--enforcer. extortionist. killer.
sparazza is rumored to have performed in excess of one-hundred and thirty contract murders, including one of the bureau's most celebrated agents. freeman heller. you heard of "the turnpike murders" that was sparazza.
no. he worked for the o.s.s. before joining the bureau in its heyday. he was the first operative assigned with infiltrating the mob.
full immersion and assimilation, fake identity, falsified background, everything that is now standard operating procedure, heller implemented, way back when.
and as a result, his undercover work was wildly successful. he eventually reached the rank of capo inside the carlotta crime family. but through some internal slip-up, his cover was compromised and primo sparazza was given the contract to kill him.
there wasn't enough evidence to bring formal charges, so the case never went to trial.
sparazza is a bit of a specter. over the years, the serious crimes with which he was thought to be involved, including heller's murder, could never be traced back to him.
a dedicated viciousness and a slavish devotion to mob doctrine had sparazza's star on the rise. so the mob relocated him to nevada and he became the unofficial head of the las vegas lcn.
sparazza was the one who introduced israel to the life, gave him his first big break, brought him through the ranks.
his hand-picked protege, successor to the throne. and israel played the situation very shrewd.
slowly amassing the loyalties of sparazza's top men. with plans of toppling the throne.
in doing so, he plunged the carlotta organization into a civil war, splitting the family into dual factions. sparazza on one side, israel on the other. the infighting that followed drew the interest of nearly every major investigative body operating under the canopy of the federal government.
his testimony has the potential of blowing the lid off what's left of the la cosa nostra is this country. that alone warrants total immunity from prosecution and and a vanishing act with witness protection.
--your intel corroborates what we already know. sparazza's health is in rapid decline and before his date with destiny, it seems he wants one last thing. the heart of his sworn enemy. a recently opened, cash rich escrow account has been traced back to sparazza. this and the mention of this mysterious swede makes the million dollar contract on israel very real.
like pasquale acosta, blood money mercenary. his countrymen have dubbed him the more dubious "el estrago" the plague.
american educated, fluent in over a dozen languages, did journeyman's work for cia funded "g-2" and "archivo" death squads in guatemala and chile. noted for his legendary torture techniques.
sought for war crimes and human rights violations in eighteen different countries. when he was caught by the sas in northern ireland and imprisoned, he chewed off his fingertips to the bone before he could be printed and id'd by interpol.
on an extradition flight back to el salvador, he murdered a security detachment and vanished.
possibly. acosta is pure mercenary. and a million dollar hit fee will draw some huge flies. but forget about sparazza's money for a moment and remember, there's no shortage of those who want israel killed and no shortage of cash to do just that.
we lose our case. twenty-four hours from now, he's scheduled to meet with federal prosecutors. his agent, a man by the name of morris mecklen, has guaranteed us that he'll enter into protective custody once his deal is approved.
we've been monitoring mecklen's calls and have learned that israel is staying in the penthouse level of the nomad hotel and casino in lake tahoe, nevada under an assumed name.
israel's legal representation, the firm of culpepper, brody and reed, which is currently the subject of a joint sec and treasury department probe, were left holding the bag after he skipped bail. over three- quarters of a million dollars on a bond that's set to expire in less than a day. rupert reed, one of the firm's partners, has learned of israel's whereabouts and dispatched a local bondsman by the name of jack dupree to pick him up and return him to las vegas. that can't happen. we have a gulf stream standing by at reagan international to transport you two to lake tahoe. it's very simple gentlemen. valacchi, fratiano, gravano-- no former witness against the mob has been as crucial or has brought more to bear on the potential dissolution of the la cosa nostra, than buddy israel.
but understand that if an attempt is made on his life.
then it is being made by those of the strictest professional caliber.
they are cold-blooded, ruthless, and without restraint. and they must not succeed.
yes? yes sir. i'm looking at it now. what does this-- mean exactly? . what? . good god.  . good god.  no, the two of them attached, agent's carruthers and messner. i'd like to notify them immedia--
understood sir. they won't be contacted. i'm leaving now.
pasquale acosta-- mercenary-- "el estrago"-- "the plague"
when he was caught by the sas in northern ireland and imprisoned, he chewed off his fingertips to the bone before he could be printed and id'd by interpol.
soot?
would you join us please.
where are carruthers and messner?
account for him.
here. sit. please.
difficult to explain everything now.  and much larger issues loom. i'm sorry about carruthers. damndest thing to have to die for.
very well. take mr. israel to the roof, he'll be traveling with us.
we have to transport mr. israel to las vegas, time is of the essence. the gulfstream is standing by on the jetway at tahoe international. i'm sorry, i'm restricted from disclosing anymore information. return to washington. you'll be debriefed in the coming days.
for a press release. officially, he took his own life, suicide by hanging, something of that sort. basic bullet points-- despondent over the turn his career had taken, troubles with the law, history of substance abuse and so on--
what are you doing here?
--will be handled back in--
you were given instructions to get on that plane and return to washington--
i can't discuss--
you're finished.
they're father and son.
--brought against sparazza by israel's mother laverne who was nineteen at the time. they had a brief affair which israel was the by-product of.
he does now.
dr. sven ingstrom is head of cardiology at stockholm university and the foremost heart specialist in all of europe--
sparazza was in failing health and looking for a donor. the son who had betrayed and burned him so thoroughly seemed a obvious choice.
yes. the actual contract went to lazlo soot, the man that plunged to his death from the penthouse yesterday. he was to neutralize israel's entourage and prep for the removal of his heart.
ingstrom was to handle the surgery itself on-site with the assistance of dr. gregory gill, israel's personal physician, who was also on the sparazza payroll.
information was arriving all day yesterday. when we finally figured out who sparazza actually was, we--
are you insane?
it wasn't elective. it was undertaken to save his life. and it wasn't cosmetic, it was reconstructive. look at the date of the first procedure.
the same year that sparazza murdered agent freeman heller.
primo sparazza was heller's alias. he went deep cover in 1940 and stayed under for over ten years, amassing materials against the mafia and other criminal syndicates. he may have ripped the organization wide open, pre-appalachia, but his superiors were convinced that he had gone rogue, swapped allegiances. so they gave the order to terminate his cover.
he survived the shooting but the injuries he sustained triggered a degenerative bone disease that required constant surgery, forever altering his features. so he assumed his alias full-time.
the figment that was primo sparazza became flesh and blood. freeman heller was no more.
the agents of that era are all dead and gone, history had defaulted to fable. until now. you can imagine the shock this sent through the corridors of power in d.c. heller's op predates the second world war. that's over sixty years of intel. do you know how valuable that could be? the man's a treasure trove.
i wouldn't go that far.
israel's agreement with the government was tossed out. we're now attempting to rehabilitate him to the point where a transplant can be attempted.
no. we're trying to save heller.
--we needed cohesion to move forward. not conjecture.
i don't see it like that at all.
i'll overlook what you've done here today in light of what's taken place. you've been fully debriefed. now i want you to return to d.c. immediately and make no further inquiry into this matter. i mean it. it's closed.