January 2nd, 1995
From: Sam Zhadanov
Explanation of Hunger Strike
I am enclosing this letter to explain why I am taking action, that may
cost me my life, by declaring a hunger strike.
For the last year, while in Federal Prison Camp for non violent offenders,
I have been surrounded by many people, among them doctors, lawyers, publishers,
professionals and intellectuals, mostly first time offenders, who are in
many ways victums like myself.
Many of them are guilty of violations, not crimes. Yet some of them
are serving prison terms of up to 15 years. That's longer than served by
many murderers and rapists!
They are among a rapidly growing number of victums of the New Federal
Business Enterprise, the likes of which this country has never seen. Its
bureaucrats use their enormous, unlimited power to accuse and convict thousands
of innocent people, so that they can be stripped of their property and
savings. Forfeiture is a lot more popular than taxation, that's why politicians
look the other way.
With endless resources behind them, Federal proscutors terrorize most
into submission and acceptance of guilt. We are turning into a new type
of totalitarian state and we don't even know it. Most Americans are unaware
of the growing threat to their freedom and property.
It is time to sound the alarm, to bring this horror story to the attention
of the American public.
For much of my life I endured the oppression of the former Soviet Union.
Now I am reliving the experience in my new home where I came in search
of Justice and Liberty. With what had happened to me and what I've learned,
I cannot remain silent.
I am declaring this hunger strike to take a stand against corruption
and injustice towards me, my family and hundreds of thousands of Americans
that cannot be heard.
I ask you to help me bring my story to your readers, listeners or viewers.
What happened to me can easily happen to them and their children.
Sincerely,
Sam Zhadanov
Enclosure: Declaration of Hunger Strike and Summary of Facts.
January 2nd, 1996
FROM: SAM ZHADANOV, REG #42489-053
ALLENWOOD FEDERAL PRISON CAMP
MONTGOMERY, PENNSYLVANIA 17752
On Thursday, January 18, 1996, I will begin a peaceful hunger strike
to protest the corruption, abuse of power and denial of my human rights
by prosecutors Pamela Foa and Paul L. Gray, assistant United States Attorneys
for Eastern District of Pennsylvania, their agents and my former attorney
Peter Ginsberg of the law firm of Gold and Wachtel.
I DECLARE this hunger strike in support of my motion to grant me my
constitutional right; a jury trial which I never had. I was convicted and
sent to Federal Prison for 5 years without a trial. because of illegally
obtained guilty plea agreement and a secret pact between prosecutors and
my lawyer.
During my case, prosecutors uncovered my attorney's financial manipulation
and seized his legal fees. During a secret meeting between my lawyer and
prosecutors held on April 12, 1994, it was agreed that these funds would
be released to my attorney by prosecutors at their discretion, at the conclusion
of the case.
Of course, I knew nothing about this arrangement: A prosecutor and an
ex-prosecutor teamed up to dispose of the victim and divide the spoils
of their business arrangement. A lions share, close to $1,500,000, all
of my family's savings and property, was taken by prosecutors and a bone
thrown to hyena-lawyer for selling our his client: he would receive his
legal fees and avoid possible prosecution.
Here is an example of my attorney's cooperation with prosecutors:
Normally, pre-sentencing reports from probation and prosecutors offices
are submitted days in advance with copies to be provided to the defendent
for review and response. In my case, these reports were secretely sealed
and handed to my lawyer in the courtroom just minutes before my sentencing.
These documents contained wild distortions and lies that could have
been easily disputed, if only addressed. However, my lawyer did not even
ask for an opportunity to prepare a response. Instead, he not only chose
to ignore these severely damaging reports, but decided to hide their existance
from me.
He knew that such disclosure would intervene with the "smooth"
and non-confrontational sentencing, the last requirement for the release
of his legal fees. Putting up resistance would, at the very least, antagonize
prosecutors and jeopardize the release of these funds.
I learned of the existance of these presentencing reports a year later
while reviewing case documents. At the conclusion of the case, my lawyer
did everything possible to obstruct my efforts to file an appeal and reopen
the case.
Is this justice?
Because of corrupt prosecutors and a greedy, unethical attorney, I have
to spend the last productive years of my life in prison, forfeit my life's
work, bring poverty and suffering to my family and cause the irreversible
decline in the health of my 89 year old mother.
I DECLARE myself innocent of crimes, fabricated by Federal Agents and
charged to me!
I DECLARE myself a victim of Government terror and abuse!
The incredible truth about my case, exposing how the governemt framed
me with crimes I did not commit, is hidden in the prosecutors files and
sealed court documents. Nevertheless, I was able to obtain documents that
prove my allegations beyond a shadow of a doubt.
For the past year, here in prison, I have been trying to bring the truth
to the attention of authorities. Each time, my requests have fallen on
deaf ears. Authorities did everything possible to sweep my case under the
rug, because they are afraid of the truth coming out.
I have been pushed to the brink of frustration. It seems that the only
way an ordinary man, like myself, can bring attention to the justice is
to sacrifice his own life. I am 69 years old and I am proud of the life
I lived. Now I am prepared to die in the American Federal Prison by starving
myself to death.
Presently my health is in very poor condition. When I was imprisoned,
authorities ignored my urgent need for the treatment of a serious dental
condition. Since then, this untreated condition had rapidly deteriorated.
For several months now, I have been living in a state of daily physical
torture.
The infection has been eating away the remaining bone tissue in my mouth,
causing increasing swelling of the entire face, and spreading upwards towards
my brain. I cannot sleep at night from the constant pounding caused by
the swelling in my head. In the morning, after a sleepless night, I have
difficulty seeing, as my eyes often are closed from the swelling. My mouth
is constantly full of blood and chewing food causes excruciating pain.
The seriousness of my condition had been documented and confirmed by
the Bureau of Prisons cannot and will not provide this type of specialized
treatment. However, government officials have repeatedly denied my requests
for outside professional medical treatment, which by their own admission,
I desperately need.
I, therefore, declare myself being held in a state of physical torture,
I declare this hunger strike to protest the inhuman treatment that I am
receiving.
I DEMAND that I am immediately released on bail, so that I could undertake
the necessary medical treatment (as government agreed before, I am neither
dangerous nor a risk of flight).
I DEMAND an immediate intervention of overseeing government agencies
to restore and insure the "Due Process" which was denied me by
corrupt prosecutors and lawyers.
I DEMAND that Federal agents are prevented from disposing of my family
and business property, which they illegally confiscated, until the outcome
of my trial.
I REQUEST an independent inquiry into mind-blowing facts surrounding
my case, that not only substantiate my attorney's outrageous misconduct,
but point to conspiracy and corruption in Philadelphia US Attorney's office,
not excluding the possibility of high level bribes.
My case has been officially named "Belkin's" conspiracy. Yet
Henry Belkin, its alleged leader and organizer, is free and in business,
while innocent people like myself have been given long prison terms.
Let my suffering and possible death be on the consciousness of those
government officials who orchestrated, implemented or allowed these atrocities
against me and my family,
Sincerely,
Sam Zhadanov
January 2, 1996
SUMMARY OF FACTS
My name is Sam Zhadanov. I am 69 years old. I am not a criminal. I am
a professional engineer/inventor.
For 22 years in the United States I worked my way up from a machinist
to chief engineer to the head of my own manufacturing company. Hundreds
of thousands of people today benefit from my inventions in the medical
device and consumer product fields. My recently developed medical devices
were on the brink of becoming new life saving products in the fight against
AIDS.
All of that work has been destoryed. People that were employed at my
business were thrown on the street. Tools of my trade, my equipment, materials,
facilities, bank accounts, as well as all of my family's real estate property
and lifetime savings, even savings of my 89 year old mother...everything
that was earned in a lifelong struggle of hard labor was confiscated by
the United States Government.
My ideas, my patents, my mind, my productive energy were put away, hidden
behind prison walls. Prosecutors have demostrated to me how a family or
ordinary engineers, defenseless people without political connections or
teams of lawyers can be crushed and erased by the might of the United States
Government.
The "Crime" that was assigned to me was that I manufactured
small plastic containers. In 1991 I was approached by two businessmen who
brought me a product sample of a small plastic perfume container and told
me that I would get the manufacturing contract if the price was right.
I developed the technology that enabled us to meet the low cost requirements
and I received the job. My customers were selling this product through
retail variety stores. As they informed me a year to a year and half later,
these plastic containers became popular with store customers to illegal
drugs.
Almost from the beginning of this job, government agents placed my factory
under surveillance. They parked daily across the street and observed through
open building gates how small plastic bottles came out of the machine.
For months they watched, while millions of containers were being manufactured,
picked up by the customer and sold to the retail system, to be ultimately
filled with drugs.
Factory gates were always open allowing unobstructed view of the manufacturing
process from the street. It was obvious to agents that people inside are
not aware of any illegal nature of their activity, or the illegal use of
their product. Yet their plan was not to interrupt. It is unconscionable
to imagine that public officials who's job is crime prevention would not
alarm the unsuspecting manufacturer.
Yet instead of preventing the crime, their plan was to create the crime
and to make it flourish! As case documents show, this case was carefully
planted and seeded by Philadelphia US Attorney's office for a period of
two years at the cost of millions of taxpayer dollars.
Even when my customers started getting doubts about the legal nature
of their product and abandoned its manufacturing and distribution, they
were convinced by the planted government informant to renew production
and that the product was perfectly legal. This conversation is recorded
on tape!
My customers did not share their concerns with me, knowing that I would
immedately stop the manufacture of their product. However, changes in their
behavior started worrying me. Even though dozens if not hundreds of general
retail stores continued to openly carry this product, I decided to be sure,
just in case.
I brought samples of the product to my attorney, described my concerns
and asked for a legal opinion. The legal opinion letter and verbal assurance
made it clear that I had nothing to worry about. As I recently found out,
even the Congressional definition of Drug Paraphernalia does not include
packaging materials or plastic containers. Federal Appeals Courts have
ruled repeatedly that manufacturing of items like "crack vials"are
perfectly legal.
This information gave me a new understanding of what was done to me
and my family: US Attorneys office fabricated a crack vial case and decided
to turn it into a major drug conspiracy. I was chosen to take the fall
knowing that manufacturing of plastic containers is not a crime, they decided
to charged me with the drug conspiracy to distribute 10 tons of crack cocaine.
Since my factory, over a period of 3 years, prouduced plastic containers
with a total volume capable of containing 10 tons of crack powder, I would
be guilty of conspiracy to distribute 10 tons of crack, punishable by 10
years to life.
Payments received for my work constituted money laundering punishable
by up to 20 years of imprisonment.
From a plastic manufacturer contracted to make plastic products, they've
turned me into a drug dealer.
Under threats against members of my family, with no money to fight,
after seizing every penny I had and destorying my business by scaring away
all my customers, Federal proscecutors started pressuring me to give up
fighting and plead guilty in exchange for a very light sentence and an
opportunity to save my business. If I didn't agree, they threatened to
put me in jail the rest of my life and go after the rest of my family.
According to my lawyer, I had no resources to mount a successful defense.
I did not know at the time that my lawyer, recently a Federal prosecutor
himself, had alternate reasons for closing this case this way. I later
found out that while he continued to represent me, his legal fees were
under the control of the prosecutors to be released under certain conditions.
Prosecutors and my attorney skillfully coerced me into signing the guilty
plea agreement, which I never even read. I placed my life into the hands
of people who betrayed my trust and used my lack of competence in these
matters foreign to me. This happened one week before my trial was scheduled
to start.
During sentencing, prosecutors attacked me with distortions and lies,
but my lawyer abandoned me and did not rebut a single statement. I received
a sentence of 5 years imprisonment to be followed by 5 years of supervised
release.
I have been in prison for almost a year. but they have not broken my
spirit. I know that I am innocent and I have not given up the hope that
justice will prevail. I am now fighting for the chance to have a FAIR TRIAL.
If such chance is given me and I cannot get a lawyer to defend me, I will
represent myself. I intend to prove my innocence and expose the documented
conspiracy, corruption and criminal conduct by Federal prosecutors.
22 years ago I brought my family to America from the despotic regime
of the Soviet Union in search of Freedom and Justice. I am now prepared
to die as a decendent in the America "Gulag" for that Freedom
and Justice.
Sincerely,
Sam Zhadanov
How to order Eli Zhadanov tape, by FEAR
Board member John Paff, FEAR-List Bulletin 1/26/96
Sam Zhadanov hospitalized, by FEAR Board
member John Paff, FEAR-List Bulletin 1/19/96
Contacts to help Sam Zhadanov, by FEAR
Board member Kathy Bergman, FEAR-List Bulletin 1/19/96
"Filling Our Jails With Dangerous EntrepeneursFEAR-List
Bulletin 1/15/96, reprinting 7/21/95 article by Vin Suprynowicz, from his
syndicated column, The Libertarian (discusses victim stories of Gary and
Joanne Tucker and Sam Zhadanov)
