William "Billy" Queen Jr. is a retiredundercover agent with the U.S.Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the author of the bestselling booksUnder and Alone andArmed and Dangerous.
Queen was raised inNorth Carolina, the son of an ATF agent.[1] He served as aSpecial Forces soldier in theUnited States Army during theVietnam War. After his discharge from the Army, he worked as a police officer in North Carolina for six years. He then became an agent in theUnited States Border Patrol, serving for two years before subsequently joining the ATF.[1] Early operations involved infiltrating theAryan Nation and theKu Klux Klan, twowhite supremacist organizations.[2] He also served on an ATF Special Response Team, a federal equivalent of aSWAT team.
In early 1998, as part of an operation to infiltratemotorcycle gangs, Queen joined theSan Fernando Valley chapter of theMongols Motorcycle Club as "Billy St. John", and was a member for 28 months.[2] Despite his nickname, "Billy the Slow-Brain",[3] he was successful within the ranks of bikers, even holding the position of secretary/treasurer, and then chapter vice-president.[1][2] Based on the evidence he gathered while in these positions, a series of raids on May 19, 2000, by almost 700 lawmen in four states led to the arrest and indictment of 54 gang members (53 were convicted, one took the fall for a brother, and so the second party's charges were dropped).[1] The ATF later described Queen's time undercover as "its most successful [biker gang] penetration."[2] The operation had personal consequences for him-due to threats on his life he had to enter witness protection and he suffered permanent hearing loss due to all the time spent around loud motorcycles.
Queen was awarded theFederal Bar Association's Medal of Honor for his successful involvement with the Mongols.[4] After the trials of the gang members, Queen retired from the ATF, and wroteUnder and Alone: The True Story of the Undercover Agent Who Infiltrated America's Most Violent Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.[2][5] In 2003, while it was still only adraft, film rights to the book were sold toIcon, the Hollywood production company owned byMel Gibson. Despite early reports that Gibson himself was interested in starring in the film, it was never made because of his arrest for drunk driving and subsequent legal issues.[1][6][7][8] The book became a bestseller upon its release in 2005.[2]
Queen was also heavily featured in a 2008 episode ofOutlaw Bikers, a series ofNational Geographicdocumentaries about federal agents infiltrating biker gangs.[9]
