On Tuesday, Rev. Al Sharpton admitted that he did aided the Federal Bureau of Investigation with their probe on Mafia figures in New York in the 1980s. However, he clarified that this piece of information is already old news and that felt more like a victim than an informant throughout the course of his cooperation with the federal agency.
The Chicago Sun-Times said Sharpton's statement sought to downplay a report by website The Smoking Gun about his participation as a confidential informant in bringing down a Mafia boss. The local paper said that Sharpton was identified in court papers as "CI-7."
Sharpton decided to came out at a news conference held at his headquarters in Harlem. He claimed that he went to federal authorities following threats he and others received from low-level mobsters for competing with the latter to gain a stake in the music business. The Chicago Sun-Times said that Sharpton also recounted this incident in his 1996 book entitled "Go and Tell Pharaoh."
The Smoking Gun's report were based on court documents and memos of the FBI in response to Freedom of Information requests. Among the documents, one included a draft affidavit by a federal agent who was investigating reports that the Genovese crime family has a lucrative "stranglehold" on Morris Levy, a music industry executive.
"(Levy) has tried to end his relationship with the Genovese family 10 to 15 times but that he has ‘only has one way out,' at which point (he) gestured like someone pointing a gun and pulling the trigger," the FBI documents revealed.
The documents also said that the FBI enlisted Sharpton, who was referred to as "CI-7," with the latter agreeing to record conversations he had with a member of the mob who had insider knowledge about Levy's relations with the Genovese family.
Because of Sharpton's cooperation, investigators were able to convince judges to approve wiretaps on phones of Genovese boss Vincent "The Chin" Gigante at his Manhattan home and to plant a bug at a social club where Gigante hung out, according to the report.
