Sting Gets Stung

For five years the Bridgeport, Conn., city government and police force had been under extensive federal investigation. Apparently frustrated by the lack of results, the FBI decided to try an old-fashioned sting. The bait was Thomas Marra Jr., 28, a convicted car thief awaiting sentencing. Marra's father and uncle held a $100,000-a-year contract from Bridgeport to tow stolen cars--or did until last May, when motorists complained that equipment had been pilfered from the recovered autos. The FBI plan: Marra would offer Police Superintendent Joseph Walsh $30,000 to reinstate the contract. Walsh agreed to talk about it last week in a downtown parking lot. With FBI agents eavesdropping, Marra offered a $5,000 first installment.

But at that point the sting got stung. "Put your hands on the dashboard," ordered Walsh. "You're under arrest for attempted bribery." The FBI arrived to find five Bridgeport detectives and a Walsh-invited press contingent who were busily comparing Marra's electronic devices with their own. They had been listening over Walsh's identical body mike from across the street. The Feds demanded Marra, the bug and the cash. "I politely told them where to go," says Walsh. Marra went to jail. An embarrassed FBI was left muttering darkly about investigating who tipped off Walsh. "I smelled a rat," Walsh explained angelically.

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