11/0705
Imagine that you are the public works
director in your city and have dedicated
your long career to the betterment of the
community. A prime 7-acre property in town
is under discussion for commercial development...but
it has flooding problems. You're invited
to a high-level meeting to discuss how
much of the land can be developed. Then,
just before the meeting is to start, you
look up and see a long-time friend at your
door—a former city at-large alderman. All
alone in your office, he offers you, on
behalf of a powerful local developer, a
$10,000 bribe to "resolve" the
engineering issues on that property.
What do you do?
If you are Robert
Rieser
of Aurora, Illinois,
you put your hurt and your disappointment
in your friend in your back pocket and
immediately report the bribery attempt
to the Mayor, who in turn notifies the
FBI.
And that's not all.
Once the FBI opened an investigation,
Mr. Rieser, distressed, agreed to assist
with it. He knew he would certainly pay
a heavy personal price for getting involved,
but he told FBI investigators that he needed "to
do the right thing, no matter what the
cost may be." And the "right
thing" turned out to be collecting
hard evidence of public corruption since
the original bribe, without witnesses,
was only hearsay.
It was grueling and unpleasant work.
On top of his regular duties as director
of public works and manager of the municipal
airport, Mr. Rieser arranged meetings with
his "friend" and the land developer
over a six-month period to obtain evidence
of both the bribery attempt and the proposed
fraud. His efforts were completely successful.
The two men were indicted on November 2.
Then a superseding indictment was brought
when Mr. Rieser's former friend admitted
to earlier crimes on behalf of the developer—when
he was actually serving as at-large alderman,
as chairman of the city's planning and
development committee, and even, for a
time, as acting mayor—and he pled
guilty. The developer went to court and,
thanks to Mr. Rieser's testimony and evidence,
was found guilty and convicted. It was
a happy story for the city of Aurora, which
was freed from longstanding corrupt practices
and was incidentally spared the consequences
of the fraud.
Mr. Rieser, to our minds,
is a hero. And the Society
of Former Special Agents of the FBI ,
which presents an annual award to heroes,
agreed. They honored him last week for
giving unselfishly of himself to both his
community and the nation. Director Robert
Mueller had the pleasure of making the
presentation, with former FBI Director
William Webster and current FBI Deputy
Director John Pistole, noting his deep
appreciation of the Society and its leadership
role in recognizing citizens who sacrifice
themselves for the public good.
We'd like to close with the personal
words of the FBI agent who worked on the
case with Mr.
Rieser: "There are few
men who will stand up for what is right,
and even fewer when it comes at the cost
of their personal safety or relationships.
Your courage and example serve as a testament
to all that is good about public service." Thank
you, Mr.
Rieser, on behalf of all the men
and women of the FBI.
Pictured, from left to right: Former
FBI Director William Webster; FBI Deputy
Director John Pistole; Society of Former
Special Agents of the FBI President Jerry
Emmons; Robert
Rieser
; Director Mueller;
Society of Former Special Agents of the
FBI Foundation Chairman Robert Gast;
Society of Former Special Agents of the
FBI President-Elect Andrew Palumbo.