> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://media.proudamericanstudios.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # The Agent Who Became the Predator: Bob Hamer’s 26-Year Undercover Career - URL: https://media.proudamericanstudios.com/podcasts/the-agent-who-became-the-predator-bob-hamers-26-year-undercover-career/ - Published: 2026-08-28T21:05:24.000Z - Updated: 2026-08-28T21:05:24.000Z - Description: FBI Special Agent (Ret.) Bob Hamer shares how 26 years undercover led him inside the L.A. Mafia and NAMBLA, resulting in convictions that dismantled a predator network. - Author: Editor-in-Chief, Proud American Studios - Tags: The Hero Next Door, podcast [Watch the Full Episode Now on Proud American Studios](https://app.proudamericanstudios.com/programs/fbi-agent-bob-hamer-undercover-mafia-nambla-hero-next-door-ep-10?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) > Had I not been undercover, I think I would have thrown them off the railing. — Bob Hamer, FBI Special Agent (Ret.) [Bob Hamer](https://www.bobhamer.net/?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) never planned on a career in deception. A Marine Corps Judge Advocate who hated practicing law, he joined the FBI seeking something more consequential than courtroom procedure. What followed was a 26-year career spent almost entirely undercover, earning him the FBI Director’s Award for Distinguished Service and five United States Attorney Awards. In Episode 10 of *The Hero Next Door*, hosts [Nick Searcy](https://proudamericanstudios.com/team/nick%5Fsearcy?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) and [Darcy Leutzinger](https://proudamericanstudios.com/team/darcyleutzinger?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) sit down with Hamer for a candid, unflinching conversation about what it actually takes to live inside criminal organizations, think like predators, and walk away whole. ### From the Courtroom to the Street Hamer entered the FBI after four years of active duty with the Marine Corps. He had applied to the CIA first and was rejected after scoring what the evaluating psychologist called “a zero personality.” The FBI, as Hamer puts it, “apparently would take zero personalities.” Within months of hitting the street, an informant offered to introduce him undercover, and Hamer never looked back. Over 26 years he took every assignment he could get. On the West Coast he handled what he calls “IOU assignments: impotent, old, or ugly.” The humor masked the severity of the work. His operations targeted organized crime, drug trafficking, murder-for-hire, terrorism, and child exploitation. ### Wiping Out the L.A. Mafia Hamer served as the principal undercover agent in the final case against the Los Angeles Mafia family. The operation resulted in the complete dismantling of the organization. “We literally wiped out the L.A. Mafia,” Hamer says. “There is no family anymore.” The danger was personal. Members of the family threatened to break his legs and run him over with a car. Weeks later, while shopping at Kmart with his six-year-old daughter, he spotted one of the men who had made those threats. He grabbed his daughter and fled through the back of the store. ### Posing as a Contract Killer On multiple occasions, Hamer was contacted to carry out murder-for-hire. In one case, a lawyer hired him to kill the lawyer’s own father and a client. In another, the general manager of a Los Angeles gentlemen’s club called him nearly a year after a failed cocaine deal fell through. The man remembered Hamer as a “quality criminal” who never pushed, and now needed someone killed. It was opening day at Dodger Stadium when the page came through. Hamer told him nobody interferes with baseball, called him that night wearing a wire, and built the case. [Watch the Full Episode Now on Proud American Studios](https://app.proudamericanstudios.com/programs/fbi-agent-bob-hamer-undercover-mafia-nambla-hero-next-door-ep-10?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) ### Inside NAMBLA: The Most Difficult Case Hamer identifies the NAMBLA investigation as the hardest of his career, not because of physical danger, but because of what it demanded psychologically. “I had to be one of them,” he says. “I had to think like one of them.” The case originated when the FBI arrested a man in Memphis whose computer contained videos of child sexual abuse filmed in Thailand. That man identified a Hollywood-based travel agent organizing sex tourism trips for “boy lovers.” Hamer volunteered for the undercover role. He joined NAMBLA for $35, participated in their pen pal and Christmas card programs for incarcerated members, and wrote articles for the organization’s bulletin. After 18 months of building credibility, he was invited to NAMBLA’s 25th anniversary gathering in New York City, bypassing the usual three-year membership requirement. At that meeting, approximately 35 members gathered at Grand Central Station. Hamer describes the group walking toward Times Square, the excitement building visibly. They entered a toy store with an indoor Ferris wheel, and the men rushed to the railing to watch young boys ride it, openly describing what they wanted to do to the children. “Had I not been undercover,” Hamer says, “I think I would have thrown them off the railing.” ### The Sting That Ended It The federal violation required members to travel in interstate commerce with intent to have sex with minors. The FBI established a fictitious travel agency and pitched a trip to a “bed and breakfast” in Mexico where boys would be available. Hamer had to get each target to explicitly state the sex acts they intended to commit. On the day of the operation, during El Nino rainstorms, all targets boarded the boat. Four were arrested in Los Angeles, three in San Diego. ### Who They Were The eight convicted members of NAMBLA’s inner circle included a chiropractor and ordained minister, a PhD psychologist, a dentist, a bodybuilder, a personal trainer, and three special education teachers. They were not trench-coat figures lurking in parks. They were high-functioning individuals capable of ingratiating themselves with single mothers and gaining access to children. One convicted member, Sam Lindblad, a former special education teacher, admitted during a recorded dinner to grooming approximately 200 boys and molesting around 70\. At the end of the conversation, Lindblad balled his fist and told Hamer: “There are so many sting operations out there. Just please be careful. That’s how I got caught the last time.” ### The Single Greatest Defense Hamer offers one consistent finding from corresponding with approximately 165 NAMBLA members: not one boy was successfully seduced in a home with a strong, present father figure. Predators targeted boys from single-parent homes or homes where the father was absent or disengaged. They groomed the mother as much as the child, positioning themselves as trusted babysitters, coaches, and mentors. [Watch the Full Episode Now on Proud American Studios](https://app.proudamericanstudios.com/programs/fbi-agent-bob-hamer-undercover-mafia-nambla-hero-next-door-ep-10?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) ### The Psychological Cost and Compartmentalization Both Hamer and co-host Leutzinger, a former undercover narcotics officer, discuss the psychological demands of sustained deception. Hamer credits his ability to compartmentalize with his survival. “I could be the little league coach, the contract killer, the father, the husband,” he says, “and literally come home and squeeze out my brain.” The FBI required psychiatric evaluations every six months. Hamer acknowledges not every undercover agent manages to keep the roles separate. Some, he says, have paid heavily for it. ### Promises Kept: Honoring the Combat Wounded Since retiring, Hamer has turned to writing. His most recent book, Promises Kept, tells the stories of 22 combat-wounded service members who received specially adapted, wheelchair-accessible homes from the organization Homes for Our Troops. The recipients include double and triple amputees who have gone on to climb Mount Kilimanjaro, earn master’s degrees, and rebuild their lives. All proceeds from the book go directly to Homes for Our Troops. The first royalty check sent to the organization was $10,000. The book’s title references the commitment Vietnam veterans made to ensure returning service members from Iraq and Afghanistan would never face the same homecoming they did. [Watch the Full Episode Now on Proud American Studios](https://app.proudamericanstudios.com/programs/fbi-agent-bob-hamer-undercover-mafia-nambla-hero-next-door-ep-10?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com) ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/61/7e/617ea0f9-9c68-4cf4-99c3-4aefef529f30/content/images/2026/02/Blue-Radial-Gradient-Background.png) ## ****Join Proud American Studios** Join a growing community of Americans who value faith, freedom, and country. Enjoy exclusive programming, member-only events, and a private community—all while saving over 50% with an annual membership. [BECOME A FOUNDING MEMBER](https://app.proudamericanstudios.com/join?ref=media.proudamericanstudios.com)