Why does Rep. Jimmy Panetta and the entire Panetta family tirelessly promote Cannery Row and the two men behind Cannery Row when they have been implicated in organized criminal activity since 1988, publicly, by the local newspaper of record?
Ted Balestreri famously awarded Leon Panetta a $10,000 bottle of wine in 2012 - in a news promotion for Cannery Row - press the boys couldn't have paid for otherwise. "CIA head awarded expensive wine"
3/
And now there is a dearth of news in the US that isn't biased or siding with the rich and famous.
SOURCE:
The Salinas Californian. Saturday, August 6, 1988
"Balestreri and Cutino received two to 20 kilograms per delivery, or 4.4 to 44
pounds per delivery, according to
4/
Griffin as reported in the documents. Both men referred questions to lawyer Gary Gray of Monterey. Gray said that the
accusations against his clients, Balestreri and Cutino, were
"completely false."
*Any statement in the report is completely false,
5/
" Gray said, adding Bales-
treri has never met Griffin.
It was unknown whether the pair were aware they were named in the report.
Both Balestreri and Cutino are members of the Sheriff's Advisory Council.
6/
Cook said he hasn't spoken to either Balestreri or Cutino about their inclusion
in the report. Sam Lavorato, a Salinas lawyer, who received one to two ounces every
other week, according to Griffin in the report.
7/
Lavorato (spelled Lavorado in the report) did not return a July 19 phone message, and on July 20, his secretary said he had left for the airport to go out of the country on vacation.
8/
Lavorato, his wife and his law firm donated $2,150 in 1986 to the re-election campaign of Monterey County Municipal
Court Judge Stephen Sillman, who sealed the names inside the court file on May 13
at the request of a narcotics agent."
@LULAC and @RepJimmyPanetta connected gang member Raymond Padilla Jr. Multiple gun arrests, a robbery of marijuana involving guns, selling "legal" marijuana excess via grey market - relaxing at home with feet on the table.
Sheriff Candidate Joe Moses, who is the named successor to corrupt Sheriff Steve Bernal on why he should be sheriff. NOTE: these shows are vanity shoes where the Podcaster is promoting his business and these "interviews" are not news or unbiased.
The hard thing for @Calkins_Royal to get, though he is the best investigative journalist in Monterey County - who no longer lives in Monterey County - is the deep local secrets. Royal got here in 2001 or 2002, maybe later. I didn't realize his skill set until 2005 -
3/
but he isn't local.
And neither is Captain Joe Moses, @MCoSheriff candidate and current Bernal employee with high level mgmt. experience in a department being investigated by the @FBISanFrancisco - out of Oakland for "enemies lists" in conjunction with @ksbw and @mcweekly.
"Agha and Grupo Flor founder Mike Bitar were once the closest of friends, Bitar was able to convince many that he was Agha’s nephew, so close that Agha made him the executor of his estate. Now they grit their teeth when they talk about each other." voicesofmontereybay.org/2019/11/07/cul…
* disclosure @JoeLivernois gave Nader Agha's son a job at the @MontereyHerald. The Herald mgmt. would frequently discuss Agha's possible purchase of the Herald - which never happened. Agha was a contributor to @Calkins_Royal former blog Thr Monterey Bay Partisan and Voices.
.@VoicesofBay may only be interested in going after Mike Bitar, not for the @RepJimmyPanetta corruption, but for the animus developed by a big supporter of the non-profit news site.
This is provably false and @VoicesofBay co-founder knows this. I've been supportive of every local journalist I've worked with for over 20 years in helping them get better stories to our community.
In 2019 @maryrduan the former editor of the @mcweekly called me to tell me that
a Salinas based drug dealer (and her friend) lost an appeal at the 6th District for the State of California on a narco trafficking conviction. It was revealed in the pleadings that Hackett was picked up on a federal wiretap.
Duan asked me to not tell anyone this public info
3/
because Duan claimed she wanted to nail @DavidDr34643165 as being the target of a federal probe caught on Mike Hackett's she phone call. (Dave Drew wasn't the target on this call) and weeks later Duan continued to stall the story.
Brian Montes was a kid who got into the cocaine trafficking business as a young man, not unlike Dave Drew, under the older man roll model game that included Gordon LeGault & George Bernardasci (previous owner of the Pub in #Salinss).
Gunter. Detective Gunter would, in 2010 write a glowing letter on Dave Drew's behalf to the Superior Court in Drew's application for a Certificate of Rehab - which he got after six politicians pressured my Aunt, Kay Kingsley to sign the document.
Detective Gunter (who was
3/
by 2018 @CityofSalinas' Mayor) would go on to write another glowing letter for another cocaine trafficker and marijuana entrepreneur - Mike Hackett - who was also a drug dealer all those decades ago.