SHARE Backfire

A Journal Sentinel investigation uncovered mistakes and failures in an undercover sting in Milwaukee's Riverwest neighborhood by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives – stolen guns, sensitive documents lost, wrong people charged and a burglary of the sting storefront. Go to section.

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Four ATF special agents responsible for the agency's botched undercover storefront sting in Milwaukee have been disciplined, but received the lightest punishment handed out by the agency.

The information was contained in a letter to members of Congress who demanded that the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and ExplosivesDirector B. Todd Jones disclose what disciplinary action was taken against agents and supervisors responsible for Operation Fearless.

James Burch, the ATF's assistant director for governmental affairs, wrote that seven special agents involved in the Milwaukee sting were reviewed.

The ATF's Professional Review Board proposed a reprimand for one agent and issued a "memorandum of caution" — the mildest action the board can take — to three others.

The agent who faced a reprimand ultimately received the less serious memorandum of caution. That decision was made by an ATF official whose name was not included in the letter.

The other three agents whose actions were reviewed received what's known as a "memorandum of clearance" — clearing them of wrongdoing.

The letter did not name the agents involved in Operation Fearless in Milwaukee. ATF spokeswoman Ginger Colbrun declined to discuss specifics of the discipline.

"As a matter of policy ATF does not discuss personnel or disciplinary matters," she wrote in an email.

Veterans with the agency who asked not to be identified because of the sensitivity of the case and the internal investigation called the disciplines a "slap on the wrist" that will have no effect on the agents' careers.

Members of both parties in Congress have been calling for accountability since the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel first reported problems in Operation Fearless in early 2013.

The investigation found agents used a brain-damaged man with a low IQ to promote the operation and then arrested him; allowed armed felons to leave the store; arrested four of the wrong people; paid such high prices for guns that people bought guns from stores and sold them to agents for a profit; and failed to secure the store, resulting in the operation being burglarized.

Special Agent Michael Aalto, the lead undercover agent, had his guns stolen, including a machine gun, which has not been recovered.

After the investigation was published, Special Agent Jacqueline Sutton, who was in charge of Operation Fearless, was moved from the Milwaukee office to Washington, D.C. It was not clear if that was a punishment.

The ATF told congressional staffers the problems were isolated to the Milwaukee operation and said storefront stings had been used effectively across the country.

A subsequent Journal Sentinel investigation found similar problems in storefronts from Portland, Ore., to Pensacola, Fla.

The U.S. Department of Justice inspector general is doing his own investigation into the storefronts, as is a powerful congressional committee.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder told Congress in April he was "greatly troubled" by the ATF's use and treatment of people with intellectual disabilities in undercover operations. He vowed there will be accountability.

"The notion that you would use mentally unstable people, you would tattoo them, that you would do ridiculous things like that, it's absurd and people will be held accountable," Holder told a House committee.

The ATF letter, dated July 2, was in response to a May 16 letter from U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee; U.S. Rep. Darrell E. Issa (R-Calif.), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee; Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-Va.), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee; and Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), chairman of the crime subcommittee.

The congressional members asked about Bernard "B.J." Zapor, who was in charge of the ATF's St. Paul Field Division in 2012 during Operation Fearless. The Milwaukee office falls under the St. Paul division.

As the Milwaukee operation was winding down, Jones promoted Zapor. The two had worked closely in St. Paul, where Jones was the U.S. attorney.

In a meeting with congressional staffers, ATF officials said "disciplinary action" was "underway" for Zapor.

Zapor was then put in charge of the Phoenix Field Division, which was still reeling from the disastrous "Operation Fast and Furious." Agents there stood by as thousands of assault rifles passed into the hands of criminals and ended up at murder scenes, including one where a U.S. border guard was killed.

Zapor has roots in Arizona. He started his career as an agent in Phoenix in the late 1980s and had family members in that part of the country. The move put him in the area he would later tell colleagues he wanted to retire.

"This gave rank-and-file agents the impression that, instead of being disciplined for his role in Operation Fearless, Zapor was actually receiving a taxpayer-funded soft landing," the congressional letter said.

The ATF letter says Zapor's actions were not examined by the ATF's Personnel Review Board. But agency bosses initiated "management track" disciplinary action against Zapor, but it did not say what that was. The ATF letter says Zapor was assigned to Phoenix based on "agency needs."

In Arizona, Zapor was reunited with Fred Milanowski, a front-line supervisor in the Milwaukee office during Operation Fearless.

At a congressional hearing on storefront operations this year, Jones said he had complete confidence in Zapor and Milanowski.

After the hearing, Zapor was ordered to the Newark office. He asked to stay in Phoenix but was denied. Instead, he retired.

The ATF letter to Congress also revealed the high amount of turnover in the agency's top management positions, attributing it to budget cuts and a retirement rate higher than other federal law enforcement agencies.

"In part as a result of retirements among its senior executive ranks and a depleting pool of senior special agents in the field, over the past five years ATF has often had to shift executives between senior management assignments to match skill sets to immediate management needs," it said.