Season 2, Episode 3: Who’s A Rat Dot Com

Summary

White Hot Hate: Agent Pale Horse
Season 2, Episode 3: Who’s A Rat Dot Com
Release Date: April 8, 2025
Produced by CBC

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Overview

In the gripping third episode of the second season of White Hot Hate, host Michelle Shepherd delves deep into the perilous world of undercover operations against outlaw motorcycle gangs. This episode, titled "Who’s A Rat Dot Com," centers on the intricate and dangerous infiltration of the Taunton Outlaws chapter by FBI undercover agent Scott Calloway (a.k.a. Agent Pale Horse). Drawing from a comprehensive transcript, the episode highlights the challenges, emotional tolls, and near-miss confrontations faced by agents working to dismantle violent criminal organizations from within.

Setting the Stage: Operation Roadkill

The episode begins by introducing Thomas Higginbotham, a retired Massachusetts State Trooper with a distinguished 31-year career combating motorcycle gangs. Higgy recounts the rise of the Outlaws in Massachusetts during the early 1990s, emphasizing their aggressive expansion and the subsequent police concerns.

Thomas Higginbotham (02:04):
"By 2005, Higgy and his team started an investigation into the Taunton, Massachusetts chapter of the Outlaws. It was called Operation Roadkill."

Operation Roadkill was a multi-agency effort involving local, state, and federal law enforcement aimed at crippling the Outlaws' operations, which included drug trafficking, violence, and firearm offenses. Prosecutor Peter Levitt (08:36) explains the breadth of the investigation:

Peter Levitt (08:36):
"The tools that a federal prosecutor has are quite broad. In that investigation, we used all of them—confidential informants, wiretaps, searches and seizures, pole cameras, trash poles."

Scott's Undercover Infiltration

Scott Calloway, portrayed as an ideal candidate for infiltration, brings authenticity to his role with his background in motorcycle culture. Despite initial reservations from Higgy about the dangers of going undercover, Scott's genuine affinity for the biker lifestyle made him a perfect fit.

Thomas Higginbotham (02:38):
"I'm not a big fan of it, but I said, yeah, and..."

Scott's familiarity with the environment is evident as he describes his first interactions at the Foxy Lady strip club, a known hangout for Outlaws members.

Scott Calloway (04:33):
"I bounced in strip clubs, and even when I wasn't bouncing, I would go back and visit as a single young cop."

Building Trust with the Outlaws

To avoid suspicion, Scott meticulously established his presence at the Foxy Lady before making direct contact. His strategic approach involved frequent visits, purchasing extra dances to appear generous, and slowly integrating himself into the club's social fabric.

Scott Calloway (12:23):
"I'm building my bona fides. I am creating a legend here to where I'm getting to know people, they're getting to know me."

As trust grew, Scott began engaging with key members, including Spanky, Clothesline, and the chapter president, Joe Dogs. Each character exhibited unique traits that Scott adeptly navigated to solidify his cover.

• Spanky: The aspiring leader with a desire for prominence but often ignored by peers.
• Clothesline (Brian de la Vega): The unpredictable enforcer known for his colorful tattoos and volatile behavior.
• Joe Dogs: The chapter president whose poor business acumen contrasted with his preference for partying.

Scott Calloway (17:26):
"Clothesline had one of the best lines that I'd heard. He said he was allergic to Jack Daniels... It's funny, man."

The Bonds and Dangers of Undercover Work

Scott's deepening relationships, especially with Scott Town (Scotty T) and Black Scott, highlighted the emotional complexities of undercover work. The genuine camaraderie developed with these members blurred professional boundaries, raising ethical concerns.

Scott Calloway (20:43):
"We were tight. Like, scary tight. Like, how similar we were. I could complete his sentences, he could complete mine."

Prosecutor Peter Levitt reflects on the authenticity of Scott's relationships and the inherent risks:

Peter Levitt (22:08):
"Their interactions were so genuine and authentic that it worked."

The Confrontation and Critical Moment

The episode reaches a climax during a pivotal confrontation at the Outlaws' clubhouse. As tensions escalate over an insurance scam gone wrong, Scott finds himself in a life-threatening situation.

Scott Calloway (27:28):
"I get to the clubhouse and I go inside and the music's blaring. They poured me a Jack and Coke, you know."

Suddenly, Scott is dragged to a dark cellar, weapons drawn, and forced to reveal his true identity. The presence of hidden wiretaps becomes crucial during this tense standoff.

Scott Calloway (29:34):
"They start swearing at me. I need you to write down your name for me."

The Outlaws' suspicions heighten as they consult "who's a rat dot com," an online directory tracking informants. Realizing the peril, Higgy and his team contemplate drastic measures to ensure Scott's safety.

Thomas Higginbotham (33:12):
"If we thought he was being assaulted, we were going to just hit the building with a car and that would be it."

Team’s Perspective and Final Outcome

From the surveillance team's vantage point, the mounting tension and imminent threat to Scott become palpable. Higgy describes the moment they knew something was critically wrong:

Thomas Higginbotham (32:22):
"That's when I said, we got a problem."

Ultimately, the episode pauses the action at the brink of intervention, leaving listeners on the edge of their seats regarding Scott's fate.

Conclusion and Insights

Who’s A Rat Dot Com offers a raw and unfiltered glimpse into the life of an undercover agent battling internal conflicts, the constant threat of exposure, and the psychological strains of living a double life. Through detailed storytelling and authentic character portrayals, the episode underscores the immense risks law enforcement officers face in their pursuit of dismantling violent criminal organizations.

Notable Quotes:

• Thomas Higginbotham (02:20):
  "What happens when we bring an undercover into a motorcycle gang? It raises all these other issues. We have to deal with his safety."

• Scott Calloway (14:00):
  "I could see that Spanky was looking, and I'm like, okay, it's kind of going good."

• Peter Levitt (08:36):
  "There are wiretaps, searches and seizures, pole cameras, trash poles."

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Additional Production Credits:

This episode was written and produced by Michelle Shepherd, senior producer Ashley Mack, and producer Eunice Kim. Special thanks to Andrew Friesen, the CBC Reference Library, and Oralation Studios. Mixing and sound design by Evan Kelly. Emily Connell served as the digital producer, with Rachel Degasperis as the intern.

Related Works:

This podcast series is produced alongside the book "Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America's Nazis," co-written by Scott Payne and Michelle Shepherd. Season one of White Hot Hate is available on all major podcast platforms.

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Connect with CBC Podcasts: For more episodes and updates, visit CBC Podcasts.

Transcript

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[Michelle Shepherd]

This is a CBC podcast. The following episode contains strong language and descriptions of violence. Please take care when listening. Hi there Higgy. Yes, how are you? It's Michelle out of Toronto.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

How are you Michelle?

[Michelle Shepherd]

I'm good. I just looked up your area codes. This is Higgy. He told me I could call him that more properly though.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

My name is Thomas Higginbotham and I was a trooper from 1978 to 2009. I retired in December of 2009. I retired as a sergeant.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Higgy, if you can't tell from his accent, is from Massachusetts. In his decades long career, Higgy worked in Boston and the surrounding area.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

Ever since I came on in 1978. I seized a lot of stolen motorcycles from various gang members and I was able to develop information, develop informants. So and I always had an influence.

[Michelle Shepherd]

For a long time. Higgies Massachusetts was a Hell's Angels state. Then in the early 1990s, their arch rival, a biker gang named the Outlaws, started to inch into the region by absorbing smaller local clubs.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

They finally did manage to patrol over a club. It was the Nomads and some Devil's Disciples. They patched over a small group in Brockton and they opened up their first clubhouse in Massachusetts. I believe it was 1993. So they were here. Everybody was quite concerned about them and where I was assigned to the city.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Of by 2005, Higgy and his team started an investigation into the Taunton, Massachusetts chapter of the Outlaws. Eventually it would draw in police from the local, state and federal level. It was called Operation Roadkill.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

We tossed it around about the possibility of putting an undercover in and we kind of agreed that, you know, we could try it to see how far the investigation would go. You know, I'm not a big fan of it, but I said, yeah, and.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Why is it that you normally don't like to have an undercover?

[Thomas Higginbotham]

What happens when we bring an undercover into a motorcycle gang? It raises all these other issues. We have to deal with his safety. We have to worry about him getting killed or getting assaulted. We have to protect him because he's hanging around with outlaws, right? And their arch rivals were the Hells Angels in this violence. So he becomes a target by his association with them. He was riding with them. He's going to events with them all over the country. He's at their clubhouses, going to parties. This is just me talking, okay? His safety becomes number one. We got to keep him alive and keep him going. And they control his life. If we let him become a club member and he wears colors, they control his life and they control his every movement, we lose complete control of the investigation and the other undercover, you know what I'm saying?

[Michelle Shepherd]

But for Scott, this was a dream assignment.

[Scott Calloway]

I had this just. I don't know, I want to say crush, but this thing about being an undercover biker. Because, I mean, I was a biker, I rode. I mean, like, I can show you a picture of all the guys or most of the guys in my narcotics squad at the sheriff's office. And if I showed you that picture of us at bike week, you'd think we were all like 1 percenters. And, I mean, I'm comfortable in that environment. I bounced in strip clubs, and even when I wasn't bouncing, I would go back and visit as a single young cop. I'd go back and hang out with all my buddies. So, I mean, that's just my mentality. It's my skill set. Right? You're not going to take me and put me in a vegan or an eco. Yeah, I'm not going to infiltrate Elf or alf, probably. They can smell the beef on me, you know?

[Michelle Shepherd]

But just because Scott rode a Harley and could wear a leather vest unironically didn't mean it would be easy to infiltrate one of the most violent cop hating organizations in the world. And surviving it would be even harder. I'm Michelle shepherd and from cbc, this is Agent Palehorse. Episode three, who's a rat? Dot com. Around the world, there are what's traditionally called the big four motorcycle gangs. The Bandidos, the Pagans, the Hell's Angels, and the Outlaws. And even if you've never watched an episode of Sons of Anarchy, you'll know that they all have their rivalries and turf wars.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

Now, as biker gangs continue to use.

[Scott Calloway]

Street justice in their territorial battles, police say their biggest concern is innocent bystanders getting caught in the crossfire.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

It's about turf. It's about being the biggest, baddest guy on the block. And when somebody moves into your Neighborhood.

[Peter Levitt]

It's disrespect to you and that patch you're wearing. So you have to take care of business. It was an ordinary weekend lunch turned.

[Scott Calloway]

Deadly gang shootout, a battle over biker.

[Peter Levitt]

Turf, littering a parking lot with bodies.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

When I started as a police officer, most of the club members that I encountered, they were Vietnam vets, just as they were when they started after World War II. Hell's Angels, they're basically combat veterans, a lot of them. And a lot of them don't have much love for the government. You know, they don't operate within the laws that most the rest of us do. They are territorial. They take what they want by force. They claim areas like the patches, like Massachusetts. The Outlaws were bought in Morocco. Massachusetts. Well, the Angels always did that. So that meant that's an instant war with these people, you know, Here's a.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Quick primer on patches. That's what you see on the back of a biker's leather vest or jacket as they ride in front of you on the highway. The words above the insignia are the name of the club. The top rocker. The bottom rocker indicates their turf. So if you're a Hells angel and you see an outlaw wearing a patch with the same bottom rocker, well, that's a provocation. And if you're just a regular civilian, seeing a cluster of patches in your neighborhood, well, that can be scary.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

They have ties to organized crime, racist white supremacists. They have all of that in their clubs. And I always had an interest in them. It was kind of weird.

[Michelle Shepherd]

But why is that, that you had the interest?

[Thomas Higginbotham]

Well, I actually. To be honest, when I was young, I actually had a Harley and I rode, and all they did was steal everybody's bikes. They were notorious motorcycle thieves. But I found, like, the ones that I got to know, there's something in their lives that brings them to. That they're looking for. Like, there's something that they're missing. Just like a brotherhood. You know what I mean? A camaraderie. It's just. It's an odd culture in a way. But it's a violent, violent way to live, though, right?

[Michelle Shepherd]

Higgy and his team had been investigating the Taunton Outlaws club members for more than a year before Scott was brought onto the case.

[Peter Levitt]

I was a federal prosecutor in Boston, otherwise known as an assistant U.S. attorney.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Peter Levitt was the state's main lawyer on Operation Roadkill.

[Peter Levitt]

I was the chief of the organized crime and gang unit, and we focused on everything from transnational criminal organizations to local street gangs that, you know, Negatively impacted particular communities. The Crips, the Bloods, the Latin gangs, the Disciples. A variety of street gangs that had varying levels of organization. And our focus was on the gangs that typically were engaged in the most violent conduct.

[Michelle Shepherd]

The Outlaws fit the bill. So investigators could throw a lot at the operation.

[Peter Levitt]

The tools that a federal prosecutor has in, you know, the United States are quite broad. And in that investigation, we used all of them. There are confidential informants, There are cooperating witnesses. There are wiretaps, searches and seizures, pole cameras, trash poles. You. You have a variety of investigative techniques that you can employ to gather both intelligence and evidence.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Trash covers and. And pole what? A couple tactics I haven't heard of before.

[Peter Levitt]

A trash pull. I mean, it's a. It just simply means that when somebody puts their trash out on the sidewalk, they lose their expectation of privacy under the fourth amendment. And so one of the sort of investigative techniques is simply to search trash. It's not really to gather evidence. It's more to gather intelligence.

[Michelle Shepherd]

After a year of this, the FBI began a wiretap on the cell phone of the chapter's president, a man named Joseph no, AKA Joe Dogs. While bugged, no was caught trafficking cocaine, and he was also supplying to other club members.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

So basically, we had done our wire, we'd made an arrest, and we had some of the members done for a narcotics violation.

[Peter Levitt]

Okay, they're engaged in drug trafficking, they're engaged in violence. They carry illegal firearms.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

When they decided that they were gonna bring in an undercover, then we picked out a target that we thought was a weak link in the club. I don't know if he told you this. Spanky, Spanky, Spanky.

[Scott Calloway]

They said, man, this dude loves attention.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

Scott said, you can tell he's a tough guy. He's a big guy. He's got that southern drawl. He's a bullshit artist. He's perfect. And he's a schmooza, and he's got that big voice. And that's the kind of people Spanky likes. Big dude, you know, he probably could harm some people, beat people up. He had money so he could buy Spanky drinks at the strip club.

[Scott Calloway]

They said, man, this dude, he loves to be the center of attention. He loves to be surrounded by big guys. You know, that's my guy. That's my guy. Big muscle guys, right?

[Michelle Shepherd]

The team picked a strip club named Foxy lady as the place where Scott would make his first contact. The outlaws were known to hang out there. But weeks before any potential meet cute, Scott spent time around the club making sure he became a familiar face.

[Scott Calloway]

So I went there a couple of times by myself. I guess the cover team was outside, but I wasn't really undercover. I'd go in and I'd get, you know, grab me a drink. I'm gonna sit down at a table. Well, then somebody's gonna come by. I went during the day shift, you know, where the reputable dancers work. Because it's 8 to 5, where all.

[Michelle Shepherd]

The business guys are there.

[Scott Calloway]

No, it's the lunch. It's the lunch crowd. It's the manual labor lunch crowd. Yeah, go in there and get your car washed and all that stuff.

[Michelle Shepherd]

I don't even know what that means.

[Scott Calloway]

But no, they do it. They did it all over the place. It'd be like, hey, a drive through car wash. And it's strippers. And you literally sit in your car and they're washing your car.

[Michelle Shepherd]

What, like, you mean it's actual car wash?

[Scott Calloway]

Yep, I mean it. And I never understood it. I'm like, okay, so you're in a car with a bunch of dudes and you're driving through and half naked women are rubbing their parts with soap all over the windows, and you're in the car. I don't. Okay. Oh, God.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Anyway, point is, Scott doesn't want the first time he's at the Foxy lady to be the first time the Outlaws see him there. It would look suspicious.

[Scott Calloway]

What I'm doing is I'm building my bona fides. I am creating a legend here to where I'm getting to know people, they're getting to know me. So what I did is I got a couple of drinks, I go sit down, and somebody comes by and they go, hey, would you want some company? Yeah, sure. Well, then it's. I don't want to say it's all about greed, but basically, if it was a $20 dance, I'd pay 40 bucks. Next thing you know, you've got more people at your table.

[Michelle Shepherd]

As Scott does his thing, Higgy and his team keep watching the Outlaws. After a week or so, it's time for the setup. Scott's cover team lets him know the Outlaws have left their clubhouse and are making their way to their favorite strip joint.

[Scott Calloway]

When they take the back bar, you see this sea of black leather. And one thing was that they did say, at least the way I remember it is they told me that they couldn't wear their colors, their cuts, you know, their outlaw leather vest. And a lot of clubs do that. Like, hey, man, all bikers welcome. No colors. Because all it does Is start problems. So I thought, hey, man, this will be pretty. Pretty straightforward. I'm a guy from out of town who likes to ride and has tattoos, and I'm sitting here watching half naked women dance, and I love rock and roll. And here we are, and you're the same thing. We're just from different parts. But when they came in and they had their colors on, well, that changed my approach. So now I'm like, well, I can't just walk over there into a sea of testosterone and leather and say, hey, you guys ride?

[Michelle Shepherd]

It's pretty clear who they are now. Yeah.

[Scott Calloway]

Let me ask you boys something. Y'all like to ride? You know, get out of here.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

He happened to start throwing some money around, having a few drinks, and guess who latched onto him. Spanky. It was like.

[Michelle Shepherd]

It was like. It's like you couldn't script it better.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

No, you couldn't. But see, that's the. That's the advantage of having the intelligence.

[Scott Calloway]

It doesn't take long. I could see that Spanky was looking, and. And I'm like, okay, it's kind of going good. And eventually, he yells across the bar to me, like, hey, hey. And I like, I don't. Hey, it ain't me. And he's like, yeah, hey, how effing tall are you? You know, And I made some stupid joke, some smart ella thing back. And then, you know, he's like, ah, that's hilarious. Where the f are you from? So I told him, you know, I'm in deep south Texas. And he's like, hey, man. He goes, don't they have some bad storms and flooding going on down there? And then I made a joke about tying my trailer off to my truck and my motorcycle so it wouldn't float away kind of thing. It's almost like dating, right? I'm playing hard to get.

[Michelle Shepherd]

The date goes, well. Scott, AKA Tex, AKA Big country, is in. Or he has his foot in the door at least. But that door could shut any day. Prosecutor Peter Levitt.

[Peter Levitt]

Again, they're a very insular organization. They don't deal with outsiders. And in Taunton in particular, was a lot of violence and drug trafficking stemming from that clubhouse. So the first step is, can he make connections with the group? All right. You know, you can't just walk in and say, hey, I want to be a member of the outlaws, right? So you've got to hang out where they hang out and sort of let them come to you. In a sense, it's kind of like a seduction.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Scott has introduced himself as a Semi legitimate businessman and a site surveyor from Texas. If we're staying with the dating metaphor, then this seduction is slow. He's playing the long game, and he's starting to gather more intel, getting to know all the members. Let's start with Spanky.

[Scott Calloway]

He was hot and heavy in that first six months, and then he went on like a. They said, like a mental leave. Sabbatical. I didn't see him for a long time. The first six months, they were talking about creating an Outlaws chapter in Cape Cod, and there was already a Hell's Angels chapter there. And they knew that if they set up a chapter, they needed muscle. And Spanky was grooming himself to be like, I guess, the president of that chapter. But he was always, like, offering up stuff, you know, he'd be like. Like, we're talking right now. He's in the corner. He's going, hey, did you guys know about it? And nobody answered him. He goes, whatever, whatever. I'm talking, nobody's listening. Whatever, whatever. So that's why. I mean, he did it all the time. So I pick up on quirks.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Like, he was like the Eeyore of the. Yeah, yeah.

[Scott Calloway]

Be trying to get. Interject something. And if nobody paid attention to him, he'd be like, whatever, I'm talking. Nobody's listening.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Then there was Clothesline.

[Scott Calloway]

So Clothesline. His name is Brian de la Vega, by the way. He usually kept a short cropped haircut. He had sideburns tattooed on his face. Not solid, it was more like a design, but where sideburns would be. And of course, tatted everywhere else.

[Michelle Shepherd]

On his neck, he had the tattoo live free or die. Clothesline was the chapter's enforcer, the muscle.

[Scott Calloway]

Clothesline. Very unpredictable, you know, he had one of the best lines that I'd heard. He said he was allergic to Jack Daniels. Because I was like, hey, you want a Jack and cut? Because he just got out of jail or something. And I said, hey, you want a Jack and cookies? No, I'm allergic to Jack Daniels. Every time I drink it, I break out in cuffs. Apparently, it makes him do stupid stuff and he ends up in jail. So I laughed. I was like, that's funny, man.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Then there's the chapter president, Joe Dogs, the one whose phone the authorities had previously tapped.

[Scott Calloway]

Joe Dogs. We got along pretty good, I guess, character wise. I mean, he liked to party. I'll tell you what, he used to drive me crazy because he was a terrible businessman. And I mean, atrocious. If you're a drug dealer, usually you're not Most of the times, they're not great business people.

[Michelle Shepherd]

A couple months after Scott first infiltrates, he sees that Joe Dogs isn't a great people person either. It starts, predictably at the foxy lady with a fight.

[Scott Calloway]

As I'm getting closer to the exit door, I'm hearing all this yelling and screaming getting louder and louder. And I walk out, and, man, they're fighting this guy, and he's got, like, four or five friends with him. Five. Five. The. If you listen to the recording, he. He's. You know, I partake in the fight, but I'm articulating. I'm doing it to a point to where I can articulate that I'm actually helping somebody. I'm not punching somebody. I'm picking them up and throwing them back to the truck. Hey, back the f up. Back the f up. That's enough. It's time to go. Why are you swearing? What the are you swearing for? Back the up. Back the up.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

Back the up.

[Scott Calloway]

Go back to your car. Go back to your cars, guys. What, do you want to see a show?

[Michelle Shepherd]

They're getting tired and emotions are starting to cool. Scott has managed to pull them apart, more or less.

[Scott Calloway]

But as they're walking back to the truck, you know Joe Dogs after he hits his inhaler, which I'm not knocking because sometimes I have to use one too. But he's like, I just smashed all of yous. I just smashed all five of yous by myself. Come on, Bob. Go with your boys. Hey, remember this? Go with your boys. I just told you by myself. You did pull. You get the fuck out of you. And I'm like. I'm pretty sure me and Scott are standing here. I'm pretty sure we have. Pretty sure. Scott whipped more tails than you did.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Yes. There's another Scott at the fight. He's Scott Town, Scotty T. Actually, there are three Scotts in this case. There's undercover Scott, Scotty T, and chocolate Scott, who is also sometimes called Black Scott. For now, Scotty T, he was very important to the case, but also undercover. Scott's relationship with him was complicated.

[Scott Calloway]

If you ranked the three tightest relationships that I had during that two years with possible targets, Scott Town's number one. We were tight. Like, scary tight. Like, it was. It was scary how. How similar we were. I mean, I could complete his sentences, he could complete mine. You know, Was it love? I don't know. I had a lot more in common with Scott Town than I had with a lot of the FBI agents and task force officers. I Was working with, right? So who would I bond with better? You know, some people sit there and go, look at these guys. Grown men with tattoos. Were they in their 30s, wearing Harley shirts and riding motorcycles? Who the hell does that? And I'm thinking, me and every damn friend I got, you know, is that bad? I didn't know, you know, but it gets tough. Um, and I remember sitting there in his kitchen, and I'm thinking, well, man, he likes to drink. I like to drink. He likes to fight. I like to fight. He loves to lift weights. I love to lift weights. He looks out for me. I look out for him. You know, he's got a daughter, I got a daughter, and all this stuff's going through your head.

[Michelle Shepherd]

The bond between Scott and Scott, it didn't go unnoticed by the cover team.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

Him and town, they were thick as thieves. They were tight. Those guys hung out together. Town took him everywhere. He. You know what I mean? That was the guy. And he became. I think he cared about. I think he cared about him. I really do.

[Peter Levitt]

You could tell that from listening to the tapes. They would sit in the car and talk late into the evening and really bond and share, you know, stories and, you know, you can't really just fake that, you know, it was clear to me on some level that Scott did like him, and. And that's what made the interactions so genuine and authentic that it worked.

[Michelle Shepherd]

But as a prosecutor, does that ever worry you?

[Peter Levitt]

You know, it could. I haven't had that happen where I felt like a cooperator or an undercover was sort of crossing a line. But certainly that could happen.

[Michelle Shepherd]

At one point during the case, Scott got really painful shoulder surgery.

[Scott Calloway]

I get calls from the outlaws. I get calls from Scott T. Hey, brother, how you doing? I just want to check on you, see how you doing. I'm doing good, man. You know, he respected me, and I. You know, I respected him. I trusted him. I mean, and I say that. I'm not saying that lightly.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Not everyone on Scott's case team was making the same type of calls to check in on his recovery. Scott says he doesn't really blame them. They just wanted him back on the job. But you can see how that would mess with your head, and that can be dangerous. But then Scott, Undercover, Scott had an episode at Scotty T's house that reminded him of the line.

[Scott Calloway]

And I remember looking up at his refrigerator. He had stickers and stuff all over it, you know, like magnets and whatever. I'm not saying you got to be a believer, but there's a bracelet you always see Christians wearing, you know, what would Jesus do? Wwjd And I remember looking up on his refrigerator and I saw wwsd and I looked at it and it said, what would Satan do? And I went, oh yeah, I remember who I am. I'm good now.

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[Michelle Shepherd]

Undercover work can be tedious. It's sometimes hours and days and weeks, and in this case, months of building relationships and dropping breadcrumbs that you hope will amount to something. Scott eventually expanded his legend that is his undercover story, and hinted that he moved illegal goods, small stuff at first, like power tools, and he made sure they saw him doing that. Then the outlaws began asking him to sell their stolen property insurance scams. Essentially, they would report a motorcycle or car stolen when really they'd offloaded it onto Scott. The Outlaws would collect the insurance payout while Scott pretends he's selling the vehicles in Mexico. Once that trust was there, Joe Dogs and his crew escalated it and started talking drugs.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

There was a mystique about him because he wasn't around them all the time. He came across as a businessman flying out here on business, trying to do a side hustle from Texas. So they bring it up. He must know somebody in the cartels. He must know drug dealers, people that can move weapons or drugs over the line, the country, into the country and out of the country.

[Michelle Shepherd]

As the outlaw's interest grows, all captured on tape, Peter Levitt and his team are building their prosecution. But it's all pretty small potatoes so far. Then there's an opportunity, a plan for a big sting. The Outlaws will provide the protection detail, which is basically the security on a drug deal that Scott is supposedly in on 40 kilos of cocaine and £1,000 of weed need moving from Mexico to Canada, and that's real drugs, which the FBI doesn't want to lose. On the streets of Massachusetts. The night before the deal, Scott gets a call.

[Scott Calloway]

Joe Dog says, hey, come on over to the clubhouse. But it was the night they had church and I'm not allowed in church because I'm not a patch member.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Church is biker slang for closed door. Fully patched members only, club meetings, no hangers on, no probationary members. Scott is told to come back a little later once the meeting is over, which is weird because Joe Dogs had summoned him. But he follows their instructions and kills some time at the bar with a drink.

[Scott Calloway]

I get to the clubhouse and I go inside and the music's blaring. They poured me a Jack and Coke, you know.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Door shuts, you're going to hear audio taken from the secretly recorded video from this night. At the start, everyone seems chummy, as usual.

[Scott Calloway]

I was cracking jokes like I normally do. What I didn't see is that when my head would turn away, their laughter would stop. And Clothesline. My boy at this point says, hey, Tex, can I talk to you for a minute? And I said, yeah. Well, I'd been in that clubhouse, I don't know, 20 times. Who knows? But there's one door I'd never been in, and this was the door. So he opens it, and they basically carry me down to a cellar. It's not a basement. I couldn't even stand up straight, and I could probably touch the wall on both sides. Well, Black Scott and Clothesline follow me down there. Listen. It's a no shit moment. It's an adrenaline dump. If you've been in a car wreck or anything that's traumatic to you, this is what happens in an adrenaline dump. Time slows down. It could be 30 seconds, but it feels like an hour. And your auditory. You get auditory exclusion. Everything you hear and start sound like you're underwater. It's going, whoa, whoa, whoa. Everything you see is like clicks, like, click, click, time dilation. You can feel your heart beating. You get a little sweaty. Your hamstrings get weak. So we're going down in this little tight place, and I start realizing this is not good. I. My spidey senses were going off, or the Holy Spirit or whatever you want to call it. And at this point, they've brandished their weapons. Black Scots on the stairs, blocking me.

[Michelle Shepherd]

This is when Scott says, should I.

[Scott Calloway]

Ask what's going on? No, just precautions. That's all right. I need. I. There's a lot of going on. It's my job to take care of all my brothers. All right? I need you to write down your name for me. Your full name. Yeah. All right. And he repeats it. Your full name, your date of birth, your dress, because I need you to take off all your clothes. Here's the problem. I was wired, and I was wired pretty heavily. It was hidden, right? More than one device hidden, but it wasn't, like, attached to my skin or shoved in. Shoved in crevices somewhere. But basically, I take my jacket off, I take my shirt off, take my boots off. I started to write my name, Scott Calloway. And I could. Because of the adrenaline dump, I forgot my middle name. And I'm like, dude, why are you. Again, this feels like it's like five, 25 minutes. I don't know, but it's really seconds, maybe a minute. But I'm trying to remember my middle name, and I can't remember it. And I'm like. I'm just rushing through. I'm like. I'm like a Rolodex in my brain. I'm like, okay, Scott so and so Calloway. Nope, that was the middle name of my first undercover alias I ever made. How about this one? Nope, that was somebody else. Nope, that was. And I'm going, what the. You can hear my voice has changed. I'm slightly higher. My throat's tighter. And I said, and what else do you need? Name. Yeah, and what else to write down. And then I hear them yell up to the probate, hey, hey, ask. Ask probate what else he needs for that website.

[Michelle Shepherd]

This is 2006, and believe it or not, one of the probationary members of the Outlaws is upstairs checking an online directory of snitches called who'sarat.com to see if Scott's name comes up. Scott's doing his best to buy himself some time, and finally, he remembers his fake middle name. As he carefully writes it down, he's trying to read the body language of Clothesline, the chapter's enforcer.

[Scott Calloway]

And the whole time, though, I'm trying to figure out, how bad is this? You're supposed to be my boy. I know your baseline. I know you when you're upset. I know you when you calm. I know you when you're sad. And he starts going through my clothing, and you can hear me kind of give a. I didn't even. Again, I don't know how to do it, but you can hear me go.

[Michelle Shepherd]

You may be wondering right now, doesn't Scott have a cover team? Where is Higgy?

[Thomas Higginbotham]

So we were sitting out front. We're obviously in the surveillance, and we're sitting there. We're listening to conversation. The next thing we know, we hear him going downstairs. And then you could hear Clothesline's tone of voice, and he starts swearing at him. I want your fucking name, your Social Security number, and all this shit he starts on him. And that's when I said, we got a problem.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Higgy already had a bad feeling that something was going to go down. Earlier that night, the team was notified that Scott's vehicle, the rental he'd been driving while undercover. Well, someone tried to run the plates.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

One of the outlaws owned a tow company where they do police tows. They have the ability to have police officers run the plates of cars they tow looking for information.

[Michelle Shepherd]

Wow.

[Thomas Higginbotham]

Yeah. So it's like you'd never think of that, but they knew it. So we made a decision. If we thought he was being assaulted, we were going to just hit the building with a car and that would be it. And then we'd call, obviously, we'd call for help and then hit the thing. That's what we'd have to do. We had no other options. I didn't think. I think if you're in the clubhouse, it was a little building that would get your attention. It was scary. Not for me, but for Scott. So here we are. We're gonna lose them, you know?

[Michelle Shepherd]

This series was written and produced by me, Michelle shepherd, senior producer Ashley Mack, and our producer, Eunice Kim. Mixing and sound design by Evan Kelly. Emily Connell is our digital producer. Our intern was Rachel degasperis. Special thanks to Andrew Friesen, the CBC Reference Library and Oralation Studios. Additional audio provided by Fox, the Associated Press and abc. Chris Oak and Cecil Fernandez are our executive producers. Tanya Springer is the senior manager and Arif Nurani is the director of CBC Podcasts. This series was produced alongside a book I wrote with Scott, codename Pale How I Went Undercover to Expose America's Nazis. You can catch up with season one of White Hot Hate wherever you get your podcasts. And if you're enjoying this series and want to help new listeners discover the show, please take some time to give us a rating and review on whichever is your chosen app. It really helps.

[Scott Calloway]

For more CBC Podcasts, go to CBC CA Podcasts.