Donna Adelson Trial: Undercover Agent “Sammy” Details Sting Operation to Provoke Donna’s Reaction
True Crime Today | Daily True Crime News & Interviews
Tony Brueski
4.3 • 598 Ratings
🗓️ 28 August 2025
⏱️ 19 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
The Trial of Donna Adelson took a tense turn as undercover FBI agent “Sammy” testified about his role in the bold operation known as “the bump.” Disguised as a gang member with supposed ties to the Latin Kings, Sammy approached Donna Adelson in a parking lot, handing her a note and suggesting that some people involved had already been “taken care of” while others had not. The goal was clear: rattle Donna enough to trigger a telling response—and it worked.
Sammy explained to jurors how the sting was carefully orchestrated. While he delivered the message face-to-face, agents were already monitoring wiretaps on the Adelson family’s phones. Almost instantly after the encounter, Donna picked up her phone and dialed her son Charlie Adelson. That call, intercepted and recorded, became a centerpiece of the prosecution’s case. Jurors heard Donna’s own words in conversations with Charlie, including coded remarks that prosecutors argue reveal the depth of her involvement.
This testimony pulled back the curtain on how undercover tactics and surveillance combined to build a case that prosecutors say shows Donna as a key player—not just an anxious mother. Sammy emphasized that this wasn’t a chance meeting; it was a deliberate move to shake loose the truth and confirm suspicions investigators already had.
Why does this matter? Because the jury didn’t just hear secondhand accusations—they heard Donna’s own immediate reaction under pressure. Rather than distancing herself or seeking help, she called Charlie, the very person prosecutors say worked hand-in-hand with her to arrange Dan Markel’s murder. For the state, Sammy’s account of the bump—and the recordings it triggered—may be some of the most compelling evidence yet that Donna was at the center of the conspiracy.
#DonnaAdelsonTrial #UndercoverAgent #TheBump #FBI #DonnaAdelson #CharlieAdelson #DanMarkel #TrueCrime #CourtroomDrama #FloridaTrial
Want to comment and watch this podcast as a video?
Check out our YouTube Channel. https://www.youtube.com/@hiddenkillerspod
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/hiddenkillerspod/
Tik-Tok https://www.tiktok.com/@hiddenkillerspod
X Twitter https://x.com/tonybpod
Listen Ad-Free On Apple Podcasts Here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/true-crime-today-premium-plus-ad-free-advance-episode/id1705422872
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | This is continuing coverage in the trial of Donna Adelson from the Hidden Killers podcast and true crime today. |
| 0:07.4 | Now, back to the courtroom. |
| 0:10.3 | So my role in the operation was of a gang member and what I was instructed to do was to contact and bump Donna Adelson. |
| 0:22.7 | What does bump mean? |
| 0:25.0 | A bump is a law enforcement operation |
| 0:29.4 | during which an undercover agent |
| 0:31.7 | or an undercover police officer would conduct |
| 0:35.5 | a face-to-face meeting or encounter |
| 0:38.3 | with a subject or a person of interest in an investigation. |
| 0:43.3 | And what we look for, the results we look to get |
| 0:48.3 | would be one or a combination of either I would try to extract or the undercover would try to extract |
| 0:56.6 | information or they would try to pass on information or possibly set up a future |
| 1:03.8 | meeting with the individual or tickle a wire or a telephonic intercept or |
| 1:10.6 | it tickle wire in this case was in an attempt to |
| 1:15.7 | tickle a wire yes it was so we had a wire tap going at the time that you did the bump yes okay |
| 1:21.9 | and what does tickle the wire mean well when you tickle the wire, when you're doing a Title III, what we call |
| 1:29.5 | a Title III, a phone intercept, and there's not much activity going on that phone intercept, |
| 1:37.8 | what you want to do is approach somebody and see if they will start talking about whatever the investigation is looking into. |
| 1:48.0 | All right. So you were asked to approach Don Adelson. Is that what you did? |
| 1:51.6 | That is correct. Where did that happen? |
| 1:53.7 | I believe that happened in South Miami, somewhere near her residence. |
| 1:58.5 | Okay. And did you just walk up to her on the street, sidewalk? |
... |
Transcript will be available on the free plan in 16 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Tony Brueski, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Tony Brueski and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.