Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio was reportedly credited during a 2014 federal court hearing with assisting criminal investigators by repeatedly working in an undercover role.
A federal prosecutor, an FBI agent and Mr. Tarrio’s defense lawyer each described his undercover work during the hearing, Reuters reported Wednesday, citing a recently obtained transcript of the proceeding.
Mr. Tarrio was arrested in 2012 and later pleaded guilty to charges he faced in connection with the reselling of stolen diabetic test strips kits. He accordingly received a 16-month prison sentence.
During the 2014 hearing, the federal prosecutor said that Mr. Tarrio subsequently provided investigators with information that led to the prosecution of 13 other people, Reuters reported.
Jeffrey Feiler, Mr. Tarrio’s lawyer at the time, said during the hearing that his client worked undercover repeatedly to help investigators and called him a “prolific” cooperator, the report said.
Mr. Tarrio, his lawyer told the court, “at his own risk, in an undercover role met and negotiated to pay $11,000 to members of that ring to bring in fictitious family members of his from another country,” Reuters reported.
Vanessa Singh Johannes, a former federal prosecutor involved in that case, recently confirmed his cooperation as well, Reuters reported. In a statement, she said Mr. 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.”
“I don’t know any of this,” Mr. Tarrio, 36, said Tuesday when asked about the transcript, Reuters reported. “I don’t recall any of this.
Mr. Tarrio has served as the chairman of the Proud Boys, a self-described fraternal group of “western chauvinists,” since 2018. Gavin McInness, a Canadian, founded the group in 2016.
Several known members of the Proud Boys were spotted among the scores of people who stormed the U.S. Capitol during the violent insurrection that happened earlier this month in Washington.
Mr. Tarrio was not seen among the mobs that stormed the Capitol, however. He was arrested in D.C. two days prior and promptly ordered to leave town.
Jagmeet Singh, the leader of Canada’s New Democratic Party, asked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to designate the homegrown Proud Boys as a terrorist entity the day after the Capitol was stormed.
More recently, Canada’s House of Commons unanimously passed a resolution this week urging the Trudeau government to follow through.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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