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Brewer had many significant cases while working with the US Depart- ment of Justice, but none stands out as much as the espionage prose- cution of Marian Zacharski in 1981. Zacharski was a Polish national living in Los Angeles undercover as the CEO of a Polish machinery company, while in fact, he was a deeply-embedded spy for Polish intel- ligence. Zacharski recruited an American named William Bell to pho- tograph top secret data at Hughes Aircraft. The information pertained to advanced radar systems and stealth technology, and during a two- year period, Bell was paid over $150,000 to steal secrets important for development of the B-1 and Stealth Bombers.
Impressed with Bob’s advocacy, he called the young prosecutor in for an interview; two days later a job offer arrived, and Bob Brewer spent the next five years as an Assistant US Attorney in the Central District of California.
The FBI had Bell and Zacharski under surveillance, and Bell eventually was arrested as Zacharski was preparing to leave for Poland. Bob Brewer was assigned the case without notice, and when Zacharski demanded a speedy trial after being arrested, Bob had less than three months to review years of surveillance evidence to prepare for trial. A five week jury trial ensued, with some forty witnesses, and when Zacharski rested his defense without calling witnesses, the jury convicted —the first non-Soviet spy to be convicted in the United States since World War II. Zacharski was sentenced to life in prison, as Brewer moved ahead with his prosecutorial career, eventually assuming a position as the Assistant Chief of the Criminal Division in the Los Angeles Office of the United State Attorney.
In 1985, Zacharski was released from prison as part of a prisoner ex- change with the Soviet Union. Returning to Poland, Zacharski resumed a prominent position in in the Polish government, culminating in his appointment to head the Polish Intelligence Service. The Solidarity Movement in Poland and the emergence of Lech Walesa as the head of a new Polish government led to Zacharski’s removal from government service and seeming “disappearance” in 1996.
Ten years later, in 2006, Brewer had returned to San Diego and was enjoying prominence as a trial lawyer. While attending a short-course at Oxford University relating to prosecution of famous espionage cases, Brewer obtained an email address for Zacharski in Switzerland, and the two began corresponding. This led to a reunion in 2007 at the bridge crossing the International Border between San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. The meeting was filmed as part of a documentary by Polish Television.
Service comes with a price, and twenty-seven years after Bob Brewer returned home from Vietnam, he was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. Traceable to his months of duty in the Vietnamese and Cambodian jungle, where Agent Orange was widely-used as a defoliant, this life-threatening condition called for extensive chemotherapy. And the therapy worked, giving this remarkable soldier yet more chances to serve. As now-Colonel Brian Cundiff has said, “You don’t find many people like Brewer. He’s one in a million.”
Bob Brewer has gone on to enjoy a distin- guished career as a trial lawyer, handling both white collar defense engagements and complicated commercial litigation. In 2019 he was confirmed as the United States Attor- ney for the Southern District of California, headquartered in San Diego, and he served in that position with acclaim until 2021 and the inauguration of a new presidential administration. His tenure as the chief law enforcement prosecutor in San Diego was marked by several notable cases involving drug cartels. Under his leadership, the Office stepped up efforts to combat human traf- ficking, and he established a Violent Crimes Unit. Among his office’s most prominent cases was a prosecution relating to a 2019 hate crime shooting at the Chabad of Poway Synagogue, which had resulted in the killing of a congregant and wounding of the Rab- bi. The shooter was given a life sentence just as the Rabbi and several other congregation members were indicted for a brazen federal tax evasion scheme. Today, Bob Brewer is “of Counsel” to a prominent San Diego law firm whose name lives in tribute to a deceased Fellow of the College—Gerald McMahon— and Emeritus Fellow Reginald Vitek, ’98.
To borrow a phrase from the late sports writer, Roger Angell, heroes “illuminate our imagination and raise our hopes for ourselves to such an extent that we often want the best of them to become models for us in every area of life.” Bob Brewer is one who has set many examples for us to follow. His life has been one, long commitment to servant leadership. Saying “thank you” falls short of expressing the gratitude we so naturally feel.
Charles H. Dick, Jr. San Diego, CA
WINTER 2023
JOURNAL 100