In 1985, around 3000 fugitives were offered free tickets to watch a Washington Redskins game, and were told that they also had the chance to win an all-eigpensit-paid trip to the Super Bowl.
The promise of a free trip to the best match in football seemed too good to be true. That's because it was.
When more than 100 wanted criminals to appear at the head office of an alleged TV station, they did not claim their price. Instead, they won a trip to prison.
This was operational flagship, a stab operation in which 101 fugitives were happy to gather in the DC Convention Center and actually hand in to the police – all for the Super Bowl.
Invitations for the Washington Redskins match against the Cincinnati Bengals during week 15 of the NFL season 1985 were sent to the last known addresses of 3,000 desired people with more than 5,000 excellent warrants.
The invitations of fictional TV company, Flagship International Sports Television, Inc., to celebrate 'the hottest cable station in America', also dangled the prospect of a free trip to Super Bowl XX in New Orleans – the site of the Big Game 40 This year years later.
In 1985 the US Marshals -Service used the promise of a free trip to the Super Bowl to arrest more than 100 fugitive people wanted
The American Marshals sent invitations to 3,000 desired criminals to claim tickets for the Washington Redskins NFL match against the Cincinnati Bengals
They sent the invitations under the guise of fictional flagship International Sports TV
All they had to do was show up at a free brunch, starting at 9:00 am on December 15, 1985 in the Washington Convention Center, where they would get the tickets and free transport from and to the game.
And show up that they did. The Redskins were extremely popular at the time, after they had come to back-to-back super bowls in 1983 and 1984, and tickets for a competition at RFK Stadium were almost impossible to get a hand. An offer of two free tickets was a dream come true for everyone in the DC area.
But in the morning of December 1985, that dream quickly became a nightmare for 101 'guests'.
With the stage set, the combined efforts of the American Marshals and the DC Metropolitan Police made sure that everything around the fake TV station looked visually authentic.
The fugitives were greeted by 100 employees dressed in Tuxedos and the wearing of festive smiles, so that the criminals were delighted to be part of the function. Little they knew that everyone was an agent.
Flagschip International Sports Television – AKA the Fugitive Investigative Strike Team of 'Fist' the acronym that was given to task forces throughout the country – was actually the US Marshals service.
The Ushers, caterers and cleaning staff were Marshals. Even the chicken and Redskins mascot were undercover. In the meantime, the cheerleaders welcomed them with hugs and affectionate displays actually female agents who beat them for weapons.
Cops smiled at bandits that they usually chased. Officers congratulated criminals that they were on the road to bank. Their mission was to kill them with kindness. It was all a smokescreen – one the fugitives fell for hook, line and zinc shut.
Female agents went undercover like Redskins Cheerleaders to beat the fugitives
Officers disguised themselves as USHERS, cleaning staff and even mascots
Upon arrival, the 'winners' presented their ID to Ushers who verified that they were fugitive
Groups of 15 were accompanied in a hall where they were then surrounded and arrested
The Chicago Bears eventually won Super Bowl XX in New Orleans
Upon arrival, the crooks would present their ID to a messenger that would feed their data to the back office where they would be confirmed via code words. A 'confirmed winner' was someone who was wanted. A 'double winner' was a dangerous person; Someone who had had a serious abuse, murder or theft.
After checking in, they were completed in groups of about 15 and led to a hall. There they were told that they would receive their tickets and hear a few words from the ceremony master of the fake network, played by the Chief of Enforcement Operations, Louie McKinney.
The words: “We have a big surprise for you, everyone was arrested,” were definitely not the one they expected to hear.
On McKinney's Cue of 'Surprise', the special operating group would penetrate the Chamber, surround the criminals and guide them in handcuffs. A total of 101 criminals were sought for murder, rape and conditional violations were arrested.
'We had 119 extremely happy individuals, who happened to be all desired on criminal warrants,' Bob Leschorn, the most important substitute for enforcement in the American Marshals who occurred as CEO of the fictional American cable -TV network, Smile remembers during a Documentary 2016 NFL films.
The operation was so carefully composed that the criminals had difficulty understanding what had happened, even after they were caught.
While the buses that the fugitives wore, they asked, “Can we still go to the game?”
No, they didn't. The searched criminals have never achieved the Redskins game, nor the Super Bowl in New Orleans.
But while the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles are preparing to make their own journey to the Big Easy on February 9, the NFL season can still be remembered because of its role in one of the largest and most successful massive arrests of fugitives Due to American legislation enforcement – even 40 years later.
