SLAIN MAN SERVED AS DRUG INFORMANT

When Todd G. Novak agreed to turn the tables on his father and a Miami
drug dealer in 1997, he became a ``marked man,'' his Tampa attorney
told a federal court in a request for a plea deal.

Details of Novak's cooperation with prosecutors and police were
outlined in federal court documents unsealed Friday at the request of
The Tampa Tribune. The 43-year-old was found slain in his Land O'
Lakes home Feb. 15.

Pasco County Sheriff's Office detectives say Novak was accosted in the
living room after returning from an evening out. They declined to
elaborate on a cause of death, but investigators in Hillsborough and
Pasco counties described it as an execution.

Since then, Novak's involvement in the federal cocaine case and his
arm's-length link to a Hillsborough murder involving Scott Bagley have
been examined as investigators sort through a laundry list of suspects
and possible motives.

``We are aware'' that Novak's attorney considered him a marked man at
the time of the plea deal, said Pasco sheriff's spokesman Kevin Doll.
``We are devoting as many resources to that case as possible, as our
detectives work other cases in our Major Crimes Unit. We wouldn't
comment on what those resources are in relation to the number of
detectives or any other particulars about the investigation. We
wouldn't comment on suspects until an arrest is made.''

Until an arrest is made, Novak's family says, relatives and friends
will remain on edge.

The federal court documents show there may have been plenty of people
who were angry with Novak.

``Whether or not we have anyone under protection or surveillance, we
are not going to comment on,'' Doll said. ``We don't believe anyone
else is in danger outside of this case.''

After Novak's arrest in 1996, his Tampa attorney, Marcelino J. Huerta
III, told a court about three occasions in which his client was
exposed as a confidential informant.

``To put it mildly, Todd is a `marked man' and the people that can do
him and his family harm give Todd all the credit for closing down
their main source of cocaine,'' Huerta wrote in the plea request.

House Of Cards

Novak put himself in harm's way the minute he delivered half a
kilogram of cocaine to friend David Bond in January 1996, court
records indicate. Novak was snared in an undercover investigation in
which Bond was working as a confidential informant to avoid a life
prison sentence.

Bond, who had lost the trust of Novak's father, Jack, and Miami drug
supplier Gustavo ``Gus'' Posada, approached Todd Novak and said he
needed his help, the records state. Bond claimed his life was in
danger due to debts, and Todd Novak agreed to broker a deal for Bond
with his father and Posada.

It wasn't the first time Novak had carried money from his father and
Bond to Posada in exchange for cocaine, the records state. Todd
Novak's reputation as a legitimate businessman who owned brake shops
in Tampa and Ohio made him an unlikely target for police.

When Todd Novak found himself caught, he agreed to cooperate with
federal authorities. Novak persuaded his father to help authorities
reach their real target, Posada, records state.

In 2000, prosecutors had Posada and two other men testify in a federal
drug trial against Hyde Park dry-cleaner Dennis Fonte. Posada said
that for years Fonte had dealt in large quantities of cocaine.

Novak's cooperation with authorities didn't come without risk, court
records show.

``A police department attorney inadvertently revealed Todd's status as
a CI [confidential informant] to the sister of a person at odds with
Todd over unrelated business. That person shared the news with several
of Todd's friends,'' Huerta wrote. ``During an attempt to purchase
drugs, the target told Todd he had been alerted by a close friend of
David Bond's that Todd was a CI. A `going away party' was held for Gus
Posada at which it was announced to all that Todd was the sole reason
for Posada's capture.''

Huerta declined a request to comment about the case.

In 1997, Todd Novak avoided a minimum 10-year prison sentence and a
fine of up to $4 million by pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy
to possess cocaine with intent to distribute, court records show. He
was sentenced to eight months in a halfway house and three years of
probation.

Jack Novak was sentenced to five months in a halfway house, five
months of house arrest and 14 months of probation. Bond was sentenced
to 90 days in prison.

Posada initially was sentenced to 10 years in prison, but his
cooperation in the Fonte trial resulted in a reduced sentence of time
served and three years of probation.

Fonte was found guilty of conspiracy to deal in cocaine and sentenced
to eight years in federal prison.

Friend Questioned

Although the cocaine connection may lend itself to a motive for
killing Todd Novak, sheriff's investigators have not turned their
attention away from Bagley, a childhood friend who pleaded guilty to
second-degree murder in October 1993. Hillsborough detectives said
that decision was due in part to testimony from Jack Novak.

Bagley's attorney has advised him not to speak with Pasco sheriff's
detectives. Bagley, 44, lives in the Valrico area.

In February 1993, Bagley was charged with first-degree murder in the
death of 23- year-old Robert Fernandez, son of a prominent Tampa
pediatrician, whose dismembered body - minus the torso - surfaced in
Tampa Bay in the fall of 1992.

According to news reports at the time, authorities thought Bagley
killed Fernandez in a dispute over a cocaine trafficking operation.
But police had no witnesses, no weapon and little hard evidence to
connect him to the crime.

Investigators said Jack Novak had been incarcerated with Bagley on
unrelated charges and agreed to wear a wire to record a conversation
between the two.

According to news reports that year, Jack Novak reported to
authorities that Bagley had told him he had ``popped somebody'' days
before Fernandez's head, arms, legs and hands were found floating in
the Bay.

Bagley served about half of a 20-year prison sentence before being
released about a year ago.

Researcher Michael Messano contributed to this reporter.