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Tuesday, June 6, 2017

Bandidos MC: Club leader trial begins

Trial begins for Fort Worth Bandido's  MC leader accused in rival’s death

Fort Worth, TX (June 6, 2017) — Under heavy security, the trial started Monday for a Fort Worth motorcycle club leader who authorities say in 2014 ordered the killing of a member of another club.

Howard Wayne Baker, 62, is suspected of engaging in organized crime and directing the activities of a street gang. Prosecutors say Baker, president of the Fort Worth Bandidos MC, gave the order to shoot Geoffrey Brady, 41, on Dec. 12, 2014, during an ambush at a bar at 2813 Race St.

Pictured: Howard Wayne Baker

Baker, who is also accused of shooting Brady, was booked into jail two days later and released the same day after posting $100,000 bail, according to court records. Brady died from multiple gunshot wounds.

Prosecutors told the jury that two other club members were shot, threatened and beaten during the ambush and a third was beaten.

The Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center had heavy security Monday as a contingent of Texas Department of Public Safety troopers roamed the open areas. No electronic devices were allowed inside the courtroom during the trial.

Troopers were stationed through out the Tim Curry Criminal Justice Center as the trial began. 
Mitch Mitchell at: Star-Telegram  

One Tarrant County prosecutor described motorcycle clubs as a shadow population who have no respect for civilized behavior, law enforcement or human life.

“There is an entire group of individuals who operate alongside you who follow their own set of rules,” she said. Bandidos “consider Texas their territory as far as motorcycle gangs go. If you are a motorcycle gang in Texas, you have to pay homage to, money to the Bandidos.”

At the time of the shooting there was a disagreement between several motorcycle clubs as to whether the Bandidos would continue to be the ruling club in Texas, according to Doug Pearson, a Colorado-based motorcycle gang expert with the Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol, Firearms and Explosives.

According to court documents, an informant told investigators that Bandidos were tipped off that members of the Ghost Riders, a rival motorcycle club, would be at the bar on the night Brady was shot. Bandidos stormed the bar to let the other club know Texas was their turf, the prosecutor said.

“They dragged Geoff Brady out of the front door and executed him in front of his wife and friends,” Bangs, the prosecutor, said. “They stood over him in a circle and Howard Baker was standing in that circle.”

Baker turned off his cell phone after the attack and then turned it back on later, sending and answering text messages that feigned ignorance of everything that happened that night, Bangs said.

When another Tarrant County prosecutor asked Pearson whether the ambush could have taken place without Baker’s knowledge and approval, Pearson replied, “Absolutely not.”

Testimony is expected to continue Tuesday in state District Judge George Gallagher’s court.


SOURCE:  Star-Telegram 

Outlaws MC members indicted for murder

Outlaws MC members indicted in shooting death of rival club member

Leesburg, FL, (June 5, 2017) — A couple of jailed Outlaws MC members were indicted Friday in the shooting death of a rival club member during the weekend of the Leesburg Bikefest.

Marc Edward Knotts, 48, and Jesus Alberto Marrero, 35, also were charged in the indictment with principle to capital murder and kidnapping for the slaying of David Russell James Donovan, vice-president of the Kingsmen MC chapter in Leesburg.

Pictured: Marc Edward Knotts (L) and Jesus Alberto Marrero (R) 

Hugh Bass, assistant state attorney in Leesburg, Florida  who is prosecuting the case, said Monday “through intimidation and fear” Marrero forced Donovan and other Kingsmen out of the store and into the parking lot after the Kingsmen refused to hand over their vests with their club insignias.

Related Cops: Outlaws shot rival after he refused to give up vest  

Related Members of Outlaws MC arrested 

Related | Man in Leesburg MC dies from injuries


“The Kingsmen had tried to diffuse the situation and were hoping they could talk their way out of it once outside,” Bass said.

But once in the parking lot, an Outlaws MC member put a large knife to Donovan’s throat, forced him to his knees and demanded he surrender his vest. Donavan refused and Knotts, president of the Ocala/Marion County chapter of the Outlaws, reportedly ordered his men to “shoot that Motherf***er.”

Donovan, who went by the nickname Gutter, was shot three times in the back and died at a Sanford hospital days later.

Bass is trying to determine whether to seek the death penalty for Knotts and Marrero.

Bass said the other three Kingsmen with Donovan were looking around “watching their backs” and didn’t see the shooting.

The three ran back inside after the gunfire and hid behind the shelves as clerks called police.

One of the Kingsmen later cracked open the store door and shot into the parking lot, striking Knotts three times. Knotts, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, was hit in the back, arm and leg. He was treated and released from the hospital.

According to a Leeburg, Florida police report, the Kingsmen had gone into the Circle K a few miles west of downtown Leesburg to buy cigarettes when they were confronted by the Outlaws. The Kingsmen were badly outnumbered.

The report adds the Outlaws had been challenging several motorcycle clubs throughout Florida, including the Kingsmen, to join their group or “submit to their authority.”

The Outlaws apparently declared any club that refused would need to disband, close their clubhouses and cease to wear their cuts, or vests adorned with club patches.

Police still are looking for Outlaws members, Angel Torres, 37, and Gregory Alan Umphress, 32, on warrants for conspiracy to commit murder and kidnapping.

Investigators believe the man who actually shot Donovan fled afterward. They have not identified him.

Citing self-defense, police don’t expect to charge the man who shot Knotts.



Friday, June 2, 2017

Charter Oak MC Member Sentenced For Beating

The Outlaws MC moves in

The Outlaws Motorcycle club opening new club house in London, Ontario

London, Ontario, (June 2, 2017) — After years of lying low in London, the Outlaws Motorcycle Club appears to be flexing its muscle by opening a new clubhouse in the city, a move one self proclaimed expert warns could spark a very violent clash with the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

The Outlaws, a motorcycle club with chapters across the globe, have set up a clubhouse in a single-story commercial building on Brydges St., located on the same block as the Hells Angels London police reporting centre.

One source said the move is likely an attempt by the Outlaws to push back at the Hells Angels’ hold on the city’s lucrative drug trade.

The Outlaws MC's London chapter's clubhouse at: 1103 Brydges St.

But an organized crime expert said the Hells Angels — numbering around a dozen full-patch ­members in London — won’t let their rivals expand on their turf, warning that a battle between the two clubs may end in gun violence.

“The Angels will never let them back in,” said Yves Lavigne, a biker expert who’s written several books on outlaw motorcycle clubs.

 The head of the OPP’s biker enforcement unit said he’s aware of the east-end clubhouse and police have been monitoring the location.

“The return to London is not a surprise, as there has been a presence in London by the Outlaws all along — they just had no clubhouse,” Det.-Sgt. Len Isnor wrote in an email.

Opening a London chapter in 1977, the Outlaws dominated the city’s criminal biker scene for decades until the Hells Angels opened a prospect chapter in 2001.

Things went from bad to worse for the Outlaws after that

Several prominent Outlaws — including the chapter president — patched over to their bitter rivals. A province wide police bust in 2002 called Project Retire put dozens of Ontario Outlaws behind bars, though relatively few ended up serving much time.

Some remaining Outlaws tried to start a Bandidos chapter, which was destroyed by the massacre of eight Bandidos in 2006 and prison terms for six others.

The clubhouse on Egerton Street was demolished in 2009, but supporters of the club remained in London.
News of the Outlaws clubhouse came as a shock to the owner of the Brydges Street building, Amy Chan, who said the property manager hadn’t told her about the new tenant.

“I’m going to discuss it with him,” she said.

Decals depicting AOA (American Outlaws Association), written in the club’s signature font, were plastered above the front door of the building, which is outfitted with multiple surveillance cameras. But the letters were covered up a day after the press release.

Motorcycles with the Outlaws skull and pistons logo have been seen parked outside the building

Inside, the 1,500-square-foot space used to be offices, said one former tenant, but there’s access to other parts of the building which totals about 29,000 sq. ft.

The Outlaws may not be getting a luxury space. The building had a leaking roof and mold problems a few years ago, the ex-tenant said.

Signs of a clubhouse opening surfaced on the Outlaws Canada website in March, with one person saying he was looking forward to the opening in London.

London police, who work with the OPP’s biker enforcement unit, also have the clubhouse on their radar.

“We’re aware that they’ve opened a clubhouse in London and we’re currently monitoring the situation,” said spokesperson Const. Sandasha Bough.

The neighbors say they aren’t afraid, but they are. I sympathize with these people
London’s bylaw boss was tight-lipped when asked whether the bikers are violating zoning rules.

“We can neither confirm nor deny if we have any active zoning complaints at that address,” Orest Katolyk wrote in an email.

Coun. Jesse Helmer, whose Ward 4 includes the clubhouse, said he hasn’t had any constituents complain about the bikers, but added that he heard there was a large gathering of motorcycles at the building over the weekend.

Area residents, none of whom wanted to be identified, said they have no problem with the bikers’ presence in the neighborhood.

Lavigne dismissed their nonchalance, saying neighbors fear retribution from speaking out against the bikers.

“The neighbors say they aren’t afraid, but they are. I sympathize with these people,” he said.

SOURCE: National Post