Lucien Sarti (October 8th, 1937 – April 28, 1972) was a French drug trafficker.

Drug smuggling

In 1948, Sarti founded the group Piedra Fuerte with fellow Corsicans

Auguste Ricord Auguste Joseph Ricord, nicknamed ''Il Commandante'', (26 April 1911 – 1985) was a French-Corsican heroin trafficker, convicted Nazi collaborator,John SimkiAugust 2014, Spartacus Educational Publishers Ltd. and one of the founding members of the F ...

and Francois Chiappe, which smuggled opium in the Golden Triangle. Chiappe was known to be part of the Organisation armée secrète, a French dissident

paramilitary A paramilitary is an organization whose structure, tactics, training, subculture, and (often) function are similar to those of a professional military, but is not part of a country's official or legitimate armed forces. Paramilitary units carr ...

terrorist group that conducted targeted assassinations and bombings, including the attempted assassination of Charles de Gaulle in 1962. On April 19th, 1968, Sarti was arrested along with Ricord and Chiappe for questioning regarding the robbery of a branch of the

Central Bank of Argentina The Central Bank of the Argentine Republic ( es, Banco Central de la República Argentina, BCRA) is the central bank of Argentina, being an autarchic entity. Article 3 of the Organic Charter lists the objectives of this Institution: “The bank ...

. The three were released due to lack of evidence. In April 1972, Sarti was shot to death in Mexico City during a raid of a drug trafficking ring by the Mexican federal police. A detective in Rio de Janeiro was later suspended from the police force after being accused of accepting a bribe to free Sarti and Helena Ferreira, his girlfriend, from jail earlier in 1972. In January 1975, four French citizens alleged to have supplied heroin to Sarti were among a group of 19 indicted by a federal

grand jury A grand jury is a jury—a group of citizens—empowered by law to conduct legal proceedings, investigate potential criminal conduct, and determine whether criminal charges should be brought. A grand jury may subpoena physical evidence or a pe ...

in Brooklyn.

Allegations of involvement in the assassination of John F. Kennedy

''The Murderers of John F. Kennedy'' and ''The Men Who Killed Kennedy''

In November 1988, Steve J. Rivele's French-published book ''The Murderers of John F. Kennedy'' named Sarti as one of three French gangsters involved in the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Rivele claimed Sarti fired the fatal shot from

Dealey Plaza Dealey Plaza is a city park in the West End Historic District of downtown Dallas, Texas. It is sometimes called the "birthplace of Dallas". It was also the location of the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963; 30 minutes after the shooting ...

's " grassy knoll". According to Rivele, Sarti, Roger Bocagnani, and Sauveur Pironti were contracted by organized crime in the United States to protect their drug interests. The British two-hour television special '' The Men Who Killed Kennedy'' was based on Rivele's book, but preceded its release airing on October 25, 1988. In the French newspaper ''Le Provençal'' published the day following the special, Pironti denied the allegation, stating that he believed at the time of the assassination that Sarti was held in Marseille's

Baumettes Prison Baumettes prison (also known as the Centre pénitentiaire de Marseille) is a prison in the 9th arrondissement of Marseille. Location The prison is named after the district of Les Baumettes. It is located at 239, chemin de Morgiou, in the 9th a ...

and that Bocagnani was in Bordeaux's Fort du Hâ. He also showed the paper military records proving that he was serving on a minesweeper from October 1962 to April 1964. The French Ministry of Justice stated that Bocagnani was in prison on the day of Kennedy's assassination and officials from the French Navy confirmed Pironti's military service.

E. Howard Hunt

After the death of

E. Howard Hunt Everette Howard Hunt Jr. (October 9, 1918 – January 23, 2007) was an American intelligence officer and author. From 1949 to 1970, Hunt served as an officer in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), particularly in the United States involvem ...

in 2007, Howard St. John Hunt and David Hunt stated that their father had recorded several claims about himself and others being involved in a conspiracy to assassinate John F. Kennedy. In the April 5th, 2007 issue of '' Rolling Stone'', Howard St. John Hunt detailed a number of individuals purported to be implicated by his father including Sarti, as well as Lyndon B. Johnson, Cord Meyer, David Phillips, Frank Sturgis, David Morales, and William Harvey. The two sons alleged that their father cut the information from his memoirs, ''American Spy: My Secret History in the CIA, Watergate and Beyond'', to avoid possible perjury charges. According to Hunt's widow and other children, the two sons took advantage of Hunt's loss of lucidity by coaching and exploiting him for financial gain. The '' Los Angeles Times'' said they examined the materials offered by the sons to support the story and found them to be "inconclusive".

References

External links

''The Men Who Killed Kennedy''
- an article on the TV series, which mentions David's claim of Sarti's involvement. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sarti, Lucien 1937 births 1972 deaths French Connection gangsters People associated with the assassination of John F. Kennedy People from Corsica