Paronto was a CIA private security contractor guarding the Benghazi, Libya CIA annex, during the 2012 Benghazi attack. CIA contractors Tyrone S. Woods and Glen Doherty were killed in the attack along with the U.S. Ambassador to Libya J. Christopher Stevens and U.S. Foreign Service Information Management Specialist Sean Smith. After Benghazi, Paronto served as a security contractor in Yemen before leaving the CIA.