Video shows FBI taking on role of repairmen in ruse

Associated Press

WASHINGTON

It was an extraordinary ruse. Dramatic new video obtained by The Associated Press, filmed through the lapel camera carried by an undercover government agent, shows how the FBI tricked its way inside a luxury villa at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas as part of a major international gambling bust.

Defense lawyers said the FBI shut off Internet access to the suspects then impersonated repair technicians to get inside and collect evidence.

The video shows investigators devising code words to use while they were inside, a back-and-forth about the cover story for an agent, who adopted the name “Sam,” which he had used “for other stuff” in the past, and a brief exchange about how another investigator should dress for the role of a technical-repair nerd.

“If you put on that shirt, you have to look the part. Go all the way,” said Mike Wood, an outside technician working for Caesars, advising Nevada Gaming Control Board Agent Ricardo Lopez before Lopez headed to one of the suites the morning of July 4.

The AP obtained about 30 minutes of audio and video recordings of the covert reconnaissance recorded over two days.