| | Paul J. | Brana | MD - Baltimore; NY - New York; PR - San Juan | 1954 - 1978 | Star of India Theft, HOMEX, Bronfman kidnapping, FALN | Organized Crime, Gambino Family, John Gotti, Richard Kleindienst, U.S. Olympics | For the FBI Oral History Heritage Project sponsored by the Society of Former Special Agents of the FBI, Inc., which holds the copyright to the material.
Special Agent Paul J. Brana served in the FBI from 1954 to 1978. This interview took place on March 30, 2005. Interviewed by Brian R. Hollstein.
SA Brana attended Manhattan College and served in the military as an officer in the 11th Airborne. He applied to the New York Police Department (NYPD) and was turned down. He then applied for the FBI and was accepted.
SA Brana’s first assignment was the Baltimore Division, followed by the New York Division, then the San Juan Division, and back to New York. He also was temporarily assigned to the Dominican Republic in 1965 for a few months.
The FBI’s focus on Organized Crime investigations started in 1961 with the passage of the Interstate Transport in Aid of Racketeering statutes. SA Brana made the first mob arrest under the statue in November 1961 in a numbers operation investigation.
While in New York in 1965, SA Brana was sent to the Dominican Republic when President Lyndon B. Johnson had ordered FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover to send personnel there. At that time, the revolution was underway and the U.S. Marines and the 82nd Airborne were on the ground. The primary concern was the prevention of a new ruling Communist regime. Besides coming under enemy fire, SA Brana was challenged to make one more parachute jump from a helicopter and did. He was awarded a special medal. In November 1965, he returned to New York. SA Brana and SA Guy C. Berado were the first FBI Agents to go undercover in the Mafia. He continued to do undercover work though the following years in New York. He testified in the John Gotti trial and also investigated the kidnapping and murder of Manny Gambino. Mr. Gambino’s mother asked the FBI to investigate his kidnapping, which they subsequently solved. Another undercover stint involved Johnny Dio (Diaguardi) and getting a fix from a federal judge for the indictment.
SA Brana describes trying to recover the famous Star of India, after it was stolen from New York’s Museum of Natural History. He and SA Berado posed as buyers for the jewels.
His talents for undercover work were used by other Agents in Buffalo and San Francisco. He also described working undercover on a gambling boat.
Another big case that SA Brana had was HOMEX, an extortion ring going after homosexuals. The Bronfman kidnapping resulted in SA Brana’s picture being printed on the front page of the New York Times, showing him with the ransom money.
SA Brana was supervisor of the joint FALN bombing investigation with the NYPD. Between the two organizations, they fielded two hundred people, watching for the bombers on July 4, 1976. The information was leaked to the press and SA Brana believes this stopped the FALN for fear of capture.
After this, SA Brana transferred to the DEA/FBI New York operation as a supervisor. He discusses being arrested while undercover. | Download PDF 1 | Download PDF 2 | |