Barry Carmody served as an FBI agent for 33 years, retiring in 1998 having participated in some of Tampa’s most historic cases. Carmody died Wednesday of brain cancer at age 73. He is survived by his wife, two children, six grandchildren and, according to friends and family, some whopping stories.
Among his most famous cases was an FBI sting called Operation Coldwater in the late 70’s, early 80’s, reports the Tampa Bay Times, later chronicled in the film “Donnie Brasco.” Operation Coldwater resulted in the arrests of mob higher-ups including Santo Trafficante Jr. who was later acquitted.
True to the reports of Carmody being a man-of-the-people who used his humor and storytelling to get along with anybody, Carmody later visited the ailing Trafficante in his sick bed. “Dad would go check on him, stop in, probably bring him a beer, smoke a cigar and that would be it,” remembered son Roderick Carmody.
“Barry had that Irish wit, he was a good storyteller,” said retired agent Al Scudieri who worked with Carmody for more than 20 years. “We could all be in the same incident, and he would come out and tell the best story about it.”
The Tampa Bay Times quotes Robert O’Neill, U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Florida, saying Mr. Carmody was “born to be an FBI agent.”
“He loved working with law enforcement and he loved his family,” O’Neill said. “But his second family was the FBI.”
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