Turn On, Tune In, Rat Out

Following Timothy Leary's 1996 death, obituary writers focused on the late doctor's drug experimentation, his counterculture history, and how Leary chronicled his demise from cancer via the Internet. Overlooked, though, was Leary's work as a government informant in the early 1970s, a role detailed in FBI files recently obtained by The Smoking Gun.

Jailed on narcotics charges in 1974, Leary began cooperating with FBI agents investigating his 1970 escape from a California prison. Aided by members of the radical Weather Underground, Leary was able to bust out of jail and, after hiding in a series of safe houses, get smuggled out of the country with the help of a fake passport and other bogus ID provided by the Weathermen.

After eventually being extradited from Switzerland and returned to a U.S. jail cell, Leary decided, he told FBI agents, to cooperate because he not only wanted to be released, but he was suddenly desirous of a collaborative, intelligent, and honorable relationship with law enforcement. Though it appears Leary's snitching did not result in any criminal cases, that sound you hear is Abbie Hoffman turning over in his grave.

Here are some documents from Leary's FBI file, including choice excerpts from interview transcripts:

Leary Explains His Decision To Snitch (1 page)

Recounting The Escape Plot (5 pages)

Fingering The Weathermen (2 pages)

FBI Summary Of Leary's Cooperation (4 pages)

Government Support For A Sentence Reduction (2 pages)