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Devils Henchmen MC: Celebrating 40 years of Brotherhood

Washdyke, New Zealand (October 19, 2018) BTN — Some might see them as unorthodox but the Devils Henchmen MC say they're maturing as the Timaru club revs up to celebrate 40 years. They will mark the milestone this long weekend and say there's plenty of life left in the club - despite an ageing membership.

The club has gained notoriety over the years - specifically in the early 90s - when gang tensions intensified in South Canterbury, capturing national attention. On the eve of their birthday, club members maintain there have been misconceptions over the years.

"Everyone is getting older and wiser; no one is getting any younger," club member Bryn Cox said.

The Devils Henchmen are celebrating 40 years over Labour Weekend. Bryn Cox stands at the gates 
of the club's Washdyke headquarters.

Founding members of the Devils Henchmen in 1978, from left, Smiley, Bird, Pogal and Woody

The Devils Henchmen MC during a ride in the 1970's.

Things have changed and he acknowledges periods of violence.

He said the club still can't get past the stigma of past problems.

Devils Henchmen MC member Bryn Cox stands at the gates of their Washdyke headquarters.

"We are not gang members, we are motorcycle club members." 

The celebrations kick off on Friday with a ride around South Canterbury on Saturday, and live entertainment in the evening.

The club is expecting 300 to 400 people from around the country for the weekend, he said.

Some agencies are "still portraying that we are dirty bikie scum and drug dealers", he said.

The club's Washdyke headquarters, photographed by John Bisset in 2004.

Cox has been a member for 19 years and started hanging around the club in 1981 - aged 19.

"It's my family.

"These are my brothers, their wives and children are my family too."

At 40, the club is maturing and more savvy, he says. "We are tax paying members of the Timaru public."

The club still has a healthy membership, he said.

While protesters took to the streets of Timaru to drive the destructive and highly addictive drug methamphetamine out of the district last month, the Devils Henchmen banned the drug "very early", he said. "We seen what it was doing to other clubs."

Founding member John (Woody) Woodhams says the motorcycle club scene has changed a lot in the past 40 years. "It's a lot more streamlined and polished now. We used to sleep on the sides of roads, now it's the motel or camping ground."

Woodhams, 68, said he is one of the lucky ones. "I don't drink, smoke or take drugs."

Woodhams was introduced to motorcycle clubs in 1970 when he met a member of the Antarctic Angels in Invercargill and rode to Timaru where there were about five motorcycle clubs.

"It's all about motorcycles at the end of the day.

"A motorcycle club is an organisation. In large the police would like to see all motorcycle clubs and street gangs gone; it's not going to happen."

Woodhams acknowledges the club's ageing membership. "Some of us are getting so old now we are drawing a pension. "We are getting long in the tooth but we are still quite fit.

"If you can survive all the trouble of when you are young then you develop more tolerance at the end of the day." Tolerance is a virtue, he said. "Instead of smacking someone in the head you tend to give them a warning.

"All we can do is try to present a good image but you are fighting a tide."  

Co-founding member Smiley said club membership is about trust and honesty. "The biggest one is respecting each other. "The whole scene has changed, we haven't changed as people. "We all stand for camaraderie and respect each other."

Sergeant Grant Lord, of Timaru, said police are aware of the anniversary celebrations and had attempted to contact the club. "We have attempted to contact the Devils Henchmen and they have not responded in relation to what their celebrations entail," Lord said.  

"It's not unusual for police to maintain contact with gangs or clubs when they have activities including celebrations and funerals. The Devils Henchmen have always had an event over Labour Weekend and we have always policed them." 

Story and Photographs by: Al Williams and John Bisset

SOURCE: Stuff NZ

Hells Angels MC: Member turned snitch granted escorted prison outings

Quebec, Canada (October 17, 2018) BTN — Stéphane "Godasse" Gagné, a former high-ranking Hells Angel MC member sentenced to life behind bars in 1997 for killing a prison guard, has been granted escorted leave from prison. The Parole Board of Canada authorized Gagné's first outing at the end of a hearing that lasted just under two hours Wednesday morning.

Hells Angels MC members on a run

Gagné, 48, a former hitman whose testimony helped convict the longtime head of the Quebec Hells Angels, Maurice Boucher, in 2002, simply nodded when board commissioners told him his request for an escorted temporary absence was approved.

"Merci," he offered as he left the room, appearing to choke up.

'Ultimate assassin'

 Gagné pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in December 1997 for the killing of Diane Lavigne as she drove home from her shift at Montreal's Bordeaux jail.

He was also involved in the murder months later of another prison guard, Pierre Rondeau, and the attempted murder of a third guard, Robert Corriveau.

Gagné agreed to testify against Boucher, fingering him as the man who ordered the killings — testimony that was instrumental in putting the crime boss behind bars.

In exchange, prosecutors agreed to charge Gagné with a single count of first-degree murder, for Lavigne's death, and one of attempted murder.

Gagné was sentenced to life in prison and has now served about 21 years.

Julian Sher, an investigative journalist and the author of several books on organized crime and the Hells Angels, said in an interview with CBC News that Gagné was "the ultimate snitch, the ultimate traitor, but also the ultimate assassin."

Though not actually eligible for parole until 2023, Gagné​ applied for early parole and was granted a hearing in 2016. At that initial hearing, Gagné recognized the harm he did as a drug dealer and assassin, apologizing to the two daughters of the prison guard he killed.

But it wasn't enough to gain his release. Board members at that time challenged his motives, telling him he sounded self-centred.

Buddhist monk taught him to meditate

At Wednesday's hearing, the parole board heard how Gagné had gained self-awareness, recognizing past errors and acknowledging he is not immune to making others.

He told the board he had learned to meditate from a Buddhist monk while in prison.

"I don't use violence to solve my problems," he said, when asked about his risk factors. "I now know how to manage my emotions. Meditation helps me a lot."

Gagné's case management worker described how the convict had come to recognize his own errors and that he is not immune to making others.

The parole board heard that he takes part in group activities and AA meetings, quitting smoking even before tobacco was prohibited in prison, working out regularly and abstaining from alcohol and drugs.

Gagné has worked in the kitchen of the institution where he's being held since July, his case worker noted, calling him "a devoted worker" who is helpful and shows initiative — qualities that will one day help him find a job on the outside.

54 months in isolation

Gagné said he is well aware his safety and the safety of those around him is at risk, because he's known as an informant.

"When I'm in the gym and someone arrives after being transferred from another institution, I watch out for myself," he told the parole board commissioners.

Stéphane "Godasse" Gagné

He said of the 21 years he's served in prison, he's spent a total of 54 months in isolation, for his own safety.

"I've lived through all that and fought to stay alive," he said. "I'm done with criminality."

Pressed by Parole Board Commissioner Marie-Claude Frenette on how he could have taken the lives of innocent people, Gagné said he'd done it because he needed recognition.

"What I did makes no damned sense and was disgusting," he said. "I still need recognition, but I seek it out in positive activities rather than negative ones."

He said he used to be cold and detached from his emotions, not thinking of the future.

"Now I'm patient," he said. "That wall that caused me to be so cold is falling away," although he said the years in solitary confinement had left him scarred.

His lawyer, Sandra Brouillette, said her client had become more transparent in the two years since his first application for early parole was refused.

Brouillette said Gagné recognizes that as an informant, he presents a risk to people around him, and he's aware of what will happen if he does not do as he's told by the escorts during his outing.

As for whether his own life is still in danger — and how his safety will be protected, should he be granted parole — journalists present at the hearing were asked to leave the room when that aspect of Gagné's case was discussed with the inmate, his case workers and his lawyer.

SOURCE: CBC Radio-Canada

Hells Angels MC: Member pleads guilty, sentenced to 4 ½ years

Fredericton, Canada (October 17, 2018) BTN — A Fredericton man and woman associated with the Hells Angels will be incarcerated for various drug and weapons charges.

Robin Moulton, 49, a member of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, was sentenced in Woodstock Court of Queen's Bench on Wednesday to four and half years for possession of cocaine with the intention of trafficking and possessing a drug press intended for trafficking purposes.

Marie Antonette Bugay, 41, described by the court as an associate of the Angels, was sentenced to 30 months in jail for possession of a loaded firearm without a license, possession of property obtained by crime and possession of cocaine.

Both plead guilty and, as a result, the Crown withdrew 10 additional charges, including illegal weapons possession and illegal weapons storage. At the time of the charges, the pair were in a romantic relationship and Bugay was associated with Moulton's company that sold clothing representing the Angels.

Both were sentenced together as part of a joint indictment stemming from their arrest on Aug. 22, 2017. They were apprehended by police as part of an ongoing joint-force investigation into motorcycle club activities in New Brunswick. Moulton, described by the court as a full-patch Hells Angels member for 12 years, sat next to Bugay during Wednesday's sentencing.

Moulton, wearing a black long-sleeve shirt with a grey goatee and his grey hair in a ponytail, kept his gaze lowered for most of the proceeding, occasionally sharing glances with Bugay, who wore a black shirt with a grey vest and black thick-rimmed glasses.

The investigation

During the delivery of the facts by Justice Richard G. Petrie, the court heard that Moulton had been under police surveillance as a part of Operation J-Trident. Police witnessed Moulton using three storage lockers in Fredericton and one in the Woodstock area. On May 11, 2017, Moulton was observed by police to be moving a large hydraulic shop press from a storage locker in Fredericton to a storage locker in Woodstock.

Robin Moulton being led away in handcuffs 

Police determined that to be significant as it is often used as a tool to compress cocaine. After obtaining a general warrant, police covertly entered the Woodstock storage locker and found trace amounts of cocaine on metal blocks and the hydraulic press.

A second warrant allowed officers to covertly place a motion-activated camera inside the locker, and another warrant led police to find a 9-millimetre Berretta pistol stuffed inside a mitten. Police disabled the weapon before returning it. When the handgun was later analyzed, Bugay's DNA was found on the trigger.

The camera installed in the storage locker captured images of Moulton using the hydraulic press to compress a white powdered substance into bricks, which were then put into clear bags and placed into a duffel bag before leaving.

Police then followed Moulton, pulled over his rental car and, upon searching the vehicle, found 272.4 grams of cocaine at about 35 per cent purity valued at between $12,000 and $24,000. Moulton was arrested, leading to search warrants at his residence, Bugay's residence and the additional search lockers in Fredericton. Police found 28.9 grams of cocaine valued at between $1,400 and $4,000 at Bugay's home. She was later arrested while in her vehicle, where a duffel bag stuffed with $77,000 in cash was discovered. It was determined this to be the proceeds of crime.

In addition to prison time, both Bugay and Moulton are ordered to provide a sample of DNA for a databank. Bugay will be required to forfeit the $77,000 seized by police, is prohibited from owning a firearm for 10 years and was fined $600 in victim surcharges, while Moulton is banned for life from owning a firearm and was fined $400 in victim surcharges. Bugay had no prior charges before her arrest. The court mentioned that Moulton also had a prior drug possession charge from about 10 years ago.

Previous incarceration

Although not mentioned as a part of Wednesday's court proceedings, Moulton was previously sentenced to five years and four months in federal prison for trafficking cocaine and for possessing a prohibited or restricted weapon with ammunition.

His sentence began on July 30, 2008, but he was released on February 17, 2012, with special conditions.

Moulton was not to associate with anyone known or believed to be involved in criminal activity or associate with club members, including the Angels. He was also ordered to provide his parole officer with financial records as well as to reside at a specific place.

SOURCE: CBC Radio-Canada