Court favors ex-agent in suit against ATF

PHOENIX — A federal judge has found in a favor of a former undercover ATF agent who alleged his agency failed to properly respond to death threats against him after he infiltrated the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, then reneged on previous agreements to address his complaints.

In a decision unsealed Tuesday, Judge Francis M. Allegra of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, D.C., awarded retired agent Jay Dobyns of Tucson $173,000 for emotional stress caused by the Department of Justice and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The judge also denied the government's counterclaims for royalties from Dobyns' book, No Angel: My Harrowing Undercover Journey to the Inner Circle of the Hells Angels, and the films rights to the book, which are held by 20th Century Fox.

Dobyns had sought $17.2 million in the suit, but was pleased with the ruling because it restored his good name, said his attorney James B. Reed.

Dobyns, an imposing figure with a shaved head, goatee and an extensive collection of tattoos, now works as a motivational speaker primarily to police organizations. He was out of the country and unavailable for interviews, Reed said. But he wrote about the ruling on his blog.

"I will not seize upon this opportunity to gloat or celebrate. From my view there is nothing to rejoice in. This is a sad day for my beloved ATF, the Department of Justice and all who believe in and support America's law enforcement officers," Dobyns wrote at jaydobynsgroup.com.

"The title of the lawsuit alone — Dobyns v. USA — is humiliating for me. I never stood against the USA; only the corruption and abuse that infect parts of ATF and DOJ in leadership. I blew the whistle on that corruption. For that I was severely punished and left undefended," he wrote.

Dobyns contended that the ATF withdrew his covert identification in retaliation for a 2007 settlement that he revived against the ATF for mismanagement of death threats against him. Four months later, on Aug. 10, 2008, an unknown arsonist set fire to his house while his wife and children were inside.

Initially, Dobyns was implicated as a possible suspect in the fire.

"An agency I spilled my own blood for and enthusiastically accepted every dirty assignment on behalf of for twenty-seven years, knowingly and intentionally accused me of a crime I did not commit; being a person who would murder his own wife and children by fire," he wrote on the blog.

"Some shotcallers in ATF who knew the allegations were false sat silent and watched the attacks heaped on me. Others proactively joined in the attack to gain favor with their superiors," he wrote.

The ruling followed a three-week trial held in both Tucson and Washington.

Dobyns' two-year undercover stint with the Hells Angels, in conjunction with other AFT action, produced indictments of 36 people, including 16 as a direct result of the undercover operation. Of those, 16 were Hells Angels members.