Mark was born and raised in Rochester, Michigan. His father was a decorated WW2 Navy Corpsman and later a Michigan DNR Officer. His mother was a Registered Nurse. Mark’s parents met during WW2 when Mark’s mother was a War Department, (Department of Defense) Nurse. Mark has five siblings, three who followed their parents’ public service commitment. The three brothers served as a Michigan State Police Sergeant, an Oakland County Deputy Sheriff and a Detroit Fire Department Paramedic. Mark and his family have almost 200 years in public service.
Mark entered On Duty, (EOD), with the U.S. Border Patrol in Yuma, Arizona in 1984. While assigned at the Yuma Station, aside from normal patrol duties, he was a member of ATV unit, Sector Highway Interdiction Team, Recruiting and the D.A.R.T., Desert Area Rescue Team.
Mark transferred to the U.S. Border Patrol’s, Detroit Station as a Journeyman Agent. While assigned to the Detroit Station, he worked various patrol operations. These assignments included, Air Operations Helicopter Observer, Marine Operations Vessel Commander, DEA Task Force Agent, Public Information Officer, Prosecutions Agent and Recruiter.
In 2003, Mark was promoted to Supervisory Border Patrol Agent. He supervised the Station’s DISRUPT Unit (Anti-Smuggling Unit) for approximately two years. They worked closely with the local and federal law enforcement partners including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, (RCMP). The unit’s mission was to disrupt Transnational Criminal Organizations. As a supervisor, Mark served in various supervisory roles to include Acting Field Operations Supervisor, Acting Watch Commander, Acting Deputy Patrol Agent In Charge and Acting Patrol Agent In Charge.
Mark worked extended law enforcement operational details in over 26 states, to include every state along the Mexican Border. He has been qualified as an expert witness in U.S. District Court. As a Public Information Officer, he represented the Border Patrol in several episodes of NatGeo’s Drugs Inc and Netflix series Dope.
In 1999, Mark was called upon to testify before the U.S. House of Representatives regarding Northern Border Law Enforcement Challenges combating illegal immigration, terrorism, and drug smuggling. In the days after the terrorist attacks on 9/11, Mark was called upon to testify before the U.S. Senate. In his Senate testimony, he highlighted Northern Border security concerns. As a result of Mark’s testimony, he “blew the whistle” on serious national security vulnerabilities. Exposing the security vulnerabilities made Mark the target of retaliation by factions within the Department of Justice’s, I&NS. Attempts were made to fire, demote, and reassign him. Rather than address these vulnerabilities, embarrassed mangers within I&NS attempted to discredit Mark. Managers made disgusting statements, alleging Mark was providing aid to the terrorists who attacked our homeland. Two enraged U.S. Senators exposed the retaliation against Mark by the I&NS officials. At the demand of the U.S. Senators, two independent investigations were launched by the U.S. Department of Justice’s, Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. These investigations both, independently, exonerated Mark of any wrongdoings. The investigations supported the weaknesses Mark exposed. He was granted federal Whistleblower protection status for highlighting serious national security vulnerabilities.
As a result of his prior testimony and extensive border security background, in 2002 Mark was called upon to assist the U.S. Senate. He provided information an expert technical advisor on the creation of the new Department of Homeland Security.
Mark retired from the U.S. Border Patrol in 2018, after more than 33 years of service. In 2019, the U.S. Border Patrol brought Mark back as a “Re-Hired Annuitant” serving as Detroit Sector’s Recruiting Coordinator and Public Information Officer.
Mark retired a second time from the Border Patrol in 2022. He has more than 36 years of service to the United States. He currently leads U.S. corporate security as a CSO for a $6 billion dollar international border crossing construction project.
Some of Mark’s other duties included co-chairman of the Southeast Michigan Area Maritime Security Committee’s, Intelligence Sub-Committee. He served as member of the Detroit/Windsor Integrated Border Enforcement Teams, Field Commanders committee.