Feds raided home of sheriff's deputy who is best friend of indicted DEA agent

An Erie County Sheriff’s Office jail deputy resigned from his job in 2019, hours after federal agents investigating the Buffalo Mafia executed a search warrant at his residence, according to four law enforcement sources. 

Former Deputy Louis Selva, according to his Twitter account, was the best man at the 2015 wedding of Drug Enforcement Administration Agent Joseph Bongiovanni, who is charged with accepting more than $250,000 in bribes to protect drug dealers with alleged ties to organized crime from arrest.

Three sources close to the case said Selva, 56, is under investigation by the same prosecutors and agents who built the case against Bongiovanni.

The raid at Selva’s North Buffalo house occurred Aug. 23, 2019 – 11 weeks after federal agents raided Bongiovanni’s home in the Town of Tonawanda.

Selva was in uniform and preparing to go to work when federal agents arrived, former Erie County Undersheriff Mark Wipperman told The Buffalo News. 

A coworker drove Selva that day from the scene of the raid to the Sheriff’s Office in downtown Buffalo, said Wipperman, who oversaw disciplinary proceedings for the sheriff before he retired last August.

“Once we were informed that he was at the scene of the raid, orders were given to bring him immediately down to the professional standards division’s office,” Wipperman said. “Before I was able to conduct a personal interview to find out what was going on, one of the PSD investigators walked into my office and advised me that Lou Selva was going to immediately resign. I was told he did not want to go through a departmental investigation. He apparently didn’t want to talk or cooperate with the pending investigation.”

The retired undersheriff’s recollection of the events was corroborated for The News by three current law enforcement officials with knowledge of the case who spoke on the condition that The News would not name them.

No charges have been filed against Selva.

U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy declined to comment on Selva or answer questions about the reasons for the raid or what was found at Selva's house. 

Selva’s activities and his relationship with Bongiovanni came under investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the same group of Homeland Security agents who charged Bongiovanni with taking $250,000 in bribes from mob-connected drug dealers, sources familiar with the investigation said.

"It's an active organized crime investigation," Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi said at a 2020 detention hearing for another defendant in the case. "The overall investigation has led to an indictment of a DEA agent named Joseph Bongiovanni, who was receiving protection bribes and shielding members and associates of a drug trafficking organized crime group in Buffalo, New York." 

Bongiovanni has pleaded not guilty and denies taking bribes or helping drug dealers. One of his attorneys, James P. Harrington, said he had no comment on Selva.

Attorney Leonard D. Zaccagnino confirmed that he represents Selva but declined to confirm or deny whether Selva is involved in any way in the Bongiovanni probe. Selva, through his attorney, declined to be interviewed.

Zaccagnino described Selva as “a great guy” who “has been through a lot.”

The Selva raid happened on the same day that agents raided the Williamsville home of Michael Masecchia, a Buffalo high school teacher who has since pleaded guilty to felony drug charges and admitted getting law enforcement sensitive information from Bongiovanni.

Back to homepage

Subscriber Login

Keep reading with a digital access subscription.

Subscribe now

Homeland Security Agent Curtis Ryan, in a report about the search of Bongiovanni’s home months earlier on June 6, 2019, indicated agents questioned Bongiovanni at that time about several people in local law enforcement. Ryan made an apparent reference to Selva in the report, but Selva's name is redacted. Bongiovanni said the redacted name “just started a job as a corrections officer for the Erie County Sheriff’s Office,” according to Ryan’s report.

The resignation

Sheriff’s Office documents obtained by The News show that Selva used Bongiovanni as a reference when he applied for the jail deputy job. Bongiovanni had served in the Sheriff’s Office himself before becoming a DEA agent in 1999. On his job application, Selva indicated he had known Bongiovanni for 45 years.

On March 19, 2019, Selva was hired as a jail deputy. His home was raided six months and four days later.

Hours after Selva’s home was searched, he submitted a handwritten letter of resignation to Wipperman. The letter – a copy of which was obtained by The News through a Freedom of Information Law request – stated: “I Lou Selva resign my position as Deputy Sheriff Officer at the Erie County Holding Center as of 8/23/19. Nothing has been promised and I am doing this on my own free will. Respectfully, Lou Selva.” 

Page 1 of Louis Selva resignation letter

Contributed to DocumentCloud by Mike McAndrew (MikeMcAndrew (Individual)) • View document or read text

A source in the Sheriff’s Office said, “It was suggested to Selva he resign. At the time, we had no grounds to terminate him, but we were successful in our suggestion.”

Carol Cain, a neighbor of Selva who has known his family for decades, described Selva as someone who is popular and concerned about others.

She said she was aware of the 2019 raid and claims that it had something to do with the investigation of Bongiovanni. But she said, “I heard things and I don’t believe everything I hear. The family are such good people. You can’t believe everything you hear.”

“I’ve seen some of his friends over there and they are all friendly and courteous,” Cain said. “All of my nieces know him and they have always liked him.”

The best man

In one of Selva’s social media accounts, he published photos of himself at a destination wedding for Bongiovanni in May 2015 in Mexico. Selva described himself as Bongiovanni’s “best man” and his “best friend.”

One of the photos shows Selva and Bongiovanni on the bow of a yacht and includes this comment from Selva: “May 16 2015: Cabo San Lucas with my best friend for his wedding...Unreal..Beautiful…”