BEING A SECRET AGENT TAKES ITS TOLL

It's not the type of job you'll find listed in the classifieds. But that
hasn't stopped a handful of Manitobans from trading in their life
"experience" for an opportunity to work undercover as secret police agents.

Scotty "Taz" Robertson is the latest to find employment. The 49-year-old
career biker groupie has spent the past year infiltrating Hells
Angels activities in a sting operation dubbed Project Drill.

The result was 18 arrests last week for a string of crimes including drug
and weapons trafficking, and even conspiracy to commit murder. Many of the
alleged offences were caught on wiretap and through video surveillance
made possible by Robertson.

While police are basking in the glow of their extensive work, Robertson
likely isn't popping the champagne.

That's because recent history suggests Robertson -- despite being a
"half-million dollar man" -- has a long and difficult road ahead of him.

He can expect every aspect of his life to be closely scrutinized by a team
of defence lawyers that can't wait to get him into court for
cross-examination.

He may find himself being maligned by the very Crown prosecutors whose
case he helped build.

And, Robertson might not want to get too comfortable wherever he happens
to be calling home these days. Double-crossing the world's most notorious
motorcycle gang means always having to watch your back and never getting
settled.

The money he was paid for his efforts will likely run out one day. But the
stress and anxiety associated with being a "marked man" will stay with him
forever.

An exaggeration? Not according to a pair of Manitoba men who've already
walked a mile in Robertson's shoes. Snitching ruined life, led to depression

"I'm rich all right... my life is ruined," Franco Atanasovic told the Free
Press in an exclusive interview last year.

Atanasovic, 47, was calling from an unknown destination while under the
Witness Protection Program, along with his two sons. Atanasovic was paid
$525,000 -- roughly the same amount as Robertson -- for a similar
police project that began in late 2004 and ended in February 2006 with the
arrests of 13 Hells Angels and associates.

Atanasovic conducted numerous undercover drug deals with key targets of
Project Defence in a case that has already resulted in 10 convictions.

But the career criminal was in no mood to celebrate his success --
especially after hearing his name repeatedly dragged through the mud
inside several courtrooms.

"They're making me look like the bad guy here," Atanasovic said.

He was fuming that the Crown painted him as a liar and cheat, that several
disgruntled former associates filed lawsuits against him seeking cash and
that media reports portrayed him on the same level as the hoods he helped
catch.

"Do you think I did a good thing or a bad thing?" he asked rhetorically.

Atanasovic has repeatedly battled bouts of depression and thoughts of
suicide, according to his RCMP handlers who testified in court. And, his
behaviour has been erratic, including turning his back on
police-offered protection.

The public got some disturbing insight into the target on Atanasovic's
back during the trial earlier this year for full-patch biker Ian Grant.

Heavily armed, camouflaged police officers swarmed the downtown
courthouse, sealing off all entrances and exits during the days when
Atanasovic testified. A metal detector was installed at the door of
the courthouse and plainclothes police equipped with guns were seated
inside the room. The same circus-like scene is expected next month when
Atanasovic returns to testify against his former good friend --
ex-Hells Angels president Ernie Dew.

He gained freedom, but he's a constant target

Kevin Sylvester's reward came in the form of freedom -- not money -- but
that has done little to please the long-time Manitoba biker.

Sylvester, 44, seemingly hit rock bottom last December when he called the
Free Press and went on a lengthy tirade about how his co-operation with
police and prosecutors a few years earlier had ruined his life.

Sylvester made a similar call to a Crown attorney, which prompted police
to pay him a personal visit. Sylvester was pepper sprayed and Tasered when
he tried to fight with officers and kicked one in the groin.

He pleaded guilty to assault earlier this year and was sentenced to three
months in custody. Sylvester blamed the ugly episode on taking too much
antidepressant medication. "I'm sorry for the whole incident. It was
a bad scene that I caused. It was embarrassing," Sylvester said.

He said he was angry with the way he has been treated since he struck a
controversial plea bargain with the Crown in 2001.

Sylvester was sentenced to a jail term of two years less a day for his
part in shooting and wounding Hells Angel Rod Sweeney as he sat in his tow
truck with his young son beside him.

Sylvester became a wanted man after the shooting and was the victim of
several retaliatory incidents, including the firebombing of his house and
a drive-by shooting.

The Crown eventually offered Sylvester a reduced jail sentence in exchange
for his testimony against two Hells Angels -- including Sweeney's brother,
Dale -- accused of trying to kill Sylvester.

Provincial court Judge Charles Newcombe said he was "holding his nose" at
what many called a "deal with the devil."

Sylvester told the Free Press that police and justice officials made all
sorts of financial promises to him that weren't fulfilled. He said his
life is in constant danger now that he's no longer in witness protection.

Sylvester has been a fixture on the province's biker scene for more than a
decade. He is the younger brother of Darwin Sylvester, the president of
the former Spartans motorcycle gang. Darwin disappeared in 1998 and is
presumed dead.

Sylvester began targeting the Hells Angels in 2001 because he believed
they were involved in his brother's killing.

Money the lure

Scotty Robertson is the latest member of the "secret agent club", but he
likely won't be the last.

The lure of making good money is too much for some criminals to resist.

Even if that big paycheque comes with a heavy price.