Vincent A. Cefalu was born and raised just north of San Francisco in Marin County, California. After a troubled youth and lackluster academic performance, he enlisted in the US Marines, where he spent six years in the military police and ultimately served in a classified Special Operations unit. The hook was set. Continuing to pursue his law enforcement career, he joined the Athens, GA, police department while finishing his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice in hopes of securing a position in federal law enforcement. After being hired by and spending a couple years with the US Customs Service chasing drug smugglers in south Florida, Vince had a life-changing experience with some very scary ATF special agents, and, as they say, “the rest is history.” Vince had found a home. Later, earning a master’s degree in the psychological sciences, Vince’s trajectory took him into the shadows of undercover work, SRT (special response team member and hostage negotiations).

Vincent A. Cefalu would know. During his 30 years as an ATF undercover operative, he served undercover to investigate dangerous groups ranging from the Symbionese Liberation Army to Asian organized crime. He has infiltrated notorious outlaw motorcycle gangs as well as splinter groups of the Ku Klux Klan, and his memoir RatSnakes: Cheating Death by Living a Lie provides a transparent look at the organization and the operatives with whom he risked his life.