David T. Riley dreamt big. His desire to be a superstar recording artist led the adolescent hoodlum into the fringes of organized crime. Ironically though, it was a failed extortion attempt at the Coral Gables bus station that landed him in jail where he found his calling in June of 1960. When the CIA needed recruits to carry out dangerous spying missions to Cuba, their Ivy League educated agents would rather not do themselves, they found Riley languishing in a light green jumpsuit in Miami Dade County Jail awaiting trial. Street-smart, confident to the point of being cocky and extremely intelligent, the Agency believed he’d be able to talk his way out of any situation. Trained by the Feds to operate in a complex world of international crime, David became one of the Agency’s top operatives. The CIA’s use for him eventually waned, and with skills learned through covert work, Riley afforded himself an extensive career in gunrunning, drug dealing, fraud and embezzlement. SMOOTH CRIMINAL, A One-Man American Crime Wave exposes how the Government’s secret release of criminals to conduct dangerous overseas assignments backfires when they return home.