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Showing posts with label Patch. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patch. Show all posts

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

DA: End of the road for local motorcycle club

Columbus, Georgia , USA (July 24, 2019) BTN — Lloyd Jefferson Harris, a member of the Iron Cross Motorcycle Club, was sentenced to 20 years to serve three after pleading guilty to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and violation of the Georgia Street Gang and Terrorism Prevention Act.

According to Investigator Ryan Foles with the Coweta County DA’s office, the Iron Cross had been on the radar of law enforcement prior to an incident in 2016, which saw the group thrust into the spotlight.

Foles also stated "The sentencing of four local men associated with an outlaw motorcycle group has signaled the end of that group in Coweta County – and a victory for local law enforcement in their battle against gangs."

In November 2016, two teenage girls were chased along U.S. Hwy. 29 into Newnan by members of the Iron Cross and Knights of Solomon motorcycle clubs after a biker lost control of his bike and crashed.

Confiscated patches belonging to the Iron Cross Motorcycle Club

Club members blamed the driver of the car and began pursuing her. At one point during the chase, Harris pointed a firearm at the occupants and shot at least one round in their direction.

The chase ended after the bikers were intercepted by deputies near the intersection of Bullsboro Drive and Ga. Hwy. 154. A handgun was recovered at the scene.

After the chase, Harris was arrested and charged with discharging a weapon near a public highway, pointing a gun at another, and reckless conduct.

Three other members of the club were ultimately sentenced to probation.

Stephen Maxwell Kemp was given 12 months probation for aggressive driving, while Thomas Joseph Lewandowski and Ricky James Hartfree were both sentenced to six months’ probation. All four men were ordered to have no contact with the Iron Cross Motorcycle Club or any other motorcycle clubs.

District Attorney Herb Cranford Jr. said his office could not prove the other bikers involved in the incident knew Harris pulled a gun on the girls while chasing them, so the office only pursued felonies against the most culpable defendant.

“This case was about a group of bikers, all wearing their club patches, chasing down two teenage girls because the girls had disrespected the bikers on the road,” Cranford said. “The girls did not get in a wreck with any bikers, and there was no lawful reason to chase them.

“Nevertheless, we are satisfied that the defendant who pulled a gun and fired one round into the air was sentenced to prison following his non-negotiated guilty plea,” Cranford added.

Following the shooting, the investigation into the group escalated, resulting in the search of its clubhouse on East Jones Street in March 2017.

The house was allegedly being run and managed under the name of a deceased Iron Cross member and was serving as an illegal alcohol establishment for those in the biker culture.

Defunct Iron Cross MC Clubhouse in Columbus, Georgia 

Inside, investigators reportedly recovered two truckloads of evidence connecting the bike group to gang culture, hate groups and other “1-percenters” across the state and nationwide – including membership documents and oaths.

Foles said the search of the clubhouse was successful for many reasons, one of which included the discovery of over 50 Christmas cards sent from other 1-percenter clubs across the country – each card containing the names, pictures and addresses of its members.

Foles shared this – and other information collected from the clubhouse – during the summer conference of the Georgia Gang Investigators Association.

The Iron Cross case was significant, Foles said, because local law enforcement agencies are rarely successful at shutting down motorcycle clubs. It is a task typically handled by federal agencies.

Foles said the success was in part to the Security Threat Group Unit (STGU), which operates in the Coweta County Jail, where detention officers help identify gang members and collect evidence for prosecution.

“From the help of the 911 operator to the officer who made original arrests all the way to the detention officers collecting evidence for gang charges – the case was a success because of everyone working together,” Foles said. “They’re pioneers in what they’re doing and are continuing to make the program even better.”

Cranford said biker clubs who associate with the Outlaws, a widely known motorcycle club like the Hells Angels, should be scrutinized by law enforcement and should not be allowed to intimidate and threaten the citizens of Georgia.

“Those Outlaw affiliated biker clubs, like the Iron Cross, give a bad name to law-abiding motorcycle clubs and others who simply enjoy riding motorcycles,” Cranford said. “The sheriff's department should be commended for this investigation which appears to have had the result of removing this Outlaw-affiliated biker gang from our community."

SOURCE: The Newnan Times-Herald

Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Apache MC allegedly has colors pulled

Charleston, West Virginia, USA (July 2, 2019) BTN — Kanawha County Sheriff's deputies responded to the Apache Motorcycle Club near St. Albans Saturday. The call was for a disturbance.

When investigators arrived, they found club members "bloody and beaten." The Apache club members said they were robbed by members of two other clubs: the Pagans and the Demons.


According to the criminal complaints, witnesses told deputies that rival club members "entered the Apache Club uninvited and after some communication between club presidents, a physical altercation ensued."

The complaint continues, "The victims were physically beat up, held down, and held at gunpoint in order to be removed of their 'cuts' or motorcycle club patches or insignia."

The suspects allegedly stole guns, knives, and clothing from the victims. Investigators say they were taken by force or threat.


Deputies investigated and ended up arrested eight people on felony charges. According to the criminal complaints, these eight suspects are accused of taking part in the robbery or being present for it.

The following four suspects are charged with armed robbery: James Grim, 37, of Poca, Rhonda Brisendine, 47, of Elkview, Roger Lee Prater, II, 33, of Delbarton, and Gary Steven McDaniels, 34, of Stollings.

The following four suspects are charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery: James Overby, Jr, 47, of Lorado, Christopher Scragg, 45, of Charleston, Douglas Bailey, 51, of Charleston, and Linda Paetz, 51, of Temperance, Michigan.

Only five mugshots were available Monday morning. Brisendine, Prater II, McDaniels, Overby, and Paetz are in the South Central Regional Jail.

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Thursday, February 28, 2019

Mongols Motorcycle Club wins court case

Santa Ana, California, USA (February 28, 2019) BTN — A federal judge has rejected the U.S. government’s unprecedented efforts to gain control of the prized patches that adorn the vests worn by the Mongols motorcycle club, ruling that prosecutors attempts to seize the organization’s trademarks are unconstitutional.


The written ruling, released Thursday morning by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, marks a setback for federal prosecutors who two months ago persuaded a Santa Ana jury to find the Southern California-based club guilty of racketeering. Attorneys for the Mongols described the ruling as a victory for all motorcycle clubs.

At the center of the legal battle was control of the patches that depict the club’s name and an illustration of a ponytailed, Ghengis Khan-type motorcycle rider wearing sunglasses. “The Mongols motorcycle club was able to defend the First Amendment for themselves and all motorcycle clubs,” said Stephen Stubbs, an attorney for the Mongols.

Related | Mongols MC lose federal case against patch 
Related | Jury ready to decide Mongols MC fate over patch
The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately comment on the ruling. Carter’s ruling is unlikely to stand as the final word in a case that has drawn national attention. The first-of-its-kind effort to convict the Mongols organization, rather than specific members, of racketeering in order to strip members of their well-known insignia is almost certain to make its way before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and possibly to the U.S. Supreme Court. Carter upheld the racketeering conviction and tentatively agreed that the government can keep seized guns and ammunition from the Mongols.

But he ruled that efforts to take control of the Mongols’ insignia and patches violates the First Amendment’s freedom of speech and association protections and the Eighth Amendment’s protection against excessive fines. “Not everything repugnant is unconstitutional,” Carter said. “And what does the government plan to do with the tattoos of the (Mongols’ insignia and patch) on members’ backs, arms and other body parts? …

That certain individual members of the Mongol Nation displayed the symbols while committing violent crimes or were rewarded with other patches for the commission of crimes does not justify the government’s attempts to bootstrap a conviction of the motorcycle club into censorship of uncharged members or supporters.”

Attorneys for the Mongols have described the patches that adorn members’ leather “cuts” as the organization’s “Holy Grail,” and they have said that the government taking control of them would mark a “death penalty” for the group. “I’m happy that this is not a death sentence here,” said Attorney Joseph Yanny, who represented the Mongols in the racketeering trial. “But I don’t like the fact the club has been labeled a criminal organization.”

Prosecutors have argued that taking the Mongols’ trademark is the only way to stop the “cycle of crime” committed by club members. The Mongols have countered that the crimes were committed by “bad apples” who are no longer involved in the club. In December, jurors agreed that the Mongols organization engaged in drug trafficking, vicious assaults and murder.

Much of the violence – which included attacks, some fatal, in bars and restaurants in Hollywood, Pasadena, Merced, La Mirada, Wilmington and Riverside – was tied to a decades-long rivalry between the Mongols and the Hells Angels motorcycle club. Carter noted that the government has spent more than a decade attempting to take control of the Mongols’ trademark, at one point claiming it wanted to be able to stop members of the club and literally take their jackets off of their backs. “The government is not merely seeking a forfeiture of the ship’s sails,” Carter wrote. “In this prosecution, the United States is attempting to use (racketeering laws) to change the meaning of the ship’s flag.”

The Mongols, one of the nation’s largest motorcycle clubs, was formed in Montebello in the 1970s, and is now based in West Covina. Among those who testified on behalf of the club during the recent racketeering trial was Jesse Ventura, a former Minnesota governor and retired pro wrestler who joined the group in 1973 while still on active duty in the U.S. Navy.

The case stemmed from Operation Black Rain, a multi-agency investigation that involved several law enforcement agents infiltrating the Mongols. A separate, earlier case against specific Mongols members resulted in 77 people pleading guilty to racketeering-related charges.

SOURCE: Los Angeles Times

Monday, October 22, 2018

Bacchus MC: Sentencing begins for club members

Nova Scotia, Canada (October 22, 2018) BTN — A justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court has reserved his sentencing decision in the case of three members of the Bacchus Motorcycle Club who have been convicted of extortion and intimidation.

In convicting Patrick Michael James, 51, Duane Jamie Howe, 49, and David John Pearce, 44, Justice Peter Rosinski also said that the Bacchus motorcycle club is a criminal organization, the first time that designation has been made in Nova Scotia.



The men were convicted in a trial this summer. The convictions stem from incidents in 2012 involving a man whose identity is protected by a publication ban.

The man tried to open a chapter of the Brotherhood Motorcycle Club in Nova Scotia. It is not an outlaw gang, but it uses vests and patches similar to those worn by outlaw riders.

Man ordered to disband club

When the Bacchus members saw social media posts of the Brotherhood club, they ordered the man to disband the club and destroy the patches. He was to provide proof by showing the shredded patches to Bacchus members.

Later, Pearce and Howe spotted the man at a Bikers Down event. They confronted and threatened him, prompting the man to sell his motorcycles and install a panic alarm in his home.

Sentencing arguments began Monday

In his sentencing submissions, Crown prosecutor Glen Scheuer argued that the criminal organization designation was one reason the sentences should be substantial. He recommended a five-to-six year sentence for James and four-and-a-half to five-and-a-half year sentences for Howe and Pearce.

Scheuer submitted photographs taken from Pearce's Facebook profile which show the man wearing T-shirts and sporting decals on his motorcycle that were supportive of motorcycle gangs.

Scheuer said the social media posts included the phrases "Police and government are very corrupt" and "All cops are bastards." 

Bacchus tattoo in police photos

Patrick MacEwen, Pearce's lawyer, said that wearing clothing that supports these groups is not a crime and the clothes are readily available for purchase by any member of the public.

MacEwen also said that Pearce is showing a Bacchus tattoo with the dates 2010 to 2012 in one of the photos introduced by police. MacEwen said any member who leaves the gang in good standing must put an end date on his tattoo and that's what his client did.

MacEwen and the other two defence lawyers also pointed out that all three men have avoided any further run-ins with the law in six years it has taken the case to make its way through the courts.

He recommended a sentence of six months for Pearce, who was the only one of the three to accept the judge's invitation to address the court.

"Ever since when this happened I do regret that it happened," Pearce said. The Crown had argued that all three men showed no remorse for their crimes.

Trevor McGuigan, the lawyer for James, recommended a two-year sentence for his client.

McGuigan said James has been taking care of his father and breeding rare dogs, while avoiding any further criminal activity. McGuigan said there was no physical violence in this crime.

Pat Atherton represents Howe. He said his client should be eligible for the shortest possible sentence.

Atherton said if it wasn't prohibited by case law, he'd be arguing that Howe get a sentence in the community. Instead, he suggested a one-year sentence would be sufficient.

He questioned a forfeiture order the Crown had requested, saying there was no proof some of the items seized from Howe's home were associated with any crime.

He mentioned a brass ring with a one per cent symbol on it. Gangs like Bacchus and the Hells Angels are known to use the one per cent symbol to identify themselves as the one per cent of motorcycle riders who are considered outlaws.

Rosinski will hand down his decision Nov. 7.

SOURCE: CBC News

Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Another Outlaws MC Arrested Over Killing

Third biker arrested in slaying of rival club member 

LEESBURG, FL (June 28, 2017) —– A third biker wanted in the murder of a rival biker during Leesburg Bikefest weekend was arrested Tuesday.

Miguel Angel Torres III, 37, of Rockledge was the Outlaw Motorcycle Club member who reportedly forced David Russell James Donovan and his fellow Kingsmen MC chapter members out of the Circle K.

Torres allegedly put a knife to Donovan’s throat, directed him to the corner of the building and forced him to his knees before another Outlaws member, Marc Edward Knotts, shot him in the back, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Donovan later died of his injuries at a hospital.

Related | Outlaws MC member indicted for murder

Torres was charged with conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.

The heavily tattooed Torres remained in the Lake County Jail on Wednesday morning without bail. Torres, who had a warrant out for his arrest, was taken into custody at the Lake County courthouse.

Miguel Torres

The shooting occurred the night of April 29 at Circle K on West Main Street, a few miles west of Leesburg Bikefest going on in downtown Leesburg.

According to police and the prosecutor on the case, Torres, Jesus Alberto Marrero, 35, and Gregory Alan Umphress, 32, had confronted Donavan and three other Kingsmen in the store, demanded they give up their vests and club insignias and forced them outside when they refused.

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


They demanded the club insignias of those who refused.

But once in the parking lot, an Outlaws 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 (expletive).”

The Outlaws fled

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

Knotts, who was shot in the incident, and Marrero, 35, already have been indicted with principal to capital murder and kidnapping in the slaying.

Authorities are still looking for Umphress.


Tuesday, June 6, 2017

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.



Wednesday, November 30, 2016

All in Fun

Members of the Vagos MC in Southern California jesting another member 

Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Pagen's MC

Members of the Pagen's Motorcycle club

Wednesday, July 20, 2016

Feds Going After MC Colors

Federal Government moving forward to seize club colors

Washington, DC (July 19, 2016) Federal prosecutors are ramping up efforts to seize the trademarks of Motorcycle Clubs in California and possibly the Midwest in a renewed effort to target the groups “patches” that members wear on their jackets and vests.

A First Amendment obstacle course still could lie ahead, experts warn, as officials go after organizations with names like the “Mongols” and the misspelled “Devils Diciples.”

But in new legal filings, prosecutors are keeping alive tactics begun during the presidency of George W. Bush to try to cripple the groups by seizing their assets.

In a July 11 appellate court filing, prosecutors wrote that “A select group of the gang, so-called ‘full-patched’ members,” had obtained federal trademark protection for “Two marks used by the gang to identify members and to terrorize enemies.” The filing called the Mongols’ registration “An audacious, novel move.”


The two trademarks cover a logo and a name that summon the organization’s identity.

“Gang rules . . . broadly recognize that only full-patched members, that is, the constituents of Mongol Nation, have full authority to use the word and rider images,” prosecutors stated in the new 30-page brief.

The filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit seeks to reinstate an indictment dismissed two years ago by a trial judge. If prosecutors succeed, the Justice Department could eventually secure control of the trademarks associated with Southern California-based Mongols Motorcycle Club.

An attorney for the Mongols was in court Tuesday and could not be reached for comment. A Justice Department spokesman could not be reached.

The government’s appeal in the Mongols’ case is the second this year in which the potential seizure of trademarks has figured in federal efforts to curtail organizations that prosecutors contend are criminal enterprises, not just clubs for like-minded motorcycle enthusiasts.

Six weeks ago, a Michigan-based federal judge issued an order suggesting that trademarks claimed by a motorcycle outfit called the Devils Diciples were fair game, following a wide-ranging indictment  issued in 2012.

In his May 31 order, U.S. District Judge Robert H. Cleland ruled that one of the Devils Diciples’ defendants, who had pleaded guilty, would not be able to contest the potential forfeiture of any of the organization’s trademarks.

But Fritz Clapp, a Beverly Hills, California-based attorney who filed a trademark application for the Devils Diciples, said Tuesday that he was prepared to oppose any federal effort to seize the asset. “It is a subject of controversy,” Clapp said.

Full-patched members of the club identified themselves with patches, tattoos and insignia, including the word and rider images.

Conventional asset forfeiture is a popular tool for law enforcement. Assets worth more than $1.6 billion were deposited in the Justice Department’s Asset Forfeiture Fund during Fiscal 2015, according to the program’s most recent report.

The seized property ran the gamut, from a $1.3 million airplane taken in Denison, Texas, and $1.2 million in currency seized in Miami to $11 million in Bitcoin, the online currency, seized in San Francisco.

Intellectual property, though, has yet to become a common target for law enforcement, and the prospect of the government seizing names and logos raises myriad free-speech issues.


“The majority of Mongols have no criminal record and are not actually accused of anything except being Mongols,” Donald Charles Davis, who blogs under the name The Aging Rebel, said. “It would be both illegal and unfair to deny them of their constitutional rights based on Department of Justice propaganda.”

In 2008, then-U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien apparently broke new ground when he unveiled in Los Angeles a wide-ranging indictment of 79 Mongols for a variety of offenses. As part of his campaign, O’Brien sought the Mongols’ trademarks.

“If the court grants our request . . . then if any law enforcement officer sees a Mongol wearing his patch, he will be authorized to stop that gang member and literally take the jacket right off his back,” O’Brien said at the time.

The two trademarks cover the stylized name “Mongols” as well as the figure of a motorcycle rider wielding a sword. All but two of the original 79 defendants were eventually convicted.

A federal court, though, rejected the initial trademark forfeiture effort and ordered the Justice Department to pay $253,206 in legal fees to the attorneys who challenged it. Prosecutors returned with a new indictment of the Mongol Nation, which they described as a distinct legal entity.

A trial judge dismissed the Mongol Nation indictment last September, without getting to the potential trademark forfeiture issue, prompting the Justice Department to appeal.

If the Justice Department now succeeds in reviving the indictment, and eventually wins the criminal case, the trademark forfeiture issue roars back into play.

SOURCE: McClathy DC

Thursday, July 7, 2016

Mongols Bike Show 1986

Members of the Mongols MC pose for a group picture in 1986

Wheelie Time

A Hells Angel Showing Off

More counts added to indictment -Bandidos MC

San Antonio, Texas, (July 7, 2016) Federal prosecutors have added charges against two members of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club that include counts related to the killing of a man 14 years ago.

In an indictment partially unsealed Thursday, reputed vice president and San Antonio resident John Xavier Portillo  - already facing racketeering charges with alleged president Jeffrey Fay Pike of Houston and sergeant at arms Justin Cole Froster of San Antonio -- is charged with murder in the Jan. 31, 2002, shooting death of Robert Lara. Lara, 24, was gunned down Jan. 31, 2002, at a rest stop in Atascosa County.

F.B.I. agents stand by a home located at on San Antonio's South East Side

The new indictment also added a fourth defendant, Fredrick "Fast Fred" Cortez , alleging he was one of the shooters in Lara's killing.

Several years ago, Richard Steven Merla, 41, confessed to shooting Lara at a rest stop in Atascosa County, authorities said. The shooting was said to be in retaliation for the death of one of Merla's fellow Bandidos motorcycle club members three months earlier.

Bandidos MC items confiscated by Texas authorities

Merla is not a named defendant in the new federal indictment.

Merla received 40 years in prison in 2005 after pleading no contest to a murder charge in the death of Robert Quiroga, a retired boxer whom Merla repeatedly stabbed in northwest San Antonio a year earlier. Merla claimed it was in self-defense.

After Quiroga's killing, Portillo and other Bandidos held a press conference distancing the club from Merla and said Merla was not a Bandido, news stories show.

Sunday, June 5, 2016

Rebels MC killing their own?

Sydney, Australia (June 4, 2016) Rebels MC member Michael Davey was known as the Prince of Penrith, a title that earned him the praise of friends and fellow bikers alike.

But it appears this sense of brotherhood may have faltered in his final hours: police are investigating whether his comrades were behind his execution.

Mr Davey – nicknamed Ruthless – was gunned down on home turf in Sydney's west on March 30.
The 30 year old had been a stone's throw from the home he shared with his girlfriend in Stafford Street, Kingswood, when someone opened fire.

He had been a well-known member of the Rebels MC, members of which flocked in droves to pay their respects at his funeral.

Michael Davey in happier times

Davey had been on the police radar since his late teens and was facing trial for drug supply when he was killed.

Tattoos across his body pledged an allegiance to the club but Fairfax Media understands Mr Davey wanted to leave.

Homicide detectives are looking closely at a few potential motives for his death, including that Mr Davey was shot and killed under direction from his own club when he wanted to patch out.

However, police can't discount the possibility that a conflict between the Finks and Rebels motorcycle clubs in the city's north-west, or a disagreement stemming had something to do with his death.

Sources say he was close to Mark Easter, who held a level of seniority as sergeant at arms of the Rebels Sydney chapter.

Easter was executed nine months before his younger brother. Both men left behind young sons, whom friends say they cared for.

While the killings are thought to be unrelated, it is understood police believe Easter's murder was plotted from within the club after he put someone "off side".

Easter, remembered by friends as a "loving father and honest man", left his Little Bay home after having dinner with his partner Biancha Simpson in June 2015, and was not seen alive again.

Investigators say there wasn't anything out of the ordinary about him leaving the house that night, but they believe he was killed shortly afterwards.

Rebels MC at a glance

His body was dumped a few days later just off the Pacific Highway at Cowan, north of Sydney.

Police believe Easter's murderer didn't act alone.

"He is a fair-sized man and in order to dump his body, it would have required more than one person," Homicide Squad Detective Chief Inspector David Laidlaw said in April.

The club has been plagued by internal conflicts and patch outs ever since their national leader, Alex Vella, was left exiled in Malta when his Australian visa was cancelled.