FBI’s McGinnis: From NYPD Brutality to Rogue Agent?

Since 2018, FBI Special Agent Elliot McGinnis has been the lead case agent for the investigation of OneTaste Inc. and its current and former leaders.

According to AUSA Gillian Kassner, the investigation was for potential sex trafficking, forced labor, money laundering, and other offenses.

After a five-year investigation, the US Attorney for the Eastern District of New York was unable to sustain charges for sex trafficking, forced labor, or money laundering, and indicted OneTaste co-founder Nicole Daedone and former head of sales Rachel Cherwitz on one count of forced labor conspiracy.

A federal indictment with a single charge of forced labor conspiracy, without the actual forced labor or any other substantive crime, is a first in legal history. The indictment alleges Daedone, Cherwitz, and other unnamed coconspirators agreed to force OneTaste members to labor from 2006 to May 2018 – 12 years.

As the US Attorney for the EDNY Breon Peace admitted in a court filing,

“The instant case charges a conspiracy and not a substantive offense. The defendants could be proven guilty if they never forced any victim to do anything—so long as the evidence proves beyond a reasonable doubt that they agreed to do so.”

The man behind the lengthy FBI investigation that led to this unprecedented standalone conspiracy to commit forced labor indictment, Elliot McGinnis, has been a special agent with the FBI since 2011.

McGinnis’s Troubled Past with NYPD

Before joining the FBI, records show McGinnis was a police officer for the NYPD.

A Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) mentions his resignation in connection with a July 22, 2009 incident in which a black man, described as “5’10” tall, 190 lbs, with black dreadlocks and brown eyes,” accused five members of the NYPD – four white men and one Asian of police brutality.

Two officers were detectives, one was a sergeant, and McGinnis and one other officer, Edward Mulhearn, were uniformed police officers. The two detectives were ultimately exonerated; the charges against the sergeant were deemed “unsubstantiated.”

The two officers, McGinnis and Mulhearn, resigned from the force before the CCRB could question them.

All five men were from the 75th precinct, which patrols easternmost Brooklyn.

On July 24, 2010, the alleged victim reported to the Internal Affairs Bureau that police had beaten him and sought medical treatment. He alleged police punched and kicked him in the face, head, groin and choked him.

He alleged that one specific officer was the first to charge him and throw a series of blows while another police officer placed him in a chokehold. The alleged victim described the officer throwing the first blows as a white male, 5’11”, 200 pounds. The CCRB later identified him as Officer McGinnis.

The alleged victim said McGinnis and others punched him in the face and groin. While he was down on the ground, one of the police struck him in the temple with handcuffs. His hair was pulled from his scalp leaving a bald spot. One officer applied his baton against his right leg while one or more officers stomped on his back.

According to the initial complaint, once the alleged victim had been handcuffed, an officer kicked him in the groin and twice in the stomach. An officer shouted, “Break his legs. I’ll break your legs.”

He was taken to the hospital.

If the allegations are true, based on the statements of the three other officers involved in the incident who did not resign, McGinnis and Mulhearn may have used the handcuffs and baton.

According to the CCRB report, while EMS workers examined the alleged victim, an officer allegedly threatened him, saying, “I’ll stop your heart in a minute. Just say something.”

After subduing the alleged victim, it is undisputed that police placed him in a body bag covering his head and body, put him on a stretcher, and placed him inside an ambulance. An officer escorted the alleged victim to the hospital. While in the ambulance, the alleged victim said he could not breathe.

An officer whom the alleged victim could not see from inside the body bag allegedly said, “If you don’t stop acting, I’ll make sure you can’t breathe.”

Based on the statements of the NYPD officers who did not resign, that officer may have been McGinnis.

At the hospital, the officer who accompanied the alleged victim, who of the five men investigated for their involvement in the incident most closely matched the description of McGinnis, allegedly squeezed the victim’s handcuffs tighter, causing his wrists to bleed.

The hospital took X-rays of wrists and legs and a CT scan. The hospital recorded he had a sprained ankle, abrasions, a bald patch on his head, and other injuries, but he did not have a concussion or broken bones. Arrest and civilian-produced photographs of the alleged victim show that his injuries are consistent with a beating.

CCRB wrote in their report that their investigators were “unable to receive officer testimony from Officers McGinnis or Mulhearn due to the fact that they are no longer members of service.”

PO McGinnis resigned from the NYPD on January 6, 2010.

PO Mulhearn resigned from the NYPD on June 24, 2010

More than a year after resigning from the NYPD and therefore not having to answer questions of police brutality, McGinnis secured a job at the FBI.

In a March 20, 2024 affidavit supporting a seizure of a trust fund for an elderly woman, McGinnis stated the FBI assigned him “to a squad responsible for conducting and assisting in investigations into the activities of individuals and criminal groups responsible for civil rights offenses, including forced labor offenses.”

The US Attorney’s office later withdrew the seizure warrant when the defense revealed McGinnis had knowingly presented false information to the magistrate judge to secure the seizure.

While the defense alleged perjury, the US Attorney’s office stated McGinnis was “mistaken.”

Disturbing Allegations of Evidence Tampering and Witness Intimidation

The Frank Report has uncovered additional alleged violations of FBI rules of evidence handling and potential violations of federal law allegedly committed by FBI Special Agent McGinnis.

The evidence includes that he:

• In 2018, he allegedly told an attorney to breach a contract and unlawfully keep it secret; documentary evidence establishes his role.
• In 2021, he allegedly accepted stolen documents and hid them from his superiors; the witness signed an affidavit.
• In 2018, he allegedly swapped a digital device that later had “overlooked evidence” of crimes.
• In 2019, he allegedly hid a digital device that later had “new files” used in evidence.
• In 2021, he allegedly threatened a “victim” with arrest if she did not cooperate with his designation of her as a victim. The witness made these claims in a signed an affidavit and filed a lawsuit.
• In 2022, he allegedly instructed a witness to destroy evidence; the witness told her attorney, who informed the court.
• In 2022, he allegedly conspired to suborn perjury by creating a false document to be used in a prosecution and conspired to backdate it. Documentary evidence established the counterfeit evidence was altered and then hidden with McGinnis. A judge recently ordered McGinnis to produce the allegedly counterfeit document.
• In 2023, he allegedly used excessive force to arrest a 115 pound woman who had her hands above her head openly attempting to surrender. He pointed a gun to her head, swearing at her, saying, “stand the fuck down,” and deliberately placing handcuffs on her wrist so tightly to cause bruising, which allegedly caused a law enforcement officer to openly express disgust at his unnecessary brutality.
• In 2024, he allegedly told a witness to hide evidence with him to obstruct a lawful subpoena. The witness under pressure of charges of perjury revealed McGinnis instructed her to obstruct justice and secrete the evidence with him.
• In 2024, he allegedly misled the court about the nature of a certified check and the circumstances of its issuance. Documents revealed his false statements, which may constitute perjury and led the government to withdraw a motion.
• In 2024, he allegedly lied to the Justice Department about his possession and use of a missing stolen privileged document, claiming he did not remember seeing it. The document turned up only after a witness swore he gave it to McGinnis. The document appeared for the first time on an FBI digital workspace more than three years after the date the witness swore he gave it to him. Who put it on the FBI digital workspace is unknown.

If these allegations are true, they constitute federal felony crimes. The Frank Report will provide readers with detailed information on each allegation, supported by documentary evidence, sworn statements, and eyewitness accounts.

We will continue to report on Elliot McGinnis, the FBI special agent assigned to a squad investigating civil rights violations, including forced labor.

If some or all allegations are true, the Department of Justice and the FBI will thank Frank Report for uncovering the actions of what would be a rogue agent.

If some or all allegations are sufficiently documented to warrant law enforcement investigation, it remains to be seen whether Elliot McGinnis can merely resign to avoid further questions.

To be continued….

Frank Parlato

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.

Frank Parlato

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist, media strategist, publisher, and legal consultant.

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