FBI Counter-Terror Agent James Gagliano: Infiltrating The Mob & Battling Street Gangs

James Gagliano is a graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point and served as an Airborne Infantry Officer with the US Army Rangers. Following his time in the military, Gagliano had a 25-year career with the FBI as an undercover agent investigating organized crime, and as a member of the FBI's legendary Hostage Rescue Team (HRT), the Bureau's elite counterterrorism unit, where, as part of the Global War on Terror, he deployed to Afghanistan three times in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Gagliano would later be assigned as the Senior Leader for the FBI's New York Field Division SWAT Team. Currently, he serves as an analyst for CNN, where he provides on-air commentary on law enforcement and counter-terror matters and is an adjunct assistant professor and doctoral candidate at St. John’sUniversity.

Gagliano first joined the FBI with the goal of infiltrating the Mafia as an undercover agent after being inspired by the hit 1980s TV series Wiseguy, and soon after graduating from training was assigned to Squad C-16, the unit investigating La Cosa Nostra and John Gotti in particular, where he became the handling agent for Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, Gotti's notorious underboss, who had struck a deal to testify against the Gambino Crime Family Godfather. While minding Gravano, the two struck up a friendship of sorts and Gagliano got a world-class education in the customs, culture, and inner workings of the American Mafia as the tough as nails underboss held court during their many meals and conversations.

Gagliano would go on to study undercover tradecraft at the Bureau's Undercover and Sensitive Operations Unit, the secretive department that runs FBI covert training and spend 20 years targeting and taking down an assortment of high profile drug traffickers, mobsters, and crooked cops. Gagliano would later join the FBI's counter-terror unit, leaning on his previous experience as a U.S. Army Ranger, he spent 4 years as an assaulter on Echo Team and was deployed to Afghanistan to work alongside The Navy SEALS, Delta Force, and Green Berets in their hunting of high-value targets, lending the FBI's unrivaled interrogation and criminal identification capabilities to the Military's special operations units and missions.

Beyond helping to dismantle La Cosa Nostra, Gagliano is equally as passionate about keeping the streets of New York safe and free from gang violence. Living just a few miles from Newburgh, the murder capital of NY State, he established the Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force, a multi-agency unit that he led in taking down 78 members of the Bloods and the Latin Kings, receiving the “Top Gang Unit” award from the New York Gang Investigator’s Association. Gagliano also works to combat gang culture by intervening before it has a chance to take root, using his role as a basketball coach to mentor and motivate kids at risk of succumbing to the allure of the gang-banger lifestyle.

Links:

James Gagliano: https://jamesagagliano.com/
A View from the Counter-Terror Foxhole: https://bit.ly/2R4ZuSv
FBI Agent Helping To “Save” Children of Newburgh: https://bit.ly/2F3yKPU
Becoming Jimmy Falcone: The Perilous Work of an FBI Undercover Agent: https://bit.ly/2R3gGaZ