Timothy Teagan's dark, violent journey to a Boogaloo Boys membership

Long before joining the Boogaloo Boys, Timothy Teagan was smoking pot five times a day, a habit he started in middle school against the backdrop of a traumatic childhood, court records show.

His mom was a drug-addicted prostitute who eventually abandoned him, records show, while his dad was an abusive alcoholic who was in and out of jail.

By the time adulthood rolled around, Teagan joined the so-called Boogaloo Boys and eventually wound up in prison — though it had nothing do with his antigovernment group or his demonstrating outside the state Capitol with a rifle slung over his shoulder during the pandemic.

Rather, it had to with his pot habit and the trickery he used to get a gun.

In U.S. District Court on Monday, Teagan was sentenced to 12 months in prison for twice lying on a form required to buy a firearm: He said he didn't use drugs, when he was really a marijuana addict who started smoking pot at 10.

Moreover, court records show, he has an anger problem: He once bit his dad in the forehead and punched him repeatedly, held a sword to his throat another time, kicked his friend's wife in the face during a political argument in 2022, and "threatened to shoot up (his friend's) house with his AR-15 if they called the police."

But none of this triggered criminal charges.

A life that led to militia membership — and prison

Rather, it was the weed, a pistol and a rifle that landed this onetime Domino's Pizza delivery man behind bars, forced to reckon with demons and a dark side that his lawyer says have plagued him since childhood.

While Teagan's criminal case focuses largely on illegal gun purchases, it also offers a glimpse into the anatomy of a militia member, and how drugs and parental neglect shaped a young man's life before he ultimately joined a group that advocates violence and hate toward the government.

According to court records, Teagan came to the attention of the FBI as the result of his membership in the extremist Boogaloo movement, though it was a domestic violence incident that ultimately landed him in federal court. Here's what happened:

In October 2022, Plymouth police arrested Teagan at his father's home on domestic violence charges for allegedly biting his father and punching him repeatedly. That day, his father — a convicted felon — told police there were at least three guns in the house that belonged to his sons.

Two days later, the FBI showed up, raided the dad's home and seized numerous items from a room that contained Teagan's belongings, including: an AR-15 rifle, dozens of rounds of ammo, multiple AR and 9mm magazines, marijuana, dozens of bongs and a marijuana grinder.

In that same room, FBI agents also saw Boogaloo movement flags and patches, gas masks, a plate carrier vest and body armor. A pistol that belonged to Teagan was also seized from a nearby car.

How long should Teagan stay in prison?

An investigation followed, with the FBI learning that Teagan had lied on ATF forms to buy the rifle and pistol.

The domestic violence charges never went anywhere. But federal gun charges followed, with Teagan pleading guilty in April to lying about his drug use to buy firearms.

Teagan's lawyer had asked the judge to spare his client from any more time behind bars and release him immediately, noting he has already served 10½ months since his arrest last fall. But U.S. District Judge Sean Cox kept him behind bars as authorities calculate how much time he has left to serve. He could be out in another six weeks, given his 12-month sentence.

The prosecutor, meanwhile, implored the judge to keep him locked up.

"Timothy Allen Teagan has a chronic criminal record, a long history of violent conduct towards family and acquaintances, a serious drug addiction, and has violated numerous court orders — all of which he has accomplished before turning 25 years old," Assistant U.S. Attorney Saima Mohsin wrote in a sentencing memo. "Added to this concerning mix is ... Teagan’s illegal possession of multiple firearms."

Mohsin, who pushed for a 13-month sentence, urged the judge to ignore Teagan's pleas for mercy.

Mom once stabbed dad during Teagan's childhood

"Defendant will, undoubtedly, seek to lay responsibility for his behavior at the feet of his deeply troubled parents who apparently suffered from addiction and mental illness," Mohsin wrote, stressing that Teagan grew up with his grandparents, including a retired Ford engineer and military veteran who provided him with "safety and stability."

"There is nothing in (Teagan's) background as a child, whether living with his parents or grandparents, that would excuse the violent acts he has perpetrated since becoming an adult," Mohsin wrote.

Teagan's lawyer tells a different story.

"His childhood was extremely difficult," defense attorney Todd Shanker wrote in a court filing, in which he urged the judge to take into account Teagan's upbringing. His story goes like this:

Teagan's mother gave birth to him less than 24 hours after she was released on a drug charge. His father met his mother while she was working as a prostitute and split town when he was 2, fleeing to Missouri to avoid criminal charges.

Eventually, his dad returned to Michigan, where Teagan would grow up around violence, booze and other drugs. His parents fought constantly, and his mom once stabbed his father. By the time he was 7, his parents had multiple felony arrests and convictions for drunken driving, stolen vehicles and child abuse.

Reunited with mom; separated from Boogaloos

When Teagan was 8 years old, his parents divorced and his mother left the family, leaving him with an abusive father. Teagan moved in with his grandparents and lived there until he was 18. While in high school, he was placed in special education classes and went on to obtain his GED.

Prior to his arrest in November 2022, Teagan worked for four years as a pizza delivery driver for Domino's. He has reconnected with his mom, who is now sober, and the two have a strong relationship, according to his lawyer.

"Teagan admits that his use of drugs played a part in the charged offenses, and that he was experiencing “drug-induced paranoia” around the time of the arrest," Shanker writes. "Teagan takes full responsibility for his crimes. He is keenly aware that he will no longer be able to buy, possess, or carry a firearm … He has made it clear that he will not be returning to the Boogaloo Boys."

Shanker also defended his client's role as a Boogaloo Boy, calling his participation "completely nonviolent." He said even though Teagan grew up around guns, he sought to avoid conflict and violence, and was trying to break away from the Boogaloo Boys in the weeks before his arrest so he could organize a local militia premised on public services.

"He wants nothing to do with the Boogaloo Boys upon release," Shanker wrote, adding: "He is considering joining the Libertarian Party to get legitimately involved with politics and address issues of social concern."

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Family members also urged the judge to show Teagan compassion, describing him as a hardworking, kind and gentle person who went out of his way to help relatives: He brought pizza for his dad and brother when they were struggling for food, chopped wood for his mom to heat her home in the winter and volunteered with a church group cleaning Detroit basements during the flood of 2020.

"Please consider all the good my brother has done, and the people who love him," Teagan's brother, Christopher, wrote to the judge in a letter.

Mom: 'I will be there to help Timmy'

His grandfather also wrote the judge:

"He has had a hard life with his mother leaving him and his father in and out of jail because of his drinking problem," Teagan's grandfather, Jonathan Teagan, wrote. "I hope he can put the past behind him, learn from his mistakes, build on his strengths and become a valuable member of society. I am confident that he will succeed on all fronts."

His mother, Cindy Teagan, also appealed to the judge for mercy, writing: "I will be there to help Timmy in any way I can."

The government, however, maintains Teagan is a habitual offender who hasn't learned his lesson.

"He has no respect for the law or court orders," the prosecutor argued in a sentencing memo, citing Teagan's numerous bond violations, including possessing a pistol and a knife while facing state domestic violence charges.

"(His) long history of abusing drugs also gives little confidence that he will reform," the prosecutor writes. "Remarkably, (Teagan) has used marijuana 'all day, every day' from age 14 up until his arrest in this case."

The prosecutor also chided Teagan for tarnishing what she called "the one bright spot" in his history: his employment as a pizza delivery driver.

"Text messages from his phone indicate that he used marijuana while working as a delivery driver," the prosecutor wrote.

In pushing for a 13-month prison sentence, the prosecutor also blasted the state criminal justice system, saying it had "either imposed lenient sentences of failed to prosecute" Teagan for his violent conduct.

As a result, the prosecutor argued, Teagan never reformed his behavior.

"Rather," the prosecutor maintained, "his violent conduct has only continued."

In the end, the FBI used Teagan's own words against him in getting him locked up.

On April 4, 2021, Teagan admitted in a video recording at a Boogaloo-led protest in Ann Arbor to being a marijuana user, which, the FBI maintains, made it illegal for him to own a gun.

The video was publicly available on the News2Share website. It showed Teagan holding an AR-15 style rifle, making the following declaration: “I love this city. I smoke plenty of weed in this city, believe me. Been to hash bashes before.”

But he'd never been to prison before — until now.

Contact Tresa Baldas: tbaldas@freepress.com

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Boogaloo Boys member Timothy Teagan sentenced to 12 months in prison