Cash deposits seen as bribes by prosecutors called 'life raft' for accused ex-DEA agent
Patrick LaKamp

Ballooning credit card balances. Borrowing money to pay off previous loans. Bouncing a child support check.

Federal prosecutors say Joseph Bongiovanni was under financial pressure as a special agent for the Drug Enforcement Administration, piling up debt while splurging on a Cabo San Lucas destination wedding, buying a classic Buick Electra convertible and spending thousands of dollars with a new wife on clothing, furniture and jewelry.

Five weeks into Bongiovanni’s bribery and corruption trial, prosecutors say unexplained cash deposits enabled him to break even financially over a period of years they contend he received a quarter of a million dollars or more in cash bribes from a drug-trafficking organization as well payments from a Cheektowaga strip club owner.

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