[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 7] [Senate] [Pages 9313-9314] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]SPECIAL AGENT JOHN J. TRUSLOW Mr. REED. Mr. President, I would like at this time to pay my respects to FBI Special Agent John Joseph Truslow. John Truslow, an FBI agent stationed in Providence, was more than ``just an agent.'' He was a brave man, a Rhode Islander who cherished his home state and served its people with courage and distinction. John grew up in Central Falls, Rhode Island and attended the University of Rhode Island, receiving a bachelor's degree in 1972 and a master's degree in 1978. In 1980, he joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation in New York, where he was assigned for eleven years. In 1991, John Truslow transferred back home to Rhode Island, with his wife, Diane, and their two children, Catherine and David. During the next nine years with the Bureau, John Truslow distinguished himself by leading several federal probes that attacked corruption in our cities and towns. In 1996, when the North Cape barge ran aground at Moonstone Beach, spilling over 800,000 gallons of home heating oil into Narragansett Bay and killing millions of fish and wildlife, John Truslow was hard at work. Throughout that year and the next, he led a methodical investigation, which uncovered the corporate negligence that contributed to the disaster. Because of his work, a groundbreaking agreement was reached in which the owner of the North Cape agreed to pay $9.5 million in criminal damages. Today, despite one of the worst environmental accidents in Rhode Island's history, Narragansett Bay is recovering, due, large part, to the work of Mr. Truslow. Described by friends and co-workers as a man of substance and a man of honor, John continued to report to work each day, even after having been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in August 1999. In fact, on April 5, one day after his twentieth anniversary with the FBI and after months of being physically ravaged by cancer and the effects of chemotherapy, John testified before a federal grand jury to present evidence which lead to the indictment on bankruptcy fraud charges of a Rhode Island traffic court judge. Twelve days later, on April 17, he was in court for that indictment. John was a dedicated agent, working up until his final days. We are humbled by his courage, allegiance to duty and his perseverance in the face of adversity. He served with honor and distinction, for the people of his home state of Rhode Island as well as the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Unfortunately, John lost his battle with cancer on May 5. To his family, I offer my sincerest condolences. I need not tell them that they can be proud of John; they already know that. But, I would like them to know what John's work meant to so many in our state. He made a difference in our criminal justice system and has left a lasting impression on friends, co-workers and colleagues in law enforcement. While he is gone, John's legacy of duty and courage lives on, and his record of service to his country and Rhode Island will not soon be forgotten. I ask unanimous consent that an article from the Providence Journal- Bulletin on the life of Mr. Truslow be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the article was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: [From the Providence Journal-Bulletin, May 14, 2000] Remembering a Man Who Had the Courage of His Convictions (By Mike Stanton; Journal Staff Writer) Despite the ravages of brain cancer, FBI agent John Truslow, whose cases included the North Cape oil spill and Operation Plunder Dome, worked up until the final days of his life. ____ When two dozen FBI agents prepared to raid Providence City Hall last spring, a lanky, bespectacled agent named John Truslow was put in charge. ``We specifically chose him because we wanted someone who was low-key and decisive,'' recalls Daniel Knight, the head agent in Providence. Later that afternoon, while top federal prosecutors and FBI officials held a news conference to announce Operation Plunder Dome, Truslow was back in his familiar post behind the scenes, poring through the arcane documents and tedious tax records that would help the government build criminal cases against corrupt Providence officials. If John Truslow toiled in obscurity, his efforts were not in vain. He worked on some of the most prominent criminal cases in Rhode Island over the past decade from public corruption in Johnston to criminal negligence in the 1996 North Cape oil spill to the ongoing corruption probe of the administration of Providence Mayor Vincent A. Cianci Jr. Truslow kept working even after he was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer last year. As the cancer ravaged his body and the chemotherapy failed to arrest the disease's advance, Truslow would say that he was ``on top of the world'' and keep showing up for work. Although his gait was unsteady and he was unable to drive, Trusklow was still on the job in April, putting in a nine- hour day as a federal grand jury indicted retired Rhode Island traffic-court judge John F. Lallo on fraud-related charges after an 18-month investigation. On May 5, Truslow died, with his wife of nearly 22 years, Dianne, and their daughter Catherine and son David nearby. He was 50. ``John would never, ever give up,'' says his friend and colleague, Special Agent W. Dennis Aiken. ``He wasn't given a lot of time by the doctors, but he had things that he wanted to finish. He met every goal he set.'' That sense of purpose was evident at Truslow's wake last Monday, a celebration of his life that drew an overflow crowd of friends, family and colleagues from throughout the Northeast. Patting his friend's hand, Aiken talked about Truslow's love of his family and his job, and vowed that his work would continue: ``There's still a lot of people we need to put in jail.'' EVEN AT 6-FOOT-5, John J. Truslow was a man who, with his crumpled raincoat and mild personality, ``could easily fade into the background,'' says friend and federal prosecutor Ira Belkin. ``He was all substance, no show,'' says Belkin. ``No task was too small or too big. If I had 10 John Truslows, there would be no crime in Rhode Island.'' Truslow grew up in Central Falls, one of four children. His father worked for a local gas company; his mother worked in a mill. As a student at the University of Rhode Island in the early 1970s, Truslow met a high-ranking FBI official the father of a classmate and ``became fascinated with the bureau,'' recalls his wife, Dianne L. Truslow. The FBI official told him that there were two paths to becoming an agent accounting or law school. Truslow chose accounting. He joined the bureau in 1980, in New York, and within a few years began specializing in white-collar crime. In 1991, he transferred to Rhode Island, moving to East Greenwich. Before long, Truslow was leading a federal corruption probe of the Town of Johnston, involving bribes by developers to town officials. One official was charged with demanding a $10,000 bribe, which he described as ``coffee money.'' Ultimately, eight people were convicted. Long-time Johnston Mayor Ralph aRusso, who wasn't charged, was voted out of office. ``The people in Johnston Town Hall hated to see him,'' recalls Dianne Truslow. ``He knew their records better than they did.'' Other Johnstonians cheered him on. One was Rosie Cioe, proprietor of the downtown Providence deli Amenities, where Truslow would stop in every morning for a cranberry muffin. ``John kept my hopes up that Johnston would turn itself around,'' she recalls. ``I'd say, `You're doing a hell of a job, John. Keep going.' He'd just smile.'' [[Page 9314]] Peter DiBiase, a Providence criminal-defense lawyer who represented people investigated by Truslow, calls him ``a worthy adversary and an honorable man.'' ``He played hard and he played fairly,'' recalls DiBiase. ``He's the most diligent FBI agent I ever met.'' ON JAN. 19, 1996, the tug Scandia caught fire in a storm and ran aground at Moonstone Beach with the barge North Cape, causing the worse oil spill in Rhode Island history. Truslow led a team of state and federal investigators in piecing together hundreds of boxes of ship records and interviewing crew members who had concealed problems with the boats. The result was a groundbreaking 1997 agreement in which the boat owner, Eklo Marine Corp., agreed to pay $9.5 million in damages. ``Some agents are good with paper and some are good with people there aren't many agents like John who are good with both,'' says Belkin. Truslow had a patient, methodical style of interviewing that broke down many a target into confessing criminal wrongdoing, associates say. In one fraud case, Belkin recalls, a suspect being questioned by Truslow raised his hand and, to the dismay of his lawyer, said, ``Guilty.'' Last Aug. 11, while delivering subpoenas to Newport, Truslow suffered a seizure and blacked out, crashing his car into a tree in Middletown. He came to in an ambulance. Hospital tests found seven tumors in his brain and three more in his lungs. Following 10 days of radiation treatment, doctors at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute in Boston found that the tumors had grown. Last October, they estimated that he had six months to live. ``We were beside ourselves,'' recalls Dianne Truslow. ``We sat there and wept.'' Agents continued to drive Truslow to Boston for treatment. His hair fell out, his body grew gaunt, and he suffered painful side effects from the chemotherapy. Still, he kept working. His job helped distract him from the cancer, and the cancer drove him to push hard to finish cases. Truslow worked on a Plunder Dome case involving lawyer and long-time State House insider Angelo ``Jerry'' Mosca Jr. In January, Mosca pleaded guilty to delivering $25,000 in bribes to city tax officials; one of the bribes involves allegations that $10,000 was intended for an unidentified high-ranking city executive. Truslow also sat at the table with a federal prosecutor in March, when Providence tax collector Anthony E. Annarino pleaded guilty to taking bribes in another Plunder Dome case. Truslow's wife says that he set milestones to keep himself going: his 50th birthday in November, which was marked by a surprise party attended by about 75 FBI agents and other friends; Christmas, his children's birthdays, his 20th anniversary with the FBI. On April 5, the day after marking his 20th anniversary, Truslow was back before a federal grand jury, presenting evidence that led to the indictment of former Rhode Island traffic-court judge John Lallo on bankruptcy fraud charges. In the preceding months, Truslow had continued to build the case, interviewing witnesses at Foxwoods casino in Connecticut, where Lallo had piled up gambling debts. On April 17, Truslow appeared in court for Lallo's arraignment. One week later, on April 24, he came to work for the last time. After a few hours, however, it became apparent that he had taken a turn for the worse: he struggled to speak in complete sentences, and had to be taken home. He died nearly two weeks later. On Thursday, Truslow's wife and children, following his wishes, scattered his ashes from an airplane over a favorite spot overlooking Narragansett Bay. Dianne Truslow recalls her husband's pride back on April 4, when he was honored for his 20 years of service in the FBI. Barry W. Mawn, the head of the FBI's Boston office, hailed Truslow as ``a profile in courage.'' As the 200 people there wept openly, a sobbing Truslow thanked them. ``I don't know how much longer I have,'' said Truslow, ``but I will continue to work every day and do my best.'' ____________________