It doesn't sound like Sagastume has been arrested in the U.S. or that he was working for leniency in his own cases. If his testimony is true, it sounds like he was after money and a safe haven in the U.S. (both of which he got.) He also said he's worked on over 150 cases.

Sagastume was also the informant in the case of arms trafficker Monzer al Kassar, whose conviction and 30 year sentence were recently upheld.

The informant in the case of Manssor Arbabsiar, the Iranian-American charged with plotting to kill the Saudi Ambassador, and who pretended to be a Zeta, had a state court drug case which the feds dismissed in exchange for his cooperation. Arbabsiar got the informant's name and number from the informant's aunt in Corpus Christi, Texas. The informant and Arbabsiar's meetings were in Mexico.

The Iranian informant, working off his state drug case, seems to be much more of a minor player than Sagastume.

In the case against Bout, Sagastume worked with an informant named Ricardo, also from Guatemala. Ricardo played the "loose cannon" -- the role of the uber-FARC, seeking major weapons to use against Americans military in Colombia and claimed to be trained by deceased FARC leader Raul Reyes. He also doesn't speak English. I doubt he was involved in the Iranian case. (Even though Carlos testified in Bout in Spanish, it's said that he speaks fluent English.)

Back when Sagastume snagged Monzer al Kassar in Spain, he was working with two other informants on the case: Luis and Samir. As a writer who happened to be a member of the jury that convicted Kassar wrote:

[DEA Agent John Archer] explains that the DEA employed three confidential sources (CSs)—Carlos, Luis, and Samir—in this sting. Samir, a Palestinian, was used to get to al-Kassar and gain his trust. Carlos and Luis pretended to be FARC terrorists in the market for advanced weapons—Strella surface-to-air missiles, rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs), AK-47 assault rifles, Dragunov sniper rifles, Makarov handguns, and millions of rounds of ammunition.

Archer testifies that after months of effort, Samir was finally able to make contact with al-Kassar, gain his trust, and set up a meeting with the supposed FARC representatives....Carlos and Luis traveled to Marbella and met with al-Kassar and Moreno. There they provided al-Kassar with a list of weapons that they wanted and gave him an “End User Certificate” stamped by the national police of Nicaragua.

Here's what Carlos said about himself during the Kassar trial:

Carlos says he is Guatemalan, had two years of college, and joined the Guatemalan army. While working in army intelligence, he got involved with a Colombian friend who was a drug dealer. After the Colombian friend got himself killed, Carlos traveled to Mexico to contact the Colombian’s drug connection, but was kidnapped and held for ransom by the Mexican army. Carlos testifies that while in captivity, he swore that if he got out alive, he would switch sides and work “for the good guys.” The ransom was paid, Carlos was released, and he volunteered to become a DEA confidential source. Over the past ten years, Carlos has worked for the DEA, earning more than $1.4 million—including a one-time $500,000 bonus.

Pretty close to what he testified to in Bout, except I thought in Bout he said his dealer got busted, not killed.

Samir also testified:

Samir, a Palestinian, is another DEA confidential informant. At 71, he looks like everyone’s favorite uncle. Looks are deceiving: he is an admitted heroin smuggler who has spent two terms in American prisons. Plus, he was a member of the PLO and of the terrorist group Black September.

Samir doesn't sound like someone who could pull off claiming to be a Zeta.

The Kassar deal involved $11 million of big weapons, including surface-to-air missiles. $1.5 mil to use some C4 to blow up an ambassador seems paltry by comparison. I think the CI in the Iranian case is small potatoes who turned in some drug dealers the D.E.A. wanted to believe were cartel members. If he was any kind of a big time dealer and got busted, he would have been charged in federal court. For all we know, the DEA got him to pretend to be a Zeta in small time drug cases to gain the confidence of non-cartel, garden variety drug dealers. Or he could have come out of ATF's informant bag -- maybe even one from Fast and Furious.

So despite my speculation last week, I'm no longer wondering if Carlos Sagustume, the Bout/Kassar informant, was involved in the Iranian plot.

Three semi-related notes. The prosecutor in the Kassar case is the prosecutor in the Bout case. The stings in both cases were really similar. From the juror's description of the Kassar case, the prosecutor is using the same tactics. With one exception. In the Kassar case, the jurors were hung up for a while on whether the Government had proved Kassar intended to kill Americans. He writes:

We spend two hours looking for quotations from al-Kassar and Moreno specifically referring to killing Americans. There is no recording that says, “Let’s kill Americans,” or “I’m glad that the FARC will use these weapons to kill Americans.” But bits and pieces are clear enough for us to come to a tentative conclusion.

The DEA obviously went to great lengths not to make that mistake again. Reading through the 89 page transcript of the meeting between Bout, Simulian and informants Carlos and Ricardo, they used him to play the loose cannon, who talked constantly about wanting to kill Americans.

Second, a question: Why did the team of Carlos/Luis in Kassar change to Carlos/Ricardo in Bout? Is Luis dead?

And Third, another question: What's up with Carlos Sagustume testfying using his first and last name? Isn't that a little dangerous for him? Is he retiring from DEA service now that he's * million richer from his informant duties? Sure seems his cover is blown. Or is Carlos Sagustume not his real name? (From everything I can find, it is his real name.)

Like my other post on Bout and Sagastume, this is all speculation, based on the court documents (and in the Kassar case, also the juror's article.) The Iranian informant seems to have come out of a Texas