Informant earned $9M

Associated Press

NEW YORK

The most bankable star witness at the trial of an ex-Soviet officer known as the Merchant of Death was a former drug dealer turned U.S. government-sponsored actor who became one of the highest paid informants in history.

Carlos Sagastume, 40, earned more than $9 million over 15 years by convincing drug dealers and a weapons merchant that he was as bad — if not worse — than they.

Collecting evidence against Viktor Bout was another major achievement in a remarkable career for Sagastume. He posed as a member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, also known as the FARC, to coax Bout to travel from Russia to Thailand in March 2008 to arrange to send deadly weapons to Colombian rebels to fight Americans.

The monthlong trial in federal court in Manhattan ended Wednesday with Bout’s conviction on conspiracy charges. The arms dealer, an inspiration for the character played by Nicolas Cage in the 2005 film “Lord of War,” faces a potential life sentence.

Sagastume made most of his millions through the State Department’s Narcotics Rewards Program, collecting $7.5 million from two rewards for work he did for the Drug Enforcement Administration. Another $1.6 million was earned through work on 150 investigations, though some of the money covered expenses.

He was paid $250,000 for the Bout probe. In all, the State Department has paid more than $62 million in rewards since Congress established the program in 1986 to reward individuals who provide information to help arrest and convict drug dealers.

Myrna S. Raeder, a Southwestern Law School professor, said she found it interesting that Sagastume had lived a life of disguise for so long.

“One would think that one’s cover would be blown much earlier,” she said. “This sounds like fodder for a movie with that kind of background.”

Thomas Pasquarello, a former DEA special agent who headed the Bout probe in Thailand, said Sagastume was among the DEA’s best informants.

“If you’re looking at big fish, you need big bait,” he said. “That’s what guys like Carlos are good at. They’re pros at what they do, and they have deep connections.”

A good informant risks his life and can fake underground connections to reassure someone such as Bout that he’s authentic, he said.