Seasoned Investigators and Security Experts at Your Service

Our Associates

Each team member is selected based on his or her known experience and reputation as an investigator and/or security expert who will dedicate the effort and tenacity to obtain the highest-quality results within the parameters provided.

Our associates are imbued with a sense of service and a desire to help, having previously served as public servants for decades.

Dennis Franks - President

Dennis Franks, a former attorney and a 22-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has worked in the private investigation and security consulting field since his retirement from the FBI as a Supervisory Special Agent.

Mr. Franks served in various capacities during his FBI career. His last assignment was as Supervisory Special Agent of the Houston Division’s Special Operations Group. Mr. Franks also supervised several investigative squads during his career, including criminal enterprise/organized crime squads, a multiagency drug trafficking task force, and a multiagency intelligence group. He held collateral assignments as assistant crisis management coordinator, assistant legal advisor, undercover program coordinator, and assistant SWAT team leader.

In these capacities, Mr. Franks was involved in numerous counterterrorism, counterintelligence, and criminal program investigations.

In addition to his management experience, Mr. Franks served as an investigator and case agent for several complex cases that utilized sophisticated investigative techniques and undercover operations. Both as a case agent and Supervisory Special Agent, Mr. Franks successfully helped dismantle operations of numerous Colombian and Mexican drug cartels, as well as Asian and Russian criminal enterprises. For his exemplary efforts, he received over twenty commendations.

Mr. Franks was also a member of the FBI’s Special Weapons and Tactics team and a firearms instructor for eight years. He was an international police instructor regarding criminal enterprises at the International Law Enforcement Academy, Bangkok, Thailand and the Middle East Law Enforcement Academy, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as well as in Bucharest, Romania regarding crisis management in the context of weapons of mass destruction in conjunction with the US Department of Defense.

Mr. Franks has a bachelor’s degree in political science from North Carolina State University and a Juris Doctor degree from Campbell University School of Law. Prior to his career in the FBI, Mr. Franks was a licensed attorney and a state prosecutor in North Carolina.

Mr. Franks is a licensed private investigator, security consultant, and personal protection officer in the State of Texas.

Bill Lynn - Senior Associate

Bill Lynn retired from the FBI after 28 years of service, attaining the rank of Assistant Special Agent in Charge. He served in the FBI's New York Office as the Chief of the Special and Technical Operations Branches, where he directed the operational activity of more than 400 special agents, technicians, analysts, and specialists who served all FBI investigative and intelligence programs. As the Chief of the FBI's New York Office's Technical Operations Branch, he was the FBI's most senior Technically Trained Agent responsible for managing the FBI's largest, most sophisticated, and most important technical enterprises.

Counted also among his many postings, Mr. Lynn served as the FBI's legal attache at the US Embassy in Canada and at FBI HQ as the Chief of the FBI Public Access Center, the Bureau's 24/7 Internet Terrorism Tip Portal. While posted in Ottawa on 9/11/2001, he was designated as the US Law Enforcement and Intelligence Community representative in the Canadian National Incident Command Center, Royal Canadian Mounted Police Headquarters.

Since his retirement, Mr. Lynn served more than 42 months in Afghanistan, embedded as a US Army Law Enforcement Advisor with the US Army during Operation Enduring Freedom. Most recently, he served a 24-month tour as the commanding general's senior law enforcement advisor - NATO International Joint Command, Kabul, Afghanistan.

Mr. Lynn is an organized crime, counterterrorism, and counterinsurgency expert and is highly regarded for his specific expertise in Afghan culture, government, and law. Mr. Lynn holds a master's degree in public administration from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.

Mr. Lynn is a licensed private investigator and security consultant in the State of Texas.

Charles Goslin - Associate

Charles Goslin is a retired CIA operations officer and veteran of US Army Intelligence, with over 35 years of experience in security and risk, intelligence operations, and international business. He is an expert in human intelligence collection (HUMINT), counterintelligence, counterterrorism, transnational organized crime, and counter-narcotics operations. He also has unique expertise in technical information operations. He worked and lived abroad in Southwest Asia, Africa, Central and South America, the Middle East, and Europe.

Mr. Goslin teamed with law enforcement and intelligence partners in multiple countries on operations and training. He served as a senior investigator with Joint Terrorism Task Forces in the US, flexibly collaborating with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. He was also detailed to the US State Department Office of Inspector General for Security and Intelligence oversight inspections of major US facilities and activities in Europe and Central and South America.

Mr. Goslin continues actively consulting in retirement on matters of intelligence and geopolitical risk, security, and threat. He also has unique and extensive business operations experience, expertise, and networks located in emerging markets in Africa and the Middle East. Mr. Goslin recently published a book, “Understanding Personal Security and Risk: A Guide for Business Travelers (CRC Press 2017),” and he is actively sought as a lecturer on security and terrorism issues by universities and industry organizations and as a source for media in television and print. Mr. Goslin is a licensed security consultant in the State of Texas.

Douglas Drilling - Associate

Douglas Drilling served over 28 years as a Special Agent of the FBI. Mr. Drilling was an accomplished and highly respected criminal investigator, responsible for successfully bringing to resolution numerous complex and high-profile white-collar crime investigations. In his role as a case agent, Mr. Drilling oversaw multiple savings and loan failure cases having losses in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Mr. Drilling was instrumental in dismantling a number of criminal enterprises involved in major governmental and private insurance and health care fraud. His work with numerous other government and law enforcement agencies culminated in a large number of criminal convictions, recoveries, and forfeitures.

Obtaining these results required Mr. Drilling to interview thousands of victims, witnesses, and subjects. For his exemplary efforts, Mr. Drilling was honored with numerous awards and accommodations from within the Department of Justice, as well as from outside government agencies and private sector organizations.

In addition to his having an extensive white-collar crime background, Mr. Drilling worked on violent crime, international drug trafficking, organized crime, domestic and international terrorism, counterintelligence, money laundering, public corruption, and national security matters. Mr. Drilling was one of the initial members of the FBI’s Evidence Response Team (ERT), resulting in him obtaining extensive training and experience in the collection and preservation of crucial evidence. As an FBI Special Operations Group (SOG) team leader for over 14 years, Mr. Drilling led and coordinated hundreds of SOG covert surveillance operations concerning a vast array of intense, diverse, and challenging scenarios.

Prior to joining the FBI, Mr. Drilling worked as a manufacturing accountant and a cost accountant/senior financial analyst for six years. Mr. Drilling has a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Evansville.

Mr. Drilling is a licensed private investigator in the State of Texas.

Carl Wake - Associate

Carl Wake served over twenty-one years as a Special Agent of the FBI. During this time, Mr. Wake completed numerous complex fraud investigations, including copyright fraud, theft of trade secrets, Internet fraud, and a wide variety of financial crimes. While assigned to the FBI Headquarters, Counterintelligence Division, Mr. Wake completed an 18-month joint duty assignment with the Department of Defense, Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA). In this capacity, Mr. Wake provided FBI counterintelligence support for all US arms control treaties. While posted at the FBI’s Baghdad Operations Center, Mr. Wake was assigned as the FBI liaison to the Iraqi Police Major Crimes Unit and the US Embassy Hostage Working Group. In this capacity, Mr. Wake was credited with securing the release of a kidnapped US journalist and earned the FBI combat theater award.

While assigned to the Houston field office, Mr. Wake led an Evidence Response Team. He helped collect evidence at hundreds of domestic and foreign crime scenes, including the World Trade Center following the 911 attack and in East Texas following the loss of the Space Shuttle Columbia. He was an adjunct faculty member for the FBI forensic science program and was frequently selected to teach all aspects of forensic science to police departments and military units throughout Europe, Asia, and Africa. Mr. Wake’s primary forensic emphasis was crime scene photography and videography, for which he received numerous awards. Mr. Wake finished his career working as a photographer on a Special Operations Group that conducted physical surveillance on challenging targets.

Mr. Wake is a licensed private investigator in the State of Texas.

John Lynn - Associate

John Lynn is a former Captain in the US Air Force (USAF) and a combat veteran with three tours of duty under Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. He is a career investigator as a former Special Agent with the USAF Office of Special Investigations (OSI). He has led investigations and security operations around the globe in a myriad of capacities. He culminated his service as an OSI Special Agent as the Major Crimes Division Chief at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio, where he led a skilled team of special agents in felony investigations utilizing the latest in tradecraft, technology, and professional techniques.

During his OSI service, Mr. Lynn was also selected to specialize in executive protection matters. Following executive protection training, he was deployed to Afghanistan, where he formed and led a specialized team as the top Close-Protection Agent in Charge. His executive principals included flag officers, heads of state, and other high-ranking government officials. He was responsible for threat analysis, tactical movements, and security of the USAF command team in Afghanistan. He planned, organized, and led over 800 outside-the-wire combat missions without incident or casualty. Furthermore, he developed a campaign-wide standard operating procedure (SOP) for executive movements through controlled checkpoints.

Mr. Lynn is highly trained and experienced in conducting and leading investigations, interviews and interrogations, and executive protection. He is a graduate of Boston University where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology and where he was commissioned as a USAF Officer through the USAF ROTC program. He also earned a Master of Criminal Justice degree from American Military University.

Mr. Lynn is a licensed private investigator, commissioned security officer, and personal protection officer in the State of Texas

Frank Eldredge - Associate

Frank Eldredge served over 31 years as a Special Agent of the FBI, with a specialty in accounting. Mr. Eldredge was an accomplished investigator of white-collar crimes, counterterrorism matters, and other investigative areas to which he was assigned. His experience includes 21 years of investigating various white-collar crimes, including antitrust violations, government fraud, and public corruption. Mr. Eldredge engaged in counterterrorism, drug trafficking, and violent crime investigations for approximately 10 years.

Included among his many recognized accomplishments were successful cases involving nationwide public corruption, nationwide antitrust bid-rigging and price-fixing, telemarketing scams, bribery, fraud, gang, and terrorism. For these accomplishments, Mr. Eldredge received 18 awards and commendations.

Mr. Eldredge was assigned for several years to the FBI’s Special Operations Group, where he was also very successful in various sensitive investigations and operations.

Mr. Eldredge received a BBA degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and he undertook additional accounting studies at the University of Maryland and the University of Virginia.

Mr. Eldredge is a licensed private investigator in the State of Texas.

Jan Zawitkowski - Associate

Mr. Jan Zawitkowski was a 32-year veteran of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). While serving in the FBI’s Offices in New York, Washington, and Houston, he investigated and managed complex cases within top-priority investigative programs of the FBI, including counterterrorism, foreign counterintelligence, cyber, organized crime, and drug trafficking.

Mr. Zawitkowski received numerous awards and commendations for his role in these investigations from a number of the directors of the FBI, heads of various FBI offices, and other federal agencies. Mr. Zawitkowski was a member of the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF).

Mr. Zawitkowski was selected as the FBI’s Coordinator for the Protection of Foreign Officials and Official Guests of the United States. Due to his bilingual proficiency and investigative experience, Mr. Zawitkowski participated extensively in the FBI’s international training initiatives, both at the FBI Academy at Quantico and in Eastern Europe. Mr. Zawitkowski obtained training in the area of dignitary protection from the United States Secret Service and the United States Department of State. He was selected to be in charge of a security detail for FBI Director Louis Freeh and for many other dignitaries who accompanied the director during the director’s travel to Poland. Mr. Zawitkowski coordinated all aspects of the security detail with appropriate officials from FBI Headquarters, the US Embassy in Warsaw, and Polish security counterparts.

Mr. Zawitkowski obtained certification as an FBI Undercover Agent and has worked on several, very successful, high-profile undercover cases within the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America.

Mr. Zawitkowski was a member of the FBI’s Washington Field and Houston Office SWAT teams, where he served as an assaulter and a sniper. Mr. Zawitkowski also obtained FBI certification as a firearms instructor.

Mr. Zawitkowski obtained a Bachelor of Science in Mass Communication, with a minor in East European studies, from Buffalo State University, Buffalo, New York.

Mr. Zawitkowski is a licensed private investigator, security consultant, security officer, and personal protection officer in the State of Texas.

Mr. Zawitkowski is also licensed by the Federal Air Marshall Service as an Armed Security Officer (ASO) for corporate clients.

W. Brad Baker - Associate

Mr. Baker retired as a Resident Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration after serving 30 years as a federal law enforcement officer. He served as a highly experienced, professional, and decorated federal law enforcement officer, during which he gained in-depth institutional knowledge in the planning, execution, and management of both domestic and foreign-based enforcement operations, training, and investigations.

Mr. Baker served as a Special Agent and Supervisory Special Agent with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). As a DEA Special Agent, he was a member of the DEA Mobile Enforcement Team, HIDTA Task Force group, and as the Primary Firearms Instructor (PFI) and Tactical Instructor for the DEA Dallas, Texas Field Division. He also served as a guest tactical instructor at the DEA training academy in Quantico, Virginia on numerous occasions.

Mr. Baker was a Sensitive Investigation Unit (SIU) coordinator in Lima, Peru for approximately 4 years, during which he worked with and managed numerous Peruvian National Police (PNP) Units conducting counter narcotics and counter narco-terrorism tactical operations. He also planned and conducted tactical, firearms, security, TCCC, and leadership training for these PNP Units in conjunction with the US Special Forces and Department of Justice International Training Units.

Mr. Baker currently holds a Top-Secret Security Clearance and is a lead instructor within the Worldwide Security Training Support (WSTS) program through the US Department of State, instructing hostile surveillance detection, bodyguard/VIP protection and Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC/TECC) to security personnel assigned to US facilities in various foreign locations. He is also a Stop the Bleed Instructor -American College of Surgeons, an active shooter instructor for the Advance Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training (ALERRT) program and an instructor for the Louisiana State University NCBRT/Academy of Counter-Terrorist Education program.

Mr. Baker is licensed in the State of Texas as a private investigator, commissioned security officer, and personal protection officer.

Media

Executive Producer and Host

Dennis Franks was an executive producer and host of A&E Investigates - The Plot Against America.

Security/Intelligence Speaker and Consultant

Dennis Franks is available as a speaker and consultant about security matters, national security, and intelligence community matters through SPYEX. spyex.com

Law Enforcement/Security News Consultant

Dennis Franks has appeared on several segments of News Nation and has appeared on Local ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox News in Houston and Austin. He has also contributed to the NBC Today Show and Fox News with Shepard Smith.