Jay Dobyns
Encyclopedia
Jay Anthony Dobyns alias Jaybird, was a United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF) undercover
agent who gained international notoriety after he infiltrated the Hells Angels
motorcycle club from 2001 to 2003. Dobyns was offered membership to the Hells Angels after faking the murder of a rival gang member and providing the fabricated 'evidence' of the murder to Hells Angels leaders, convincing them of Dobyns's credibility. Dobyns was the only law enforcement officer to ever infiltrate the Hells Angels to the position of member.
Dobyns became an ATF Agent in 1987. After only four days on duty he was taken hostage and shot through the chest. His trauma surgeon was Dr. Richard Carmona, who later became the 17th United States Surgeon General.
Dobyns spent the majority of his ATF career working in varied assignments developing undercover expertise in violent crime investigation, narcotics, firearms, gang infiltrations, home invasion
robbery cases, and murder-for-hire investigations.
In 2001 Dobyns was selected as the lead undercover agent during an investigation of the Hells Angels in Arizona and tasked with infiltrating the gang. Although the investigation was deemed successful leading to the indictment of numerous persons for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
(RICO) violations and other crimes, the prosecution was considered failed after internal government squabbling ultimately led to some defendants receiving reduced sentences and some with charges dismissed.
, Dobyns was raised in Tucson, Arizona
. He graduated from Sahuaro High School
in 1980 and the University of Arizona
in 1985. He was an All-Pacific 10 conference wide receiver
and was named to Arizona
's All-Century football team.
s from the Hells Angels, Aryan Brotherhood
and Mara Salvatrucha
gang members and associates.
In 2008 Dobyns's home was subjected to an arson attack. Dobyns's family was present at the time of the fire which caused a total loss of the structure and belongings.
The threat situations against Dobyns were ignored by the federal government leading to Dobyns becoming a government whistleblower
when he exposed the United States Department of Justice
's mismanagement and failure to protect undercover agents. The United States Office of the Inspector General and the United States Office of Special Counsel
concluded that, "ATF needlessly and inappropriately delayed its response to and investigation of threats against its own agent". These findings were reported to the President of the United States
.
Dobyns has appeared on prime time television programs Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN), and The FOX Report with Sheppard Smith (FOX) discussing the death threats he has received, the federal governments failures related to those situations and his plight as a whistleblower. These situations were also reported on by Newsweek Magazine, the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal newspapers, and on National Public Radio by host Diane Rehm
.
Dobyns owns and operates the Jay Dobyns Group, LLC, a private company offering public speaking presentations and law enforcement training.
Dobyns's exploits as an undercover agent are memorialized in the novels Angels of Death, written by authors Julian Sher
and William Marsden
, and Running With The Devil written by author Kerrie Droban.
Dobyns portrays himself in television documentaries produced by The History Channel
(Gangland: Behind Enemy Lines) and the National Geographic Channel
(Inside: Outlaw Bikers - Hells Angels). Fox Television's America's Most Wanted
also produced a segment entitled Operation Black Biscuit that details the work of Dobyns and his partners during the Hells Angels investigation.
In 2006, Dobyns was inducted into the Sahuaro High School
(Tucson, Arizona) Hall of Fame.
In 2010, Dobyns was inducted into the Pima County (Arizona) Sports Hall of Fame.
Dobyns joins other former undercover agents such as Frank Serpico
, Joe Pistone (a.k.a. Donnie Brasco), Bob Delaney
(a.k.a. Bobby Covert), William Queen
(a.k.a. Billy St. John), and Joaquín Garcia (a.k.a. Jackie Falcone) in becoming mainstream news stories following their undercover assignments.
Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is a federal law enforcement organization within the United States Department of Justice...
(ATF) undercover
Undercover
Being undercover is disguising one's own identity or using an assumed identity for the purposes of gaining the trust of an individual or organization to learn secret information or to gain the trust of targeted individuals in order to gain information or evidence...
agent who gained international notoriety after he infiltrated the Hells Angels
Hells Angels
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is a worldwide one-percenter motorcycle gang and organized crime syndicate whose members typically ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles. In the United States and Canada, the Hells Angels are incorporated as the Hells Angels Motorcycle Corporation. Their primary motto...
motorcycle club from 2001 to 2003. Dobyns was offered membership to the Hells Angels after faking the murder of a rival gang member and providing the fabricated 'evidence' of the murder to Hells Angels leaders, convincing them of Dobyns's credibility. Dobyns was the only law enforcement officer to ever infiltrate the Hells Angels to the position of member.
Dobyns became an ATF Agent in 1987. After only four days on duty he was taken hostage and shot through the chest. His trauma surgeon was Dr. Richard Carmona, who later became the 17th United States Surgeon General.
Dobyns spent the majority of his ATF career working in varied assignments developing undercover expertise in violent crime investigation, narcotics, firearms, gang infiltrations, home invasion
Home invasion
Home invasion is the act of illegally burgling or entering a private and occupied dwelling for the purpose of committing a crime Home invasion is the act of illegally burgling or entering a private and occupied dwelling for the purpose of committing a crime Home invasion is the act of illegally...
robbery cases, and murder-for-hire investigations.
In 2001 Dobyns was selected as the lead undercover agent during an investigation of the Hells Angels in Arizona and tasked with infiltrating the gang. Although the investigation was deemed successful leading to the indictment of numerous persons for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act
The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, commonly referred to as the RICO Act or simply RICO, is a United States federal law that provides for extended criminal penalties and a civil cause of action for acts performed as part of an ongoing criminal organization...
(RICO) violations and other crimes, the prosecution was considered failed after internal government squabbling ultimately led to some defendants receiving reduced sentences and some with charges dismissed.
Early life
Born in 1961 in IndianaIndiana
Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...
, Dobyns was raised in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
. He graduated from Sahuaro High School
Sahuaro High School
Sahuaro High School is a public high school located in Tucson, Arizona, part of the Tucson Unified School District. It is located on the far east side of the city at 545 North Camino Seco, just north of Vicksburg Street between Broadway and Speedway Boulevards. The school mascot is the Cougar, and...
in 1980 and the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
in 1985. He was an All-Pacific 10 conference wide receiver
Wide receiver
A wide receiver is an offensive position in American and Canadian football, and is the key player in most of the passing plays. Only players in the backfield or the ends on the line are eligible to catch a forward pass. The two players who begin play at the ends of the offensive line are eligible...
and was named to Arizona
Arizona Wildcats football
The Arizona Wildcats football team is the football team of the University of Arizona, located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The team competes in the Pacific-12 Conference at the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level.-Early years:...
's All-Century football team.
Death and Violence Threats
In 2004 following the exposure of his true name and identity during court hearings Dobyns became the subject of extreme violence and death threatDeath threat
A death threat is a threat of death, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or groups of people. These threats are usually designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behavior, thus a death threat is a form of coercion...
s from the Hells Angels, Aryan Brotherhood
Aryan Brotherhood
The Aryan Brotherhood, also known as The Brand, the AB, or the One-Two, is a white supremacist prison gang and organized crime syndicate in the United States with about 20,000 members in and out of prison...
and Mara Salvatrucha
Mara Salvatrucha
Mara Salvatrucha is a transnational criminal gang that originated in Los Angeles and has spread to other parts of the United States, Canada, Mexico, and Central America. The majority of the gang is ethnically composed of Central Americans and active in urban and suburban areas...
gang members and associates.
In 2008 Dobyns's home was subjected to an arson attack. Dobyns's family was present at the time of the fire which caused a total loss of the structure and belongings.
The threat situations against Dobyns were ignored by the federal government leading to Dobyns becoming a government whistleblower
Whistleblower
A whistleblower is a person who tells the public or someone in authority about alleged dishonest or illegal activities occurring in a government department, a public or private organization, or a company...
when he exposed the United States Department of Justice
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
's mismanagement and failure to protect undercover agents. The United States Office of the Inspector General and the United States Office of Special Counsel
United States Office of Special Counsel
The United States Office of Special Counsel is a permanent independent federal investigative and prosecutorial agency whose basic legislative authority comes from three federal statutes, the Civil Service Reform Act, the Whistleblower Protection Act and the Hatch Act...
concluded that, "ATF needlessly and inappropriately delayed its response to and investigation of threats against its own agent". These findings were reported to the President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
.
Dobyns has appeared on prime time television programs Anderson Cooper 360 (CNN), and The FOX Report with Sheppard Smith (FOX) discussing the death threats he has received, the federal governments failures related to those situations and his plight as a whistleblower. These situations were also reported on by Newsweek Magazine, the Washington Post and Wall Street Journal newspapers, and on National Public Radio by host Diane Rehm
Diane Rehm
Diane Rehm is an American public radio talk show host. Her program, The Diane Rehm Show, is distributed nationally and internationally by National Public Radio. It is produced at WAMU, which is licensed to American University in Washington, D.C....
.
Current
In February 2009, Dobyns became a New York Times bestselling author following the release of his book No Angel - My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels. Dobyns's book chronicles how his investigation of the Hells Angels changed his life (Random House ISBN: 978-0-307-40585-2 (0-307-40585-0).Dobyns owns and operates the Jay Dobyns Group, LLC, a private company offering public speaking presentations and law enforcement training.
Dobyns's exploits as an undercover agent are memorialized in the novels Angels of Death, written by authors Julian Sher
Julian Sher
Julian Sher is a Canadian investigative journalist and author based in Montreal. He was an investigative producer with the CBC's the fifth estate for 10 years...
and William Marsden
William Marsden
William Marsden DCL FRS was an English orientalist, linguist, numismatist and pioneer in the scientific study of Indonesia...
, and Running With The Devil written by author Kerrie Droban.
Dobyns portrays himself in television documentaries produced by The History Channel
The History Channel
History, formerly known as The History Channel, is an American-based international satellite and cable TV channel that broadcasts a variety of reality shows and documentary programs including those of fictional and non-fictional historical content, together with speculation about the future.-...
(Gangland: Behind Enemy Lines) and the National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel
National Geographic Channel, also commercially abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo, is a subscription television channel that airs non-fiction television programs produced by the National Geographic Society. Like History and the Discovery Channel, the channel features documentaries with factual...
(Inside: Outlaw Bikers - Hells Angels). Fox Television's America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted
America's Most Wanted is an American television program produced by 20th Television, and was the longest-running program of any kind in the history of the Fox Television Network until it was announced on May 16, 2011 that the series was canceled after twenty-three years, with the final episode...
also produced a segment entitled Operation Black Biscuit that details the work of Dobyns and his partners during the Hells Angels investigation.
In 2006, Dobyns was inducted into the Sahuaro High School
Sahuaro High School
Sahuaro High School is a public high school located in Tucson, Arizona, part of the Tucson Unified School District. It is located on the far east side of the city at 545 North Camino Seco, just north of Vicksburg Street between Broadway and Speedway Boulevards. The school mascot is the Cougar, and...
(Tucson, Arizona) Hall of Fame.
In 2010, Dobyns was inducted into the Pima County (Arizona) Sports Hall of Fame.
Dobyns joins other former undercover agents such as Frank Serpico
Frank Serpico
Francesco Vincent Serpico is a retired American New York City Police Department officer who is most famous for testifying against police corruption in 1971...
, Joe Pistone (a.k.a. Donnie Brasco), Bob Delaney
Bob Delaney (basketball referee)
Bob Delaney is a former police officer and is a professional basketball referee in the National Basketball Association from 1987-88 NBA season to 2010-11 NBA season. Beginning the 2006-07 NBA season, Delaney has officiated in 1,182 regular season games, 120 playoff games, and seven NBA Finals...
(a.k.a. Bobby Covert), William Queen
William Queen
William "Billy" Queen Jr. is a retired undercover agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives , and the author of the bestselling books Under and Alone and Armed and Dangerous....
(a.k.a. Billy St. John), and Joaquín Garcia (a.k.a. Jackie Falcone) in becoming mainstream news stories following their undercover assignments.