Tommy K’s M.O.: Get Caught, Start Snitching, Stay Out Of JailIf John Michael’s motion against his uncle, Thomas Kontogiannis, could be summarized in two words, they’d be these: Stop Snitching. The only thing is, judging by some of the filings in the motion, snitching is how Kontogiannis has been able to stay out of jail, despite at least two previous convictions.
Kontogiannis’s first known conviction came when he pleaded guilty in 1994 to conspiring to bribe an official at the U.S. embassy in Athens, secure fraudulent visas, and commit immigration fraud. An unknown individual paid Kontogiannis to get him a fake visa, and so Kontogiannis flew to Athens, where he conspired with a Greek employee of the embassy, Pantelis Papazachariou, to supply the visa, and got the balance of his money when he supplied the individual with the goods. Additionally, he got a second individual in touch with Papazachariou to secure a fake student visa. Only one problem: both unknown individuals were federal informants. Kontogiannis was caught red-handed.
So Kontogiannis did what would become an apparent template in his role with the Duke Cunningham bribery case: he cooperated with the government in order to stay out of jail. It’s entirely unclear, however, what he gave the government in exchange. But clearly it was valuable: when Kontogiannis went before Judge Leonard Wexler, a federal district judge in New York, for sentencing in 1995, the government wrote the court asking for leniency. “You cooperated; therefore I must give you consideration and I will,” Wexler said. “Otherwise I would put you in jail.” Ultimately, Kontogiannis received a $20,000 fine, three months of house arrest — he was allowed to travel on business — and five years’ probation.
Kontogiannis expressed remorse, and his lawyer described him as “permanently shaken” by the conviction. But permanent doesn’t always mean permanent: a little over a year later, while still on probation, Kontogiannis committed identity theft and got away with it. And, of course, in 2000, he paid $50,000 in cash to a Queens school district official in order to guarantee himself a massive contract to install computer equipment in the district’s schools. That he didn’t get away with, but he did avoid jail time in that case as well.
And that wouldn’t be the last time that Kontogiannis’ snitching would be shrouded in mystery. His current plea agreement, quite unusually, doesn’t specify the terms of his plea. When he pleaded guilty in February, as first reported by Laura Rozen, Judge Larry Burns waived fingerprinting “for security reasons.” Former prosecutors contacted by TPMmuckraker say such a waiver is highly unusual, and a sign that the government doesn’t want a given persons’s identity to be verifiable — which usually indicates that the individual has some greater value to law enforcement, and in a more clandestine capacity. According to Kontogiannis’ docket, Burns ordered him in June to undergo fingerprinting by the U.S. marshals on July 23, so whatever extra value Kontogiannis had to law enforcement presumably expired by then. The entire episode remains murky.
One thing is clear from Kontogiannis’ history, though: maybe John Michael shouldn’t be so surprised if his uncle testifies against him for conspiring to launder money on behalf of Duke Cunningham. Lesson: don’t go into business with Tommy K. He just might snitch on you.
