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Wednesday, November 30, 2016

Hells Angel MC member arrested in Santa Rosa sex assault

Was past president of the Sonoma County, California Chapter

SANTA ROSA, CA ( November 29, 2016) — A Hells Angels MC member will be arraigned in Sonoma County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman and threatening her husband.

Raymond Michael Foakes, 53, of Rohnert Park, called the woman around 11 p.m. Saturday and told her to meet him at the Hells Angels clubhouse off Frazier Avenue in Santa Rosa, Sonoma County sheriff’s Sgt. Spencer Crum said.

The 49-year-old Santa Rosa woman learned her husband was about to be stripped of his membership


The Hells Angels Clubhouse being raided by SWAT in Sonoma County

The woman agreed and Foakes ordered her to drive them in her car to a secluded area off Bennett Valley Road, where he allegedly sexually assaulted her against her will and threatened to harm her husband if she refused, Crum said.

After the alleged assault, Foakes drove the woman’s car back to the Hells Angels’ clubhouse, where he got out of the car and the victim went home, Crum said.

Foakes knows the woman’s husband, who also is associated with the Hells Angels, according to Crum.

The woman reported the assault to the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office, which obtained a search warrant for Foakes’ home in Rohnert Park. The sheriff’s SWAT unit went to the house around 6:30 p.m. Monday but Foakes was not home, Crum said.

Foakes was later arrested at a meeting he was attending off Airway Drive in Santa Rosa, Crum said.

Foakes was booked into Sonoma County Jail under $1 million bail on suspicion of sexual assault, victim intimidation, stalking and gang participation, Crum said.

Raymond Michael Foakes, 53, a member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in Santa Rosa (pictured), was arrested Monday on suspicion of sexual assault, victim intimidation, stalking and gang participation.

Foakes was a past president of the Sonoma County Hells Angels. He had formerly served prison sentences for a variety of offenses ranging from a 2002 brawl with a rival motorcycle club at a casino in southern Nevada in which three people died, to fraud and money laundering.

Federal agents had previously raided the Santa Rosa Hells Angels headquarters in 2006 to search for him during a Bay Area-wide FBI manhunt before he turned himself in to face methamphetamine possession and distribution charges

All in Fun

Members of the Vagos MC in Southern California jesting another member 

Monday, November 28, 2016

Robert the builder tells of life inside a Finks MC chapter

Ex member now fears for his life after snitching to cops

RINGWOOD, VICTORIA, AUSTRALIA ( November 27, 2016) —A MAN who made the mistake of hanging out with a Motorcycle Club has given a terrifying account into life inside the Finks MC clubhouse.

Builder Robert Bolsdon claims he got mixed up with the Finks after he agreed to do some work for at a warehouse that just happened to be the club’s Ringwood chapter headquarters.

He appeared before the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court last week via video link where four of his former buddies are accused of a conspiracy to bash him, among other offences.

Mr Bolsdon claimed he built a nice stage, a bar and installed a stripper pole but never got around to finishing the toilet and shower.

Inside, club supporters would pay $100 a month for the privilege of drinking with members — paying $5 a drink no matter what they ordered.

The Finks Motorcycle Club was formed in 1969 in Adelaide, Australia 

The “prospects” would run the bar, open the clubhouse gates for fully patched members and generally behave as servants, Mr Bolsdon said. It could take years before a prospect earned their full patch.

Full patched members would fork out $250 a month to wear the patch, and fees were to be paid no matter what.

Mr Bolsdon said chapter president John Napolitano would control the visitors “like a cult” and allegedly order club members to bash members or prospects.

Violent outbursts and random beatings were common on Friday nights, where up to 50 people would gather to get drunk, Mr Bolsdon said.

The victims were usually blow-ins, who foolishly thought it might be fun to drink with the Finks.

“They always waited until these people were drunk then laid into them,” Mr Bolsdon said. “I don’t know why they did it.”

Former member Caleb Hardwick said one member would bash people he simply did not like the look of. Friday was also the night where club members would hold their “church” meetings.

Mr Hardwick alleged everything from member fees to planning crimes would be discussed there. Like Mr Bolsdon, the Finks had plans to bash him, too, after he quit the club without paying his $10,000 exit fee or handing over his patch and motorcycle.

Mr Bolsdon, who went on club rides dressed as a fully patched member, said things went bad for him after he made the mistake of asking to be paid for the renovations he’d made to the clubhouse.

Police remove a Motorcycle from the Finks Clubhouse in Ringwood, Australia 

He was assaulted and alleged members blew up his car.

Mr. Hardwick stopped attending church meetings. In October last year, he said he wanted out, and then he left without paying. Instead, he ratted on his former mates to police and now lives a life of fear.

Finks members will appear in court throughout next week as a part of Victoria Police’s Operation Irrevocable.

Bar Hopping

Good Times - Getting out and bar hopping with the ole' ladies 

Saturday, November 26, 2016

Ex-Outlaw MC leader speaks out, predicts trouble with Hells Angels

“God Forgives, Outlaws Don’t.”

CHICAGO, IL ( November 26, 2016) —That’s the motto of the Outlaws motorcycle club, formed in the Chicago area in 1935, now with chapters and thousands of members around the world.

But the former Outlaws leader says the group isn’t nearly as fearsome or dominant as it used to be in Illinois.

“The times have changed,” says Peter “Big Pete” James, 62, who lives in the west suburbs. “Somehow, there’s no testosterone out there.”

Peter "Big Pete" James, former leader of the Outlaws motorcycle club in the Chicago area

James hung up his Outlaws vest — black leather with a skull and crossed pistons patch — last year amid an internal dispute with other local leaders and his own ongoing fight with cancer.

Contrary to the biker rumor mill, James isn’t returning to the fray, he told the Sun-Times. His wide-ranging interview was unusual because so-called “1-percenter” bikers generally are loath to talk publicly about their business.

Watching from the sidelines, James says that maybe the biggest indication his old club is slipping involves the rise of the rival Hells Angels motorcycle club, which he believes is poised to overtake the Outlaws as the big-dog biker group in the Chicago area — an unthinkable development not long ago.

He predicts — but insists he isn’t advocating — renewed conflict between the two groups resulting from the shifting dynamic.

An attorney for the Outlaws responds only, “There wouldn’t be any comment at this time.” The Hells Angels didn’t respond to inquiries.

“Big” Pete James

Back in the 1990s, the Outlaws and Hells Angels — both which have weathered intense federal prosecutions and allegations they’re nothing more than gangs on wheels involved in drug dealing and mayhem — were locked in “war” in Chicago, as the Hells Angels made a foray into the region, the Outlaws’ long-established turf.

After a series of bombings, shootings and stabbings, the rival clubs formed a fragile truce. The Hells Angels, formed in 1948 in California, gave up their attempt to put a clubhouse within the Chicago city limits and, instead, planted a flag in Harvey, remaining there today.

Since then, the Outlaws have maintained a stronghold in Chicago, with a South Side clubhouse at 25th and Rockwell and a North Side clubhouse on Division Street. It also has several other chapters in northern Illinois.

As regional vice president, James had domain over all of them and also was president of the North Siders. In all, he says there were maybe 100 hard-core members in northern Illinois.
But James says smart moves by the Hells Angels — plus waves of prosecutions, poor leadership by some current Outlaws and changing times and attitudes — have changed things.

For one, James says local Outlaws are less willing to take orders from the top.

“It used to be the boss’ word was law,” he says. “He says, ‘Ride off the cliff,’ and guys would ride off a cliff. The quality of the members has gone down.”

Fear of prison has also had an impact on some local club leaders, according to James, who’s critical of his old group for not being “entrepreneurial.”

Unlike the Outlaws, Hells Angels members are Internet-savvy, with the group’s local Facebook page accumulating more than 29,000 “likes” and the club selling T-shirts and other merchandise on its website.

The Hells Angels also have made money by holding parties at its Harvey clubhouse and at bars in the Chicago area, according to James, who says the club welcomes “civilians” and members of smaller biker clubs to their parties.

“The Outlaws are losing out on the party money,” he says, along with the chance to market themselves and gain supporters.

Chicago-area law enforcement officials periodically have cracked down on both clubs. They say they’ve been preoccupied with other groups in recent years — especially the African-American gang factions behind Chicago’s staggering 50 percent rise in murders this year.

It was more than a decade ago when federal authorities charged Melvin Chancey, the former president of the Chicago-area Hells Angels, with racketeering and drug trafficking.


Melvin Chancey, then 29 and president of the Chicago chapter of the Hells Angels in 1998 

The last major Chicago law-enforcement crackdown of the Outlaws was more than five years ago. Chicago Outlaws member Mark Polchan was convicted of orchestrating a 2003 bombing outside C & S Coin Operated Amusements, a video-poker business in Berwyn that reputed mob boss Michael “The Large Guy” Sarno wanted to destroy to protect his own gambling interests. The pipe bomb blew out windows and damaged the building.

Polchan, who also was accused of fencing stolen jewelry for the mob at his Cicero pawnshop, was sentenced in 2011 to 60 years in federal prison.

James describes Polchan as his one-time “confidant” and says, “I love him.”

He says he has continued to receive occasional visits from federal agents looking for information on the biker world that he says he’s unwilling to give. “I try to be polite, to a point,” he says.

He figures his former club isn’t engaged in criminal activity at the same level as in the old days. Drug dealing, he says, worries graying members who don’t want to face a prison stretch lasting decades.

Even if things seem more low-key, though, “It doesn’t mean there’s not violence,” James says. “It’s just not as flagrant.”

But there have been reports of Outlaws roughing up members of weaker Hispanic biker clubs in the Chicago area since James left. The apparent aim: to force them to ally more closely with the Outlaws, which has long enjoyed a “support system” from other clubs.

James says there’s nothing wrong with building alliances, but it’s stupid to enlist “Neanderthal” methods, adding, “They’re not thinking it through.”

“Big” Pete James’ motorcycle

James says that when he was in charge, he created a confederation of dozens of biker clubs, part of an effort “to change the stereotype.”

He says the TV show “Sons of Anarchy,” which aired on FX from 2008 to 2014, popularized but also caused headaches for “1-percenter” biker clubs — so-called for representing the 1 percent of bikers supposedly involved in crime.

“I watched the show,” he says, laughing. “It was like an Outfit guy watching ‘The Sopranos.’ Kind of a joke.”

Fans of the show about a criminal biker group in California formed their own clubs and made pilgrimages to the Outlaws clubhouse on Division Street to ask James to “sanction” them. James says he refused to avoid giving the feds a reason to charge him with racketeering.

He says those newbies might dress the part and ride around on Harleys but don’t share 1-percenters’ “toughness.”

Jay Dobyns got a firsthand look at the 1-percenter lifestyle when he infiltrated the Hells Angels in Arizona as an undercover ATF agent in the early 2000s.

“These guys are not book smart but have their Ph.Ds in violence and intimidation,” says Dobyns, now retired and living in Arizona. “I think the term ‘brotherhood’ is very easily thrown around in today’s society. We hear it and use it a lot. They take it to a life-and-death level. When I was with the club, there were guys who would have stepped in front of a bullet for me. Now, they want to put a bullet in me.”

Dobyns says he crossed paths with Chancey — “one of the true believers that the elimination of the enemy was a critical part of the mission, the survival of their own club. In that area, the enemy was the Outlaws.”

The continued animosity between the Hells Angels and Outlaws makes James’ recent friendship with George Christie an unlikely one. Christie is a former high-ranking Hells Angels leader who left the group in 2011 and was “excommunicated.”

Christie and James both have appeared on CNN to offer their expertise on biker life and both wrote books on the subject — James’ memoir is expected to be released next year.

James says the main reason he wrote the book was to show how far things have slipped in what he regards as a once-noble brotherhood and to spur change in leadership and attitudes among the Outlaws in Illinois.

“It used to be guys banded together who believed in something, and they had fun,” James says. “There’s no brotherhood left in the Outlaws any more.”

He says the Outlaws in Chicago have a choice to make as their rival grows and encroaches.

“The choice is fight or flight,” he says. “They know the Angels will push them out of town. Who’s going to light the match?”

James says he won’t be on the front lines if that happens. Last year, he had his “God Forgives, Outlaws Don’t” tattoo covered up with a new design.

“I’m borderline ashamed already to say I was once one,” he says.

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Bandido MC Leaders headed to Prison

Three leaders in the Bandidos motorcycle club headed to prison

DENVER, CO ( November 22, 2016) —Three leaders of the Bandidos motorcycle club face prison time after pleading guilty to selling methamphetamine and loaded firearms to other states, the Colorado Attorney General’s Office said Tuesday.

Philip Duran, 42, aka “Bandido Fee”; Michael Mensen, 46, aka “Bandido Tick”; and Lorenzo Sojo, 41, pleaded guilty to violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act — Pattern of Racketeering and felony drug charges, the attorney general’s office said in a news release.

Sojo, president of the Bandidos Denver Westside Chapter, was sentenced to 20 years in the Colorado Department of Corrections. Mensen, a Bandidos national sergeant at arms, was sentenced to 24 years in prison, according to the news release.

From left, Philip Duran, Michael Mensen and Lorenzo Sojo
Provided by Colorado Attorney General

Duran, who also served as a national sergeant at arms, cut his ankle bracelet and fled just before his sentencing hearing. He is considered armed and dangerous, the attorney general said.

A warrant has been issued for Duran’s arrest, and Crime Stoppers is offering a $2,000 reward. Police say he should be considered armed and dangerous.

It’s unclear exactly how Duran managed to escape custody at the courthouse. National Sergeant at Arms is among the highest rankings one can receive in a motorcycle club. Those in that position are often tasked with keeping members in line during meetings and activities, but also keeping their members safe from outside threats and law enforcement.

An investigation into the Bandidos criminal activity began in September 2014 when the Attorney General’s Office and the Metro Gang Task Force began surveillance of high-ranking members suspected of large-scale drug distribution. Investigators used a wire tap as part of the surveillance.

Colorado Bandidos Motorcycle Club Members

The three Bandidos conspired to distribute narcotics and collect the proceeds from mid-level drug dealers, the news release said. They also imported several pounds of methamphetamine from California and attempted to send loaded firearms to Las Vegas through various shipping services, the attorney general said.

They used banks and other money transfer services to launder their drug proceeds.


Outlaws MC

Members of the Detroit Outlaws Motorcycle Club Partying 

Saturday, November 19, 2016

County in Florida bans workers from Motorcycle Clubs

Hillsborough County bans workers from Motorcycle Clubs after fight warrant issued

TAMPA, FL ( November 18, 2016) — Hillsborough County is banning employees from participating in certain biker clubs and other so called criminal groups after a firefighter associated with the Outlaws motorcycle club was accused of taking part in a bar fight in Key West.

In a memo Friday, County Administrator Mike Merrill outlined a new policy effective immediately barring membership in groups or gangs considered criminal organizations by the state or federal government.

Involvement in these organizations "will not be tolerated as these affiliations are contrary to the mission of public service," Merrill wrote. "This directive is a reminder of our continuing obligation to represent all the citizens of Hillsborough County."

The list of banned organizations is guided by the 2015 FBI National Gang Report and it includes the Outlaws, as well as Crips, Bloods, Almighty Latin King and Queen Nation, Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and the Pagans.

Violating the rule can result in termination of employment.

The announcement comes after an arrest warrant was issued in Key West for Clinton Neal Walker, a Hillsborough County firefighter and suspected member of the Outlaws motorcycle club. He is accused of taking part in a September bar fight involving as many as 15 Outlaws members.

Walker, 33, of Bradenton, is wanted on a misdemeanor battery charge. According to an arrest warrant, Walker and other Outlaws members beat up the manager and an employee at a downtown Key West bar.

Walker was placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

According to the warrant, Walker is a "confirmed active member" of the Outlaws, considered by authorities to be the state's dominant motorcycle club. It is strongest in South Florida but has chapters in Tampa and St. Petersburg.

Outlaws MC Clubhouse in Florida

According to the FBI, the Outlaws use their motorcycle clubs as conduits for crime, including trafficking in weapons and drugs.

Hillsborough County officials have known for months that Walker and at least one other firefighter were suspected members of the Outlaws. In August, Fire Rescue Chief Dennis Jones said the county was close to issuing a policy regarding association with biker groups but discussions were complicated by concerns over constitutional rights.

Jones said Thursday those conversations were on hold while county officials wait to see if the Florida State Fire Marshal asks lawmakers in Tallahassee to address the issue. He said participation in biker gangs by fire and rescue personnel was a "broad issue that impacts fire departments across Florida."

Apparently, the county decided not to wait on the state to act.

A proposal to disqualify employment of firefighters with "gang affiliations or known terrorist group affiliations" was sent to the State Fire Marshal in July by the Florida Firefighters Employment Standards and Training Council.

Existing disqualifications range from tobacco use to a felony conviction punishable by one year in prison.

There are currently no formal plans to update the list of disqualifications to include participation in a motorcycle gang, said Joel Brown, a spokesman for the State Fire Marshall. But Brown acknowledged there is an "ongoing conversation."

Whether that leads to statewide or local changes remains to be seen.

"It's fair to say the division is welcome to any and all conversations that would reinforce the high level of integrity of fire service in the state of Florida," Brown said. "We want to be very active in the conversation to continue to ensure that."

The issue is not isolated to Hillsborough. At least one firefighter in Pasco County is a member of the Pagans motorcycle club.

Pasco County spokeswoman Tambrey Laine said there was no existing policy or legal basis to take action against the firefighter. The county is seeking guidance from the legislature, she said, and "is open to reviewing policies from other jurisdictions."

The city of St. Petersburg and Pinellas County do not prohibit employees from participating in motorcycle clubs.

"However, should the need ever arise, we would certainly be open to discussing a human resources policy change to address it," said Benjamin Kirby, a spokesman for St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman.


Biker Babe

A sexy biker babe takes off her top for a photo shoot

Slow News Day: Rival Clubs meet at Harley Shop

The Bandidos and the Cossacks come face to face for the first time since deadly massacre

WACO, TX ( November 18, 2016)  - The two Motorcycle Clubs involved in the Twin Peaks shooting a year and a half ago met again last night at the Harley Davidson store in Waco.

Police were called to the location on South Jack Kultgen Expressway by the store's manager around 8 p.m. Thursday. 

This was the first time the Bandidos MC and the Cossacks MC have been seen publicly in the same place since the deadly massacre where law enforcement opened fired on the bikers at the Twin Peaks restaurant.

A local news reporter spoke with police and they said there were certainly tense moments for store managers and witnesses on the scene. According to police however, the two groups left the store without any incidents.

Witnesses say the incident was uneventful.

The Bandidos MC and Cossacks MC have had a historically bitter relationship. Their past includes a 2013 fight that led to a stabbing outside the Logan's Roadhouse in Abilene. They were also involved in a bar fight in Fort Worth in 2014.


SOURCE: KCENTV

Heathens MF

Heathens Motorcycle Family on a run

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Brother Speed MC raises $20,000 for Christmas toys

Motorcycles kept showing up all day for the Toy Run

BURLEY, ID ( November 13, 2016) — Brother Speed South Central Chapter motorcycle club rattled the Magic Valley for a good cause last week as nearly 200 bikes turned out for the Black and Gold South Central Toy Run raising $20,000.

“I heard all the motorcycles on Saturday (Nov. 5) and they were coming from every direction,” said Linda Short, president of the Mini-Cassia Christmas Council. “It touches me. They are so good. I am just in awe with Brother Speed and the fact they care about this small community.”

The motorcycle club donation is the largest annual donation of toys the council receives.


Bikers gather for the annual Black and Gold South Central Toy Run

“It is our mainstay for Christmas presents,” she said.

There is no reason for any Mini-Cassia child to go without toys on Christmas, said Brother Speed chapter president Gary Pawson.

“We’ve been stocking the Christmas Council for years,” Pawson said.

This year “there will also be a big surprise,” Pawson said. “But, we don’t want to let the cat out of the bag yet.”

A shopping date is set in December for club members to go to Wal-Mart, where they get a 10 percent discount on the toys purchased. The toys are then donated to the Mini-Cassia Christmas Council.

Wal-Mart registers lock up when a 1,000 item limit is reached.

“We hit that limit three times last year,” Pawson said.

After the 10 percent discount is knocked off, the group buys more toys with the amount saved.


Over 300 bikers showed up and donated over $20,000 for toys

“We are giving bikes and nice toys,” Pawson said. “We make sure they are getting the good stuff.”

It takes the members two hours just to check out at two registers during the shopping spree.

Pawson said about 300 people from around Idaho, Washington, Utah and California showed up to participate in the charity event.

“It’s a lot of fun riding, that’s the fun part for us but it was nice to see a lot of people in the community come out to watch us,” Pawson said about the attention they drew. “Two-hundred motorcycles make some noise.”

This is the 20th year for the toy run, which was spearheaded by Pawson and some of his friends before he was a Brother Speed member.

“We were just sitting around having a beer and most of us had grown up n Heyburn in area where a lot of kids don’t get toys for Christmas,” Pawson said.

The first event took two weeks to plan and was held on Dec. 18 in 18 degree weather, he said. They raised $2,500 the first year after 25 motorcycles came out to participate.

During the first five or six years of the event, they distributed the toys to churches themselves before teaming up with the Christmas Council.

The Brother Speed chapter took the event over 17 years ago, Pawson said.

Now, the club starts planning for the event at the first of the year. The event raises money through donations, entrance fees and from shirt sales.

SOURCE: Magic Valley

Monday, November 7, 2016

Police swoop in on Hells Angel MC Member

Police confiscate a belt buckle, keys, knives & more

SOUTHPORT, QUEENSLAND, AUSTRALIA (November 3, 2016) The elite Taskforce Maxima police arrested a patched member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club after a traffic intercept on the Gold Coast Highway at Surfers Paradise.

During the search of a black BMW, the officers found three knives including one a with Hells Angels insignia, a belt buckle with a Hells Angels insignia, a spiked knuckle buster and a meat cleaver.

Photo of Meat Clever, Knuckle Buster, Car Keys and 3 pills of a very dangerous drug

Police also said during the search, they found and confiscated a belt and belt buckle with a Hells Angels insignia on the buckle. 

Photo of the Hells Angel belt buckle confiscated by police


The 41-year-old was charged at the Southport Magistrates Court with one count each of possess knife in a public place, possession of a category M weapon and possession of a dangerous drug. 

Peaceful Gathering

Good times with family 

Friday, November 4, 2016

Biker allegedly had explosive devices

Brass Knuckle MC Member allegedly had explosive devices

HORIZON CITY, TEXAS (November 3, 2016) - More than 150 explosive devices and materials used to create them were allegedly found in the home of Horizon City biker arrested Tuesday on a federal charge of unlawful possession of a machine gun, court documents show. 

Loren Jay Bingaman, 48, was arrested by El Paso Police Department officers as part of a multi-agency investigation into an assault and robbery of two members of a motorcycle club on Aug. 3 outside Hot Chicks Wing House at 2281 N. Zaragoza Road.


Bingaman was rebooked into El Paso County jail on Wednesday on a federal charge of unlawful possession of a machine gun after local, state and federal law enforcement agencies executed a search warrant on Tuesday at his home in the 400 block of Benton Street in Horizon City, according to a complaint affidavit.

The agencies investigating the case include the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, FBI, Texas Department of Public Safety, El Paso Police Department and the Horizon City Police Department.

State troopers allegedly found a box they suspected contained explosives in a garage at Bingaman’s home.

U.S. Army Explosives Ordnance Disposal officials were called to help identify the possible explosives, documents state.


Confiscated vest's

Ordnance disposal officials allegedly found 151 training grenade blasting caps and four military-type flares. They told ATF agents that the blasting caps and flares are “considered an explosive device that can cause bodily injury and are therefore not manufactured for the public,” the affidavit states.

Investigators also found multiple firearms in a storage room in the garage, documents state. One of the weapons was allegedly an “AK style closed bolt rifle.” Another rifle was allegedly found on a workbench in the garage.

Disposal officials also found potassium chlorate and potassium nitrate in 14 plastic containers; aluminum flakes in nine plastic containers; several bags containing potassium nitrate; and 10 grenade hulls which were welded shut at one end, the affidavit states.

Documents state that the chemical precursors, blasting caps and the grenade hulls gave Bingaman the “ability to manufacture a functional explosive device.”

ATF agents checked the National Firearms Registry Transaction Record and Federal Licensing System and found that Bingaman was not registered to possess destructive devices or machine guns, documents state.

Investigators also found another suspected machine gun in “various states of manufacture and assembly” in a storage shelf within a shed at the home, the affidavit states.
The search warrant executed on Bingaman’s home came after the El Paso Police Department arrested him and seven other bikers on Tuesday in connection with the assault-robbery case in East El Paso in August.

Believed to be a member of the Brass Knuckle motorcycle club, Bingaman was arrested on one count of engaging in organized criminal activity-aggravated robbery. He posted a $50,000 bond on the state charge on Wednesday, but was rebooked on the federal charge the same day.

According to jail records, no bond has been set on the federal charge as of Thursday afternoon. Bingaman remained in El Paso County jail at that time.

The other reputed Brass Knuckle motorcycle club member arrested in the case was Jose Luis Holguin, 41.

Also arrested were members of the One motorcycle club, including Arnulfo Ramirez, 42; Dean Rascon, 45; Alejandro Jimenez, 40; and Aaron Michael Palmer, 37.

Bandidos member Carlos Sepulveda, 48, was also arrested.


Several leaders of the Bandidos were previously arrested in August in connection with the assault-robbery case. The leaders arrested were Bandidos chapter president Juan Martinez, 60; sergeant-at-arms James Heredia, 45; and secretary Thomas Decarlo, 32.

SOURCE: ElPaso Times

When it was good

Binder full of Easyriders Magazines from the 1970's

Made to Obey


Tuesday, November 1, 2016

Police arrest 7 members of various Motorcycle Clubs

Military grade explosives found in home

HORIZON CITY, TEXAS (November 1, 2016) - The police department's gang unit secured arrest warrants for seven Motorcycle Club members on charges of Organizing in Criminal Activity-Aggravated Robbery.

Police said all seven were taken into custody Wednesday without incident at a residence in Horizon City Texas.

Investigators found short-barreled long rifles, numerous military ordnance, and items associated with the construction of explosive devices.


Bandidos MC Vest with Colors

The area was secured and the El Paso Police Department's Bomb Squad was notified. 

Carlos Sepulveda - member of the "Bandidos" motorcycle club. His bond was set at $50,000.

Arnulfo Ramirez - member of "One" motorcycle club. His bond was set at $75,000.

Luis Holguin - member of the "Brass Knuckle" motorcycle club. His bond was set at $50,000.

Dean Rascon - member of the "One" motorcycle club. His bond was set at $75,000.

Alejandro Jimenez - member of the "One" motorcycle club. His bond was set at $50,000.

Aaron Michael Palmer - member of "One" motorcycle club and his bond was set at $125,000.

Loren Jay Bingaman - member of the "Brass Knuckle" motorcycle club. His bond was set at $50,000.

Bingaman's mug shot will be released as soon as the formal booking process is completed.

SOURCE: KVIA News

Just some Brothers


Judge allows unusual evidence for Biker Club trial

A Nova Scotia judge has allowed prosecutors to employ a little-used type of evidence called "Extrinsic Evidence" in an attempt to prove the Bacchus Motorcycle Club is a criminal organization.

NOVA SCOTIA, CA (November 1, 2016) Normally, extrinsic evidence — something that shows similar misconduct — isn’t allowed at trial. But, in a decision released Monday, Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Peter Rosinski ruled it will be permitted in the case against Duayne Jamie Howe, Patrick Michael James and David John Pearce, three alleged Bacchus members facing charges of uttering threats and intimidation to protect their territory.

“I conclude that the probative value of the proposed evidence outweighs any prejudicial effect on the fair trial rights of Mr. James, and that this is also true in relation to Mssrs. Howe and Pearce,” Rosinski said.

Police arrested James, and Pearce, both of Dartmouth, and Howe, of Grand Desert, in the fall of 2012. All three are slated to go to trial in the next few months.

The charges involve an alleged victim, named only as R.M., who is described as “a simple motorcycle enthusiast,” in court documents, who wanted to set up a recreational motorcycle club in Halifax County.

R.M. “decided that the club should have its own distinctive name, and logo,” to sew on members’ jackets, as well as a patch indicating they were from Nova Scotia, said Rosinski’s decision.

“Before doing so, he searched the Internet, and became convinced that he should first seek the approval of the most prominent motorcycle club in the area; consequently he sought out the approval of the Bacchus Motorcycle Club.”

R.M. “had ongoing communications and personal meetings with Patrick James, who held himself out as the representative of the Bacchus Motorcycle Club for such purposes,” said the judge’s decision.

“Mr. James persuaded him that he could not have a motorcycle club with a ‘three patch’ design as it would be seen as a provocation and sign of disrespect by existing ‘three patch’ motorcycle clubs in Nova Scotia (including the Bacchus Motorcycle Club).”

At some point in the summer of 2012, James approved R.M.’s modified proposal for a single patch that said “The Brotherhood,” associated with a motorcycle club of that name from Montreal.

In late August, R.M. and his friends traveled to Montréal for a short vacation.

An unidentified Bacchus Motorcycle Club Member

“On their return, while at the airport on August 26, one of his club members received a phone call from a neighbour that there were five members of the Bacchus Motorcycle Club at his house looking for him; shortly thereafter, R.M. received a number of text messages in close succession from Patrick James — ‘was hoping to run into you today. If I don't hear from you, I will just pop in your office tomorrow’ — and ‘in Montréal by chance?’ — and — ‘will see you as soon as you get back. Don't waste your dollars on any souvenirs’ — and ‘saw you three came out of the closet on Facebook.’ ”

A “very upset” James allegedly visited R.M. at his office the next day, wearing his leather Bacchus vest.

“‘What the f*** were you thinking? Do you think you could get away with something like that? I f***ing told you that you are not having a f***ing patch,” James allegedly told R.M.

R.M. interjected: “You told me no three-piece — you told me that the Brotherhood name was OK."

But James allegedly denied that was the case. “I f***ing told you that you were not to have a f***ing Montréal Brotherhood patch down here and you went ahead and f***ing did it. We were driving around the whole weekend looking for you because of that picture that went on Facebook, you guys getting patched over in Montréal... because those were coming off your back... you f***ing disrespected us. You more or less or might as well have told us to go f*** ourselves by putting those patches on your back.”

James offered R.M. a way to appease Bacchus. He was to take photos of their clothing and patches being cut up and email them to James, and let the Montreal club know it had no chapter in Halifax.

“R.M. had discussions with his own club members and they decided they should have their cut-to-pieces vests/patches personally turned over to Patrick James; another member of R.M.’s club delivered the remnants of their vests to Mr. James who was in the company of four or five members of the Darksiders Motorcycle Club,” say court documents.

While that appeared to appease Bacchus members, two weeks later R.M. ran into six of them at a charity event wearing their regalia.

“Mr. Howe and Mr. Pearce were among them and in close proximity to R.M., at which point Mr. Howe angrily said to him – ‘I'm telling you right f***ing now, get on your f***ing bike and get the f*** out of here. You're not f***ing welcome here. The only reason why we don't kick the living s*** out of you right f***ing now is because there's too many f***ing people around. You're not welcome at any f***ing biking event in Nova Scotia... I'm telling you to get the f*** out of here right now or you're going to get the s*** kicked out of you... What makes you think you can f***ing disrespect us and then show your f***ing face around here?... Oh, getting the f***ing patch from Montréal? You didn't f***ing disrespect us?... You go f***ing say your hellos, put your money in, and get on your bike and get the f*** out of here, and we don't want to see you anywheres at any events in Nova Scotia. You are f***ing done.’”

R.M., his wife and friends were frightened by these events, said Monday’s decision. The next day, Sept. 15, 2012, R.M. called police. Within days of his giving a statement, police arrested James, Pearce, and Howe, and executed search warrants on the Bacchus clubhouse on Hogan Road in Nine Mile River and homes on Renfrew Road and Elmwood Road in Dartmouth and Dyke Road in Grand Desert.

Investigators allegedly seized vests bearing Bacchus identification, as well as marijuana, magic mushrooms, computers and mobile phones.

At trial, the Crown is expected to try and “establish that the Bacchus Motorcycle Club is a criminal organization, and was so at the time of these offences, and that Mssrs. Howe, Pearce and James were then acting for the organization,” the judge said.

Prosecutors hope to use the evidence of another unnamed witness, dubbed S.H. in the decision released Monday, that they expect to be relevant in the case against all three men.

Defence lawyers for the three accused “argued that the probative value of the evidence is greatly outweighed by the prejudice to the fair trial rights of Mr. James and the defendants generally, and it should therefore be ruled inadmissible.”

S.H. testified that he bought a Harley Davidson in 2009, but was not interested in joining a recreational motorcycle club, despite repeated and “persistent” requests. He eventually made up a fictitious patch for a fictitious club called the Wolverines and put it on his vest along with the words Nova Scotia so people would stop bothering him.

“He had a picture taken from the back, while wearing his unique motorcycle jacket with the three-piece patch on the back. He made it his profile picture on his Facebook page,” say court documents.

In December of 2011, “a couple of members of the Darksiders [motorcycle club]” told S.H. he couldn’t wear that patch.

“I showed them a picture of it, and they said: You can’t wear that patch. There is already a club in Nova Scotia that has that, has ‘Nova Scotia’ on it, so you have to take that off. And in the spring of 2012 as well — I think it was about April or May — a couple of them sort of reinforced that idea that I couldn’t wear that and they told me I had to take the ‘Nova Scotia’ part off of it and the ‘MC’ part off as well. So I don’t think I wore it on my bike. I just had it for a profile picture. It looks good.... at that time we had a bit of a conversation on my property, in front of my barn, and at that time I think I told them that if they saw me wearing the patch, they should take it. And I wasn’t really afraid of them taking it off, because I never wore it.”

Around the end of June 2012, S.H. received a private Facebook message from James.

“He was kind of concerned about, I guess this back patch... So I blocked him. And got in touch with the RCMP to see what this was all about. At that point in time, the RCMP gave me a bit of counselling as to how to handle this, and they suggested that I unblock him and carry on the conversation to try to smooth it over, because I didn’t want to run into any trouble over a fictitious motorcycle patch and motorcycle club. So I unblocked and we carried on a bit of conversation over the course of, I think a couple of days.”

James allegedly carried on a written exchange with S.H. where he eventually agreed not to wear the patches.

“Succinctly put, the Crown alleges that during January–September 2012, Mr. James’s conduct in relation to both R.M. and S.H. reveals that he intervened in the lives of both these recreational motorcycle enthusiasts to ensure that they did not wear or display a ‘three patch’ combination regarding their real or made-up ‘motorcycle clubs,’” said the judge.


“The Crown will argue that his conduct in relation to R.M. was criminal. They say that his conduct in relation to S.H. is relevant, material and should be admissible in this trial involving R.M., because it provides direct or indirect proof of ‘the essential elements of establishing that the Bacchus Motorcycle Club is a criminal organization … and that the offences in question were committed for the benefit of, at the direction of, or in association with that criminal organization.’ "


SOURCE: Local Xpress