Frank Figliuzzi is a former FBI agent and the author of ‘The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau’s Code,’ a national best-seller.
Figliuzzi was previously the counterintelligence department’s assistant director. He had wanted to be an agent since he was 11 years old. He was inspired to join the FBI whenever he saw the agency’s news in the news or on television.
As a result, after graduating from Fairfield University in 1984, he enrolled at the University of Connecticut to pursue a doctorate in Law while also enrolling in the FBI Academy. In 1987, he graduated from Connecticut and the Academy.
He was then assigned to the FBI’s counterintelligence and counter-terrorism division in Atlanta, Georgia. He served as an FBI agent in various investigations, including economic espionage in Silicon Valley, public corruption investigations and financial crimes in Florida and Ohio, and the first anthrax murder in 2001.
Then, in 2011, he was appointed as the Counterintelligence Division’s assistant director. In 2012, he retired from the bureau after 25 years of service.
Following his retirement, he worked as a security director in multinational corporations. In 2017, he became a national security contributor for NBC News and began writing columns for MSNBC News.
In addition, in 2021, he released his first book, ‘The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau’s Code,’ followed by the launch of his true-crime podcast, The Bureau with Frank Figliuzzi.
Married life
Figliuzzi is married to Coleen Button, his college sweetheart. They both graduated from Fairfield University, with Figliuzzi majoring in B. A. Literature and Button majoring in Nursing.
The button is a registered nurse in both Arizona and Massachusetts. She has over 30 years of nursing leadership experience and has received recognition for her contributions to health education.
Facts of Frank Figliuzzi
| First Name | Frank |
| Last Name | Figliuzzi |
| Profession | Law Enforcement Officer |
| Age | 61 years old |
| Birth Sign | Virgo |
| Birth Date | September 12, 1962 |
| Birth Place | United States |
| Country | United States |
Frank Figliuzzi Early Life and Age
Figliuzzi was born on September 12, 1962, in Connecticut, New York, and raised in the United States. He wrote a letter to the FBI when he was 11 years old after watching law enforcement shows and the agency’s news on television and expressed his enthusiasm for apprehending the bad guys and bringing them to justice in the letter. He also inquired as to how he could become an FBI agent. To his surprise, a Special Agent from the FBI’s Connecticut office responded to his letter, giving him instructions and encouragement to join the agency.
Frank Figliuzzi: Instruction and Training
So, when Figliuzzi enrolled at Fairfield University in 1980 to pursue a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in English Literature (British and Commonwealth), he applied for the resident advisor position. As an advisor, he had the time and opportunities to engage in practical dialogues with university faculty members. He rigorously debated and theorized the problems of politics, society, and the context of laws and rules in communities there. This approach made it easier for him to grasp the importance of justice.
He earned a B.A. degree in literature with minors in communication and sociology in 1984.
Following that, he enrolled at the University of Connecticut in 1984 and graduated with honors with a Juris Doctorate (J.D.) in Law in 1987.
Following that, he completed some diploma programs on specific positions, including the Havard University National Security Program for Senior Executives in Government (received from the John F. Kennedy School of Government) and Northwestern University’s executive course on Leading Strategic Change from the Kellogg School of Management.
Figliuzzi also completed the FBI honors summer internship. He participated in a simulated crime-strike drill organized by the FBI in New Haven before graduating from the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia, in 1987.
Frank Figliuzzi Career in the FBI
Figliuzzi was hired as an FBI special agent after graduating from the Academy. During the 1988 Democratic National Convention and the Olympic Games in Albertville, France, and Barcelona, Spain, his first assignment was to track spies and terrorists. He was then assigned to Atlanta, Georgia’s counterintelligence and counter-terrorism division. In 1992, he was promoted to the National Security Division at the FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. His role there was to supervise economic espionage cases.
He landed a job as a supervisory senior resident agent at the Palo Alto Resident Agency three years later. The agency was housed in the FBI’s San Francisco Division in Silicon Valley. Figliuzzi oversaw the agency’s efforts to reduce foreign-sponsored trade secret theft. Then, in 1997, he led the FBI’s first task force dedicated to child crime.
After 1997, Figliuzzi rose through the ranks to become the director of the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility at FBI Headquarters. As part of his duties, he investigated public corruption and large-scale financial crimes in Florida and Ohio. Two years later, he was promoted to the position of an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI Miami division.
Frank Figliuzzi September 11, 2001, Attack
Following the tragic attack, he led the FBI Miami’s newly formed counter-terrorism branch. He oversaw the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force there. He was also the commanding officer at the scene of America’s first anthrax murder in Boca Raton, Florida, in 2001.
As an FBI inspector in 2004, he led teams worldwide. He was promoted to the chief inspector a year later before taking over the Cleavland Division from 2006 to 2010.
Following that, he was promoted to assistant director of the Counterintelligence Division by then-FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III in 2011. He held the position for a year before retiring from the bureau after 25 years of service in 2012.
Accomplishments
One of Figliuzzi’s most notable achievements was exposing the deception of FBI agent Robert Hanssens. Figliuzzi was on a counterintelligence mission, attempting to recruit a foreign double agent, but Hanssen jeopardized the entire task by revealing the mission’s cover. Hassen was then sent to federal prison to serve a life sentence for espionage.
Figliuzzi, who has led some critical investigations, has held some national media conferences. He was the FBI’s press spokesperson for arresting ten Russian sleeper agents in the United States. During briefings on the nation’s intelligence services for the White House, Congress, and the Attorney General, he was also one of the bureau’s top officials.
