TTSOML #104: Visit By FBI S.S.A.s Don Pryzbyla & East Coast Man

It's funny, how the FBI operates.

If my roommate hadn't come home unexpectedly, after leaving for work, and hadn't witnessed the two S.S.A.s in our apartment, I wouldn't even have proof they were ever there and that I'd ever met them. They didn't give me business cards or anything but a phone number which was later inaccessible.

I can't remember the name of the one from Washington D.C. I believe he was from Washington D.C. or New York. He was from one of the major cities on the East Coast. I looked him up later and saw he had gone to Iraq right at the beginning, on a helicopter or plane to bring back some guys after 9-11. He was very tall and blond or had sandy hair. He was younger. The other guy was Don Pryzbyla, from the Sacramento area. He was in an area or department where they mainly dealt with computer crime. I looked him up as well, after they came out.

I was at my apartment in Oregon, and had been commuting back and forth from Oregon to Washington, to establish residency in Washington and see after Granny, and keep up with my college classes (or try) and litigation at the same time. I had given my 30 day notice for my own apartment and moved in with neighbors I'd become friends with. Our agreement was that I kept house and did a lot of cooking in exchange for staying there 3 nights/wk (the rest of the time I was in WA). My roommates were two guys. One was gay and into WWF wrestling and the other one was just a young guy who worked in construction. Really nice guys.

The construction guy had left for work early. The other roommate had been gone, and announced he was off to work, at least 15 minutes- 1/2 hour before I got the knock on the door.

I believe, right before they came to interview me, I had started telling Christa maybe I should look for a lawyer and just ask some questions. I may have also written to the FBI offices in Washington D.C. at the headquarters, wondering what was going on. It seems like something precipated their arrival, but I could be wrong on this count.

I got the knock, and opened the door to 2 FBI men in business suits holding out their formal identification. Not just their business cards, but their photo ID. They asked if they could come in to discuss the matter and I said yes. They sat down across from me and the tall one had a notepad and pen with him and started taking notes as he asked questions. He asked most of the questions and Przybyla looked like he was falling asleep half of the time.

I sort of later wondered about both of them, if either or both were Catholic, because in my case it could make a difference, but I never knew for sure. I did note there is a large center at Catholic University of America (in Washington D.C., where Br. Ansgar Santogrossi, OSB went to college) in honor of someone "Pryzbyla". I couldn't find anything about the other guy. Pryzbyla wouldn't return any of my calls after they interviewed me and told me not to tell police.

Actually, I must correct what I said about Thornton. She told me to keep it on the low, but it was these two FBI guys who told me I must not tell the police about the matter. They said they were going to conduct their own "internal misconduct" investigation. I couldn't get ahold of either one of them after they visited me though, and I tried.

Some of the questioning seemed objective and they took note of even things such as the Mike Tancer/Iron Horse Winery in CA information. Pryzbyla signaled to the other guy to write it down, and he perked up when he heard mention of this name.

Some of the questioning was leading though, by the tall man. He said, for example, "So, you don't really think you were sexually haRASSED in any way, do you?" or maybe it was "So, you wouldn't say you were really sexually haRASSED in any way, were you?" This is almost a direct quote (I say almost bc I can't remember exactly which of the two aforementioned versions is the direct quotation). But he said this in a tone which was dismissive of everything. I later found out from a lawyer, this kind of question is not proper. It's called, "A leading question" which attempts to lead the person being questioned to agree.

My response was, "I don't know." He startled and said, "What do you mean, I don't know?"

I said something about not knowing what the definition of sexual harassment was. I said, "Maybe I'm sexually harassed all the time and don't even know it."

He smirked at this. Both of them got slow smiles and looked at eachother.

What's odd, is that I didn't know how right on spot I was about this. At that time, I DIDN'T know the extent of what had happened to me. I didn't even know the laws about consent while under the influence and how it constitutes sexual ASSAULT (not "harassment") under the provisions of the law. I didn't know, but they DID. I gave them my facts, and my facts fit criminal statutes.

I actually didn't find out about the law until I was at a Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence organization in Wenatchee, talking to a counselor about my past. She was the one who informed me I had been the victim of CRIME, not just "misconduct".

And THEN, I found out, it was crime enough, in the state of Oregon, which, if charged and convicted, would have required both Bujanda and Garza to register as "sex offenders".

Imagine.

It was after I found this out, and tried to press the Portland police to take my report, that everything happened with me and my son.

It was also interesting to me, that after I told these S.S.A.s about Mike Tancer, Mike called me out of the blue, within a week of my meeting the FBI. He tried to call me in WA after having not talked to me for almost a year or so. It was right after. I figured it was going to be another "I have a trinket for you" call and I didn't call him back.