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Retired agent Judy Tyler served 31 years with the FBI. In this episode of FBI Retired Case File Review, Judy Tyler reviews her hunt for fugitive Jack Saltarelli, fleeing a 20-year sentence for distribution of methamphetamine in Mississippi and his subsequent cooperation in the take-down of a farmhouse meth lab in the Pocono mountains, resulting in the arrest of nine individuals.
Judy has extensive experience in the investigation of violent drug trafficking organizations and advanced investigative techniques. She specialized in the recruitment, development, and operation of human intelligence, also known as informants, and cooperating witnesses. During her career, she received awards from the Mid-Atlantic Region of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) and from the United States Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Post-retirement, Judy continues to share her experience and expertise as a contract instructor training current FBI agents as part of a specialized in-service program. (In Episodes 3 and 102 of FBI Retired Case File Review, Judy was interviewed about some of her other Philadelphia investigations and her FBI career.)
Special Agent (Retired)
Judith Tyler
12/10/1979 – 7/31/2010
“The meth lab was in a cabin in the Poconos. To take it down, we ended up having our SWAT team approach from the rear of the mountain. There was about a dozen inches of snow on the ground at the time.”
The following are links for newspaper articles about the Poconos mountain meth lab raid:
Citizens’ Voice (Wilkes-Barre, PA) – 3/11/1982: Four arrested in Wyoming County drug raid
Latrobe Bulletin – 3/11/1982: Four Arrested in Raid on Lab
Philadelphia Daily News – 3/11/1982: Trio faces sentencing on $2M drug charges
Jack Saltarelli, facing a 20-year sentence for selling meth, an attempted hit on his life, and a young son who needed him, cooperated with agent Judy Tyler and the FBI to take down a criminal enterprise operating a series of productive meth labs. He is writing his memoir, revealing how he grew up on the mean streets of Philadelphia where he started running away from home at eight years old and the significant time he spent in prisons at Holmesburg, Lewisburg, and Terre Haute. However, for the past 28 years Jack has been chasing criminals around the country as a bail recovery agent and bounty hunter.
