Episode 071: Greg Stejskal – The Joker, Marijuana Criminal Enterprise

Retired agent Greg Stejskal served with the FBI for 31 years. He was assigned to the Detroit Division, where, for the most part, he worked out of the Ann Arbor Resident Agency. He was the Senior Resident Agent in the RA for the last ten years of his career prior to retirement. In this episode of FBI Retired Case File Review, Stejskal reviews the investigation of a massive marijuana criminal enterprise. Initially a lead from the Indianapolis Division seeking assistance with a case involving a mother, Linda Leary, and her two sons, Paul and Richard Heilbrunn, who were charged with operating a marijuana smuggling and distribution enterprise, Greg Stejskal was assigned to identified and locate a co-conspirator thought to be living in the Ann Arbor, Michigan area. Only identified as “The Joker” in the 136-page federal indictment, the unknown subject had been charged with being a distributor for the Heilbrunn family marijuana operation. According to the indictment, the drug ring operated from 1975 to 1985 and it would prove to be the biggest marijuana ring ever prosecuted in the United States. After a patient but persistent investigation, Stejskal determined that James Hill was the man he was looking for, the Joker. Hill was sentenced to twenty years in jail for his role in the Ann Arbor operation of the marijuana criminal enterprise. Post retirement, Greg Stejskal is active in community service. He is also a regular contributor to TickleTheWire.Com, a website featuring federal law enforcement news from around the country. Stejskal’s article about his search for the Joker, Hunting For The Joker, is posted on the site.

Special Agent (Retired)

Greg Stejskal

3/10/1975 – 10/31/2006

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following are links to newspaper articles about the massive marijuana criminal enterprise operated by the Heilbrunn brothers and their mother Linda Leary:

People Magazine (June 19, 1989) – Masters of Deception: A Prominent Indiana Family-in-Exile Is Accused of Running a Drug Ring

New York Times – AP (August 4, 1990) – Ex-Civic Leader Is Jailed in Drug Smuggling 

 

Jerri Williams

View posts by Jerri Williams
Jerri Williams, a retired FBI agent, author and podcaster, jokes that she writes about the FBI to relive her glory days. After 26 years with the Bureau specializing in major economic fraud and corruption investigations, she calls on her professional encounters with scams and schemers to write police procedurals inspired by true crime FBI cases in her Philadelphia FBI Corruption Squad crime fiction series featuring flawed female FBI agent Kari Wheeler. Jerri’s FBI for Armchair Detectives nonfiction series enables readers to discover who the FBI is and what the FBI does by debunking misconceptions about the FBI in books, TV, and movies. Her books are available as ebooks, paperbacks, and audiobooks wherever books are sold. She’s also the host of FBI Retired Case File Review, a true crime podcast with more than 300 episodes available on all popular podcast apps and YouTube.

2 Comments

  1. SuzanneJune 26, 2017

    Hi! I only recently found this podcast and I love it! The stories are fascinating, and your interviewing skills are terrific. Something I noticed, especially in this particular cast is the quality of the sound. It sounds like you are doing the interview on a phone. Have you tried doing them on Skype? Your introduction for each podcast has excellent sound quality.
    Also, congratulations on your daughter’s wedding! : )

    Reply
    1. Jerri WilliamsJune 26, 2017

      Thanks for listening, Suzanne! Yes, I’ve actually used Skype to record some of my episodes, but it became such an issue that I stopped. Now, I just call everyone on the phone and use an app to record the call. I’ll work on making sure my guests and I have the best, albeit phone, connection possible. I use a nice quality studio mic for my intros and outros. And thank you for the wedding congrats! UPDATE: I ran the interview through a noise reduction filter and then replaced the file. I believe the audio quality of this episode is much improved. Thank you!

      Reply

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