Bombshell documents expose the FBI’s deliberate shredding of crucial evidence in Tony Viola’s case, highlighting rampant misconduct and a grave miscarriage of justice.
Cleveland, Ohio – August 5, 2024 — FreeTonyViola.com announced today that it obtained documents from the FBI detailing the destruction of evidence during its prosecution of Tony Viola, who was convicted and imprisoned for a decade, then subsequently exonerated at a second trial. Newly obtained records detail the “disposing of the documents by shredding and discarding” per a 2/5/2018 email, produced by the FBI on July 18, 2024.Some documents “associated to the [redacted] Viola trial have been separated and secured,” but so-called INVESTIGATIVE materials were destroyed.Extensive redactions make it difficult to ascertain exactly what documents are considered “trial” records versus “investigative” records.This latest bombshell about the destruction of evidence follows a litany of wrongdoing concerning evidence in cases prosecuted by a multi-jurisdictional Mortgage Fraud Task Force.
Following receipt of the documents, which are available in the FreeTonyViola.com Evidence Locker, an appeal to the Justice Department’s Office of Information Policy was filed, asking the Justice Department to inform the federal courts about the evidence destruction, and objecting to all redactions. Both the FBI and Justice Department have repeatedly redacted records and documents or simply refused to provide information, citing fake concerns about “privacy.” These “privacy” claims are undermined by the fact that FBI Agent Jeff Kassouf testified at multiple public trials and Mark Bennett actively sought the limelight while prosecuting mortgage fraud cases, appearing at press conferences, in press releases and even receiving an award for prosecuting Tony.
The Suspicious Death of Dawn Pasela
Born in 1985, Dawn graduated at the top of her class at Cleveland State and at Cuyahoga County Community College, and was hired by Prosecutors Dan Kasaris and Mark Bennett as Office Manager of a multi-jurisdictional Mortgage Fraud Task Force. One of the cases 1,000 cases prosecuted by the Task Force was that of real estate broker Tony Viola, who was indicted in both state and federal court for stealing $46 million in what prosecutors claimed was the “nation’s largest mortgage fraud case.” Tony never engaged in any mortgage origination, lending, underwriting or processing and never borrowed any funds himself, and maintained his innocence. When Bennett and Kasaris discovered their case against Tony was riddled with factual errors, they became concerned their high-profile case was about to fall apart. Instead of dismissing the case, they took the extraordinary step of directing Dawn to pose as paralegal working with local defense attorneys on similar cases, then offer to assist Tony’s defense. Dawn recorded a series of post-indictment conversations so prosecutors could obtain confidential defense trial strategy information. Kasaris and Bennett also ordered Dawn to donate funds towards Tony’s legal fees so they could use her cancelled checks to identify the law firm’s bank account. During this undercover operation, Dawn became concerned that these actions were wrong and that prosecutors were withholding key evidence in many Task Force’s prosecutions. Dawn offered to testify about prosecutorial misconduct but never made it to court. She was then found dead in her apartment under suspicious circumstances, details at www.JusticeForDawn.com.
Background – Admissions of Lying about Evidence
In 2015, Tony filed suit against the Justice Department and the Task Force, alleging that prosecutors Bennett and Kasaris, along with FBI Agent Jeff Kassouf, shifted exculpatory evidence between locations and jurisdictions to hide it before his first trial. The government initially claimed that the Task Force was a purely local endeavor, and the federal government was not responsible to search for evidence stored at the Task Force, or for any misconduct that took place there. Those statements were contradicted by the government’s own documents, which showed that the FBI repeatedly forwarded federal evidence to the Task Force location, and that the Task Force was federally funded and staffed by multiple federal agencies. Because the government’s own documents contradicted the government’s statements in its court pleadings, the Justice Department was ordered to conduct a new search for records, which resulted in both the FBI and Justice Department each admitting they made false statements about evidence in Tony’s case. Years of additional litigation followed, Viola v. Department of Justice, et. al., case number 15-cv-242, W.D. Pa. In that same litigation, FBI Agent Kassouf admitted listening to tapes made by Dawn Pasela, the Task Force’s Office Manager, who was ordered to secretly record defense trial preparation sessions. According to Agent Kassouf, he could not produce those tapes because he sent them to the Task Force location.
In 2021, attorney Jaye Schlachet stated that his client and government witness Kathryn Clover, who had an affair with Prosecutor Dan Kasaris, was allowed to access and destroy evidence inside the Prosecutor’s Office. According to Schlachet, Clover’s “attempt to destroy evidence … was done for the purpose of defending against her own criminal prosecution and not to impede” Viola’s defense, Viola v. Clover, CV-20-936897, Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court.
In 2022, Task Force Chairman Donald Cleland stated under oath that he directed Ms. Pasela to remove hard drives from the Task Force location for storage at her home. These hard drives, containing evidence in over 1,000 criminal cases, later went missing, according to Cleland.
Later in 2022, the United States Court of Appeals appointed The Yale Law School Appellate Clinic and the Law Firm of Wiggin and Dana to represent Tony Viola on a Pro Bono basis in Viola v. Department of Justice, et. al., case number 22-2186, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, Yale Law School Appellate Brief uploaded in the FreeTonyViola.com Evidence Locker.
Mark Bennett’s Firing and Disbarment Proceedings
Mark Bennett’s wide ranging criminal activities throughout Tony Viola’s criminal proceedings include
- Directing his Office Manager, Dawn Pasela, to illegally record a series of post-indictment conversations with Tony so prosecutors could obtain confidential defense trial strategy information, then failing to turn over the recordings made by Ms. Pasela, in violation of Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16.
- Covering up an affair between Prosecutor Dan Kasaris and government witness Kathryn Clover while Clover testified in criminal cases, then knowingly using Clover’s perjured testimony – see Bennett admission, USA v. Clover, 10-cr-75, ND Ohio, Docket # 46 and Clover PSI report, where Bennett claimed it was “in the interests of justice” to use perjured trial testimony in order to “win” the case.
- Lying about the existence of a “conflict of interest” waiver to joint defense by multiple defense attorneys at trial, when no such conflict waiver exists, Viola v. Bennett, Viola v. Bennett, No. 17-cv-456, ND Ohio.
- In 2020, Bennett was fired by the Justice Department for serious misconduct, see Inspector General Report Number 21-005 and Disciplinary Counsel v, Bennett, # 2022-034.
According to Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Sharon Kennedy, Bennett is not fit to practice law because “Bennett’s actions tainted the public trust. His conduct … undermined the credibility of and public faith in government, impeded the common good, and were not in the best interests of the American people … he was also a representative of the United States and possessed all the powers that comes with that position. His actions demeaned both the legal profession and his government office,” Ohio Supreme Court Opinion No. 2023-Ohio-4752.
Bennett Changes his Story about Dawn Pasela
During Tony’s criminal proceedings and in post-conviction proceedings, Bennett continuously maintained that allegations that Dawn wore a wire or donated funds toward his legal fees were false, writing:
“Viola claims … Dawn Pasela secretly recorded conversations with Viola, post indictment.Viola also argues that prosecutors used cancelled checks from Pasela’s contributions to Viola’s legal defense fund to identify the fund’s bank account. … Viola’s claims of government misconduct relating to Pasela are not true … claims of government misconduct with respect to Pasela is blatantly untrue,”USA v. Viola, 08-cr-506, N.D. Ohio, Docket # 483, page 21, 6/16/15.
As of 2024, following his disbarment proceedings, Bennett claims:
“As part of trial preparation, the FBI Agent assigned to the federal trial learned of the recording from one of the agents working on the state prosecution case.Mr. Bennett immediately instructed the FBI agent to obtain a copy of the one recording and listen to the recording … Bennett advised the Agent to make copies … and provide it to defense counsel,” 2024 letter to Seeking Justice from Attorney Michael P. Harvey.
Multiple defense attorneys have stated in writing that Bennett’s statement is false, and that they never received any voice recordings, or they would have raised the issue in court at the time.Moreover, Bennett’s 2024 statements constitutes newly discovered evidence that he failed to comply with his constitutional responsibilities to provide the defense with recordings with a defendant’s voice on them before trial.
NEXT STEPS IN TONY’S QUEST FOR JUSTICE
Post-conviction litigation in Tony’s case has gone on for over a decade, and can be summarized as follows:
- Attorney Kim Corral has called for a new investigation into the death of Dawn Pasela
- Yale Law School submitted its brief about misconduct in Tony’s case in early 2023, and, following oral arguments, is awaiting a ruling by the Court
- Tony’s investigative team continues to seek all records and evidence in his case, and multiple records cases are pending in the courts
- An ongoing investigation by former FBI Agent Bob Friedrick is continuing. Any leads can be sent to Mr. Friedrick at Bob@FAInvestigations.com
- A $10,000 reward is being offered for any information leading to the arrest of a suspect in the killing of Dawn Pasela. This reward follows an investigative series by Seeking Justice, details at www.SeekingJusticeMedia.com.
To learn more about what happened to Dawn Pasela, kindly visit www.JusticeForDawn.com. To learn more about the criminal prosecution of Tony Viola, and how he established his innocence at a second trial, or to view any of the documents mentioned in this press release, kindly visit www.FreeTonyViola.com.
ABOUT FREETONYVIOLA.COM:
FreeTonyViola.com’s mission is to shine a bright spotlight on the ‘win at all costs’ tactics, prosecutorial overreach and misconduct the United States Department of Justice employs when prosecuting American citizens. Tony Viola was investigated by the Cuyahoga County Mortgage Fraud Task Force, a multi-jurisdictional task force comprised of state, local and federal agencies, and prosecuted in parallel federal and state cases. He lost the federal case but was exonerated at a subsequent state trial. The website, originally created to solicit leads for Tony’s investigative team, has evolved into a tool to keep the public informed about critical developments in his case, and to share information that could potentially assist others who have been wrongfully ensnared by our criminal justice system. For additional information, visit their website http://www.FreeTonyViola.com, or friend them on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/tony.viola.9212, or follow them on X @TonyViola.
