AP Enterprise: 9/11 Thefts Not Prosecuted

Dan L'Allier, an emergency medical technician, poses in front of his ambulance Wednesday, June 14, 2006. in Ellsworth, Wisc. His employer dispatched trucks in the weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks, to a warehouse, about 25 miles from Ground Zero, and had them loaded up with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of donated bottled water, clothes, tools and generators, to be moved to Minnesota in a plot to sell some for profit, according to government records and interviews. L'Allier, who witnessed some of the thefts, ignored a company executives' order and talked to the FBI. (AP Photo/Bill Kelley) (Bill Kelley - AP)

The FBI declined to discuss Turner's allegation, saying it involved a personnel matter.

Nick Gess, a former federal prosecutor, said the FBI agents' taking of artifacts from ground zero shouldn't have precluded the government from prosecuting the company for stealing relief supplies.

"It strikes me as a non-issue in terms of prosecution," Gess said. "DEA agents have been found to smoke pot occasionally that doesn't mean they (the Drug Enforcement Administration) can't still work on drug cases."

"Taking a desk globe or a trinket is one thing, but stealing thousands of dollars worth of donated supplies is a completely different offense," Sen. Charles Schumer of New York said. "These people should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law."

The government also didn't prosecute any of its employees for taking souvenirs, claiming it lacked a policy prohibiting such thefts.

Ultimately, the FBI donated the stolen goods found at KEI's warehouse to the Salvation Army.

Joe Friedberg, a lawyer who represented a KEI executive, dismissed the Sept. 11 thefts as "much ado about nothing." Friedberg said KEI took a few pallets of water and T-shirts because they had authorization from a FEMA official to take surplus items.

But that FEMA official, Kathy McCoy, said she never gave Kieger such permission.

Those who work near ground zero today are shocked to learn such thefts went unpunished.

"To take advantage of people at a time of despair, it's probably one of the worst things human beings can do to another person," said Gregory Broms, Sr., a firefighter with Engine Company 10 at the foot of the former World Trade Center site. "It was morally wrong."

The whistleblowers worry their fate might chill others from exposing wrongdoing.

"They felt they had to come forward about the theft because it was so wrong," Turner said. "I've lost my career. They've lost their jobs. The price is so high for telling the truth."

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On the Net:

The National Whistleblower Center: http://www.whistleblowers.org

The FBI: http://www.fbi.gov