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FBI Agent Testifies Shrimp Boy Denied Knowledge Of Crimes

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — The FBI agent who spent more than three years posing as a member of an East Coast crime syndicate said a key defendant in an organized crime investigation in San Francisco's Chinatown tried to distance himself from any criminal activity.

The agent testified for a second day Wednesday using the pseudonym "David Jordan" to protect his identity in the murder and racketeering trial of Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow. Prosecutors say Chow took over a Chinese fraternal group after having its previous leader murdered and ran a racketeering enterprise that engaged in drug trafficking, money laundering and the sale of stolen cigarettes and alcohol. The investigation led to the conviction of a state senator.

The prosecution alternately played audio clips from body wires and had Jordan explain his conversations with Shrimp Boy and his minions.

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Chow told Jordan he did not want to know about the crimes he was engaging in with Chow's associates, he testified.

"'I don't know what you guys have going on,'" Jordan said Chow told him. "'You guys are doing bad things. I don't want to hear about that."

Jordan, however, said a man Chow introduced him to referred to Chow as "boss," and another associate of Chow's told the agent he had Chow's "blessing" for the two of them to "do something together" and wanted to help Chow out with whatever he did.

Prosecutors say Chow introduced Jordan to people who helped him launder money and engage in other crimes and accepted money for the introductions. Chow's attorneys say the agent instigated the crimes for which people were later arrested, and forced money on Chow, often when he was drunk.

Nobody was allowed inside the courtroom besides the participants. No public, no reporters. Reporters and other observers were in a "media center" on the first floor watching a live video feed of the attorneys, judge and evidence, but were unable to see Jordan.

No one was even allowed to take pictures of the room in an effort to protect his identity, although Shrimp Boy's attorneys have released a photo of Jordan in recent months. Prosecutors also accidentally showed a photo of Jordan with his undercover girlfriend, but quickly took it down when they realized it was going out to the feed.

Jordan led Shrimp Boy to believe that he was a member of an Italian mafia family from back East. He told the court that he derived his name from the Italian "Giordano" and said his grandfather was forced to change it when he came to Ellis Island.

Jordan said he told Shrimp Boy that he was dispatched by his mafia family to manage an illegal gaming operation on the West Coast; an exclusive sports betting operation which he claimed generated millions of dollars for the family. Jordan added that his mafia family also ran a large scale outdoor marijuana operation in northern Mendocino County.

"I told him I also had access to stolen goods; namely cigarettes and alcohol," Jordan testified.

Jordan's front company was called Madison International. He told Shrimp Boy it was a ficticious company that money would be laundered through.

The testimony is riveting at times, sounding like a bad mob movie.

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Jordan told the jury he did not enjoy playing the undercover role. He said he spent a lot of time going to nightclubs late at night with people he "abhorred." Jordan claimed he only drank light beer during those meetings, but that Shrimp Boy drank heavily from a variety of mixed cocktails.

Jordan said he eventually changed to lunch meeetings.

"I grew increasingly tired and did not enjoy my time going out at night with these individuals. And when I saw the opportunity to become the 9-5 gangster, I took the opportunity to do so," Jordan testified.

Jordan has no accent, but on the wire recordings, he speaks with a rather obviously exaggerated Italian accent with a lot of 'f'-bombs. Think Joe Pesci meets Laverne's dad from "Laverne and Shirley."

Jordan says he spent more than three years undercover, and says the whole time he believes Shrimp Boy never seemed to fully trust him.

"He would often get very close to me," Jordan testified.

"He'd rub my back. Rub my legs. Put his hands all over me, hug me. And I took that for his trying to feel me for body wires."

TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten. KPIX 5 Reporter Joe Vazquez and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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