392: Larry Wansley – Early Days of Undercover Program, Corrupt Texas Sheriff

Former agent Larry Wansley, one of the FBI's first long-term deep undercover agents, reviews the early years of the FBI's undercover program when, starting in1973 he and a handful of agents, including the equally legendary Joe Pistone, began using the investigative technique forbidden by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover. They were part of a behavioral sciences study to establish standards for UC Agent selection qualifications and operations. Larry also reviews his most life-threatening assignment, which took place in rural Texas. He went undercover to prove Tom Welch, the elected Sheriff of Gregg County, Texas, was essentially a redneck southern crime boss. Welch and his deputies were charged and convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, civil rights violations, and facilitating illegal gambling. Larry is the author of Tough Streets, Rough Skies and Sunday Sidelines. His memoir covers not only his time as an FBI agent but also his post-FBI career with the Dallas Cowboys and American Airlines. Larry served in the FBI for 10 years. Check out episode show notes, photos, and related articles: Join my Reader Team to get the FBI Reading Resource - Books about the FBI, written by FBI agents, the 20 clichés about the FBI Reality Checklist, and keep up to date on the FBI in books, TV, and movies via my monthly email. Join here . Buy me a coffee - Check out my FBI books, non-fiction and crime fiction , available as audiobooks, ebooks and paperbacks wherever books are sold.

You can listen to 392: Larry Wansley – Early Days of Undercover Program, Corrupt Texas Sheriff online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

392: Larry Wansley – Early Days of Undercover Program, Corrupt Texas Sheriff is an episode from FBI Retired Case File Review by Jerri Williams.

This episode is 01:33:14 long.

This episode was published on Mar 26, 2026.

Yes. Use the heart button on the episode page to add it to your favorite episodes list.

Yes. This page shows related episodes from FBI Retired Case File Review when more episodes are available from the podcast feed.