NEWS

The curious case of ex-ATF agent who infiltrated Hells Angels

Paul Giblin
The Republic | azcentral.com
Former ATF agent Jay Dobyns talks about his undercover work, October 15, 2014, from the den of his Tucson home.
  • Investigation into possible fraud by federal attorneys is complete, court records show
  • Records remain under seal and no one associated with the case is talking
  • The matter involves retired agent Jay Dobyns, who gained notoriety infiltrating the Hells Angels

A retired judge has completed his court-ordered special investigation into alleged misconduct by U.S. Department of Justice officials involved in a lawsuit by former federal agent Jay Dobyns.

However, the results have been sealed and U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Francis M. Allegra, who oversaw the case for years and ordered the special investigation months ago, no longer is associated with the litigation.

Details of the investigation and Allegra’s status are difficult to ascertain because most court documents associated with the matter are under seal.

One unsealed document shows that Court of Federal Claims Chief Judge Patricia E. Campbell-Smith transferred herself to the case on June 23. Campbell-Smith made the move because it was “necessary for the efficient administration of justice,” she wrote without elaborating.

Allegra’s biography no longer is listed on the court’s website. Messages left by The Arizona Republic with Campbell-Smith’s staff and court staff inquiring about the transfer went unanswered.

Allegra ordered the special investigation early this year to determine whether federal attorneys engaged in misrepresentation and misconduct in his court during the long-running Dobyns case.

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Dobyns infiltrated the Hells Angels motorcycle gang as an undercover agent for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. He sued the ATF over allegations of reneging on an earlier agreement to protect him after a series of death threats The Justice Department defended the ATF in the case.

The court assigned retired Judge John M. Facciola to the role of special master to investigate whether several Justice Department attorneys tried to influence testimony by several other ATF agents during a three-week trial last year.

Dobyns won a judgment against the ATF, but Allegra later voided his own decision pending the findings of the investigation.

Facciola submitted his final report and recommendation on July 23, according to court records.

Dobyns, who lives in Tucson, referred questions about the matter to Phoenix attorney James Reed, who did not return calls seeking comment Monday and Tuesday.

Agent Thomas Mangan, Phoenix ATF spokesman, said he forwarded The Republic’s inquiry about the matters to the ATF’s Public Affair Division. No further response was provided.

Dobyns provided a glimpse of the legal wrangling in May when Facciola asked for and was granted an extension to conduct his investigation.

“To date, the process has been both extreme and complex. My arguments with DOJ over their production of relevant documents can mildly be described as heated,” Dobyns wrote in a blog entry dated May 29.

“To get this right and to drill down for the whole truth is neither an easy nor quick undertaking. When facing DOJ, you have to fight for every millimeter of progress, facts, evidence and truth,” he wrote in his blog.

Dobyns, whose 2009 memoir “No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels,” has been published in 12 languages, has not updated his blog since.

The initial lawsuit followed Dobyns’ infiltration of the the Hells Angels motorcycle gang. He sued the ATF for reneging on an earlier agreement to protect him after a series of death threats.

He claimed in court that his supervisors mishandled an investigation into a fire that burned his house on Aug. 10, 2008. Dobyns’ wife and children, who were asleep inside, escaped unharmed, but the house was destroyed.

The ATF’s arson investigation focused on Dobyns as a suspect, even years after preliminary investigators cleared him. The investigation eventually fizzled, despite leads provided by Dobyns and at least one other ATF agent about potential arsonists.

No one has ever been charged with the crime.

Late last year, Allegra ruled in favor of Dobyns and awarded him $173,000, but Allegra later voided his opinion in order to examine whether ATF attorneys and executives acted unlawfully during the trail.

Allegra called out the actions of one ATF attorney by name and banned seven ATF attorneys from filing documents in his court, moves that indicated the breadth of the special master’s inquest.

Allegra directed Facciola to essentially conduct a trial within a trial, authorizing him to gather evidence, take depositions and testimony from attorneys and government officials, and address other matters as he saw fit.

Allegra initially instructed Facciola to report his findings by May 29, but later gave him extensions. Allgera outlined at least some of Facciola’s lines of inquiry in other court documents.

In Allegra’s now-voided opinion from Aug. 25, 2014, he noted that testimony indicated ATF attorney Valerie Bacon tried to convince the new head of ATF’s Phoenix Division and another ATF agent to drop the idea of reopening the bungled arson investigation because it could damage the ATF’s position against Dobyns.

In a Dec. 1 ruling, Allegra noted that an ATF agent who wrote internal-affairs reports about the ATF’s handling of death threats against Dobyns may have been intimidated by another witness during the trial. Furthermore, a taped conversation indicated that an ATF attorney ordered the agent to not discuss the intimidation in court.

The agent who wrote the internal-affairs reports was Christopher Trainor, whom ATF attorneys “strenuously attempted to impeach” during the trial, according to Allegra.

President Barack Obama appointed Campbell-Smith to the Court of Federal Claims on Sept. 19, 2013. He designated her to serve as chief judge a month later.

President Bill Clinton appointed Allegra in 1988.