Oak Lawn Man Sentenced To 13 Years On Drug Charges, Feds Say He Was 'Rogue' Informant

OAK LAWN, IL — An Oak Lawn man and supposed registered confidential source for the Department of Homeland Security was handed a 13-year sentence on July 2 in federal court. The feds allege that Gary Howard, 48, had cultivated a corrupt relationship with a federal agent while trafficking cocaine.

At the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s direction, a confidential source posing as a seller, contacted Howard’s partner, identified in the federal criminal complaint as “Individual A,” in May 2018 about a possible drug buy.”

The confidential source allowed DEA agents to record his phone conversation with Individual A on May 15, 2028.

“I’m ready, I got the 20 ladies,” the confidential source said, meaning 20 kilos of cocaine.

When Individual A asked to see the cocaine, DEA Agents took pictures of the bricks with the confidential source’s phone, along with the day’s newspaper, and sent them to the confidential source’s phone via WhatsApp.

On June 25, 2018, federal documents said Individual A had another conversation with the confidential source in which Individual A allegedly told the confidential source that he was buying cocaine for “my pastor” — the person on whose behalf Individual A was buying cocaine for. “I can send my pastor to see you,” he said, meaning Howard.

On July 2, 2018, Howard, Individual A and the confidential source met to conduct the cocaine transaction at a furniture store in the near 81st Street and Cicero Avenue in Chicago, the complaint maintained.

“Are you ready to go buy coke,” the confidential source asked Individual A.

“Yeah.”

Shortly after 1 p.m. on July 2, 2018, the confidential source, wearing a wire, along with Individual A, Howard, and another person identified in the complaint as “Individual B,” entered the furniture store while under surveillance.

Agents watched Howard leave the store and drive to an apartment complex, where he briefly met with an unidentified woman. During this time, Individuals A and B and the confidential source remained in the store, the complaint said.

Around 2 p.m., agents said they observed Howard driving the Audi into a garage at his residence on 87th Place in Oak Lawn.

Howard drove back to the furniture store 30 minutes later, where federal officials said Howard, Individual A and the confidential source met in Howard’s Audi. Howard sat in the driver’s seat with a backpack in his lap. Individual B did not go into the car.

The confidential source could be heard saying on the audio recording, “here’s the papers [money].”
Howard said he only had $100,000 for five kilos of cocaine. He said he could grab an additional $140,000 for an additional five kilos, for a total of ten.

Howard was also heard saying on the recording, “I mean, I ain’t seen a thing, you know what I’m saying, I’m skeptical … That’s why I was going to bring my partner [Individual A].”

The confidential source said, “It’s not far … not far from here …”

They agreed that Howard could see the cocaine he was about to purchase by opening each kilo in exchange for showing the money.

“You like it, you pay me … The only thing I want to see is real money.”

“Alright, okay,” Howard said.

Moments later, DEA agents approached the Audi and arrested Howard and Individual A. Agents also seized $133,055 in a backpack on the front passenger seat. Individual B was apprehended inside the furniture store, court documents said.

Howard was transported to a local police station for processing. On the drive over, agents said Howard voluntarily told them that he had done a lot of multi-kilo cocaine deals with Individual A, whom Howard had referred to by a nickname related to his partner's national origin. The most recent of which was a five-kilo coke deal in June 2018. Howard allegedly said he had paid approximately $28,000 for each kilo, and then resold for $32,000 each.

He also granted permission to law enforcement to search his residence. Howard told agents they would find $8,000 cash – which were not part of the drug proceeds – and a Sig Sauer P250 9m pistol. Another document was also found, that appeared to be a drug ledger.

Law enforcement found $106,108 in cash at Howard’s residence, in addition to the $8,000 and a loaded pistol, according to the complaint.

Agents said they also recovered cell phones containing What’s App calls and chat logs with Individual A between June 24 and July 2, 2018. Another document was also found that appeared to be a drug ledger.

At the time of the attempted drug deal in July 2018, law enforcement said Howard was a registered confidential informant for Homeland Security Investigations and his handler was Special Agent Anthony Sabaini. The feds assert that Howard and Sabaini had cultivated a corrupt relationship in which Howard paid Sabaini $50,000 in exchange for sensitive law enforcement information and protection from the cops.

Sabaini, 41, of Naperville, was found guilty in May 2023 of filing false tax returns and taking payoffs within the jurisdiction of DHS. According to federal documents, Sabaini stole investigation money from the HSI and drug dealers during this time.

Authorities said Sabaini had been working at the DHS office in Oakbrook Terrace in the department of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) when he told a confidential informant, later identified as Howard, about several federal investigations. Sabaini had been accused of protecting Howard in exchange for $50,000.

Sabaini was sentenced to six years in a federal prison in October 2023.

A federal jury last year convicted Howard of drug conspiracy and attempted drug possession. U.S. District Judge Steven C. Seeger sentenced Howard on July 2 to 13 years in federal prison.

Prior to Howard’s sentencing, a woman, claiming to be Howard’s wife, wrote a letter on Howard’s behalf to Judge Seeger. She described Howard, an HVAC technician, as “kind-hearted, respectful, honest,” who “carries a big heart for his family and close friends.”

She stated that since Sabaini departed their lives in 2018, they had been living a normal, stress-free family life as her husband awaited trial. In her letter to the judge, she said the “story line” of “informant gone rogue” caught them both off guard during their various meetings with federal prosecutors Jonathan Shih and Jared Hasten following the pandemic.

After the pandemic, she said federal prosecutors told her husband to come talk to them, “as we know he shouldn’t be in this position.” Assuming they had realized he was innocent and were ready to drop the charges against Howard, she accompanied Howard to the meeting. But when they met with federal prosecutors, they wanted to know which other corrupt agents were involved with Sabaini and Sabaini’s partner, Fernando Zambrano, who was convicted in 2021 of lying in a federal probe.

“This would be such a ‘Big W’ for us,” the prosecutors are alleged to have said. While at first the prosecutors showed empathy, she said they increasingly became more aggressive.

“We instantly realized the conversation was not about addressing Gary’s innocence, it was about them obtaining information to assist with their career advancement while requiring him to plead guilty,” the woman wrote. “The story line ‘informant gone rogue’ was never spoken of during our many meetings with these prosecutors, but I guess at their roundtables, this was the winning topic to obtain the guilty verdicts.”