Proud Boys leader has been informant for law enforcement since 2012: Reuters

Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was an informant for law enforcement since 2012, according to a transcript of a 2014 court proceeding obtained by Reuters.

The news service reported that a prosecutor, FBI agent and Tarrio’s then-attorney all vouched for his undercover work during a hearing in 2014.

During the hearing, prosecutor Vanessa Singh Johannes said Tarrio’s work led to the prosecution of 13 people on federal charges, and helped local authorities investigate a gambling ring, Reuters noted.

Tarrio’s lawyer at the time, Jeffrey Feiler, reportedly said his client worked undercover in several investigations, one over the sale of anabolic steroids and another regarding “wholesale prescription narcotics” and a third regarding human smuggling.

Feiler also described Tarrio as a “prolific” cooperator, according to Reuters, saying that his work helped police uncover three marijuana grow houses.

An FBI agent at the hearing also reportedly vouched for Tarrio’s work, saying he was a “key component” in local police investigations regarding marijuana, cocaine and ecstasy. 

Johannes told Reuters that Tarrio “cooperated with local and federal law enforcement, to aid in the prosecution of those running other, separate criminal enterprises, ranging from running marijuana grow houses in Miami to operating pharmaceutical fraud schemes.”

Tarrio denied that he worked undercover or cooperated in cases against others.

“I don’t know any of this,” he told Reuters. “I don’t recall any of this.”

He did, however, acknowledge that a 30-month sentence for relabeling and selling stolen diabetes test kits in 2012 was reduced to 16 months.

The right-wing Proud Boys group is under scrutiny for its role in the deadly Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol. Several members of the group, including organizer Joseph Biggs, have been arrested in connection with the siege

Tarrio wasn’t in attendance because was ordered to remain outside of Washington, D.C., earlier this month after he was charged with tearing a Black Lives Matter sign off of the city’s Metropolitan AME church and then burning it. He was ordered to remain outside of the city until his trial in June.