recruited some high quality people who’ve done some great work, but a lot of our work was done internally. I’m very happy the agents [are getting] the recognition they deserve.”

One of their more successful cases that recently got publicity was brought to fruition after a four-year investigation.

The chief executive officer (CEO) of Sabine Transportation Company, Rick Stickle, was brought to justice for his actions relating to the January 1999 dumping of more than 487 tons of oil-contaminated wheat grain from a U.S. ship into waters of the South China Sea. 

Numerous investigative leads were followed over the four years after the dumping, involving five different CGIS case agents and various case agents from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Criminal Investigations Division (CID). Agents traveled to the four corners of the continental U.S., Alaska, and made two trips to Singapore and Southeast Asia. Trial preparation by agents included efforts to locate witnesses, serve trial subpoenas, and prepare exhibits for presentation at trial.

The CEO was found guilty of violation of the U.S. Ocean Dumping Act and of having provided false and misleading statements and records to U.S. Coast Guard and Department of Agriculture officials. He faces up to five years in prison and a fine of $250,000 (or twice the gain from the criminal activity). His sentencing will take place Feb. 9.

Even with such long drawn out cases and the major breaks being few and far between, the agents feel rewarded in their jobs.

“Part of taking this job is knowing that when you start something you may have to pass it off before you finish it,” said Jim White, a member of CGIS for the last three years. “Eventually there will be an end game, but patience is one of the requirements for the job.”

Currently, CGIS is active at work in the Southeast U.S., be it undercover work in alien-smuggling, support to the highly successful counter-drug operation PanEx, or the newly established stolen boat task force.

Since I started writing this article, CGIS scored another successful conviction against the operator of several casino vessels after one of their vessels was caught dumping garbage off the coast of Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

“Our office in the southeast region is so busy that you’ll rarely ever find an agent in the office,” said White. “The bad guys are out there, so that’s where we are.”

If you are a criminal committing your acts in the maritime environment, there’s a good chance CGIS is watching and will bring you to justice.