Santa Ana, California, (January 11, 2019) BTN — A California jury decided Friday that the Mongols motorcycle club should be stripped of its trademarked logo in a first-of-its-kind verdict, federal prosecutors said.
The jury in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana jury previously found Mongol Nation, the entity that owns the image of a Mongol warrior on a chopper, guilty of racketeering and conspiracy.
The verdict caps an unusual decade-long quest by prosecutors to dismantle the gang responsible for drug dealing and murder by seizing control of the trademark they said was core to the clubs's identity. Club members were "empowered by these symbols that they wear like armor," Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Welk argued.
Attorney Joseph Yanny had argued that the organization didn't tolerate criminal activity and kicked out bad members.
He said the government targeted the group because of its large Mexican-American population and had attributed crimes of some into a "group conviction."
"These are ordinary people," Yanny said. "They are hardworking people. You don't see the Hells Angels here."
But jurors found the Mongols were a criminal enterprise responsible for murder, attempted murder and drug dealing.
In addition to the logos, the jury found Friday that the government could keep various items bearing the mark, including vests, clothing and documents such as the Mongols’ constitution — as well as a number of guns, ammunition and armored vests it had seized in earlier raids against the group. But the jury denied forfeiture rights for belt buckles, jewelry, lighters, bandannas, stickers, and motorcycle parts — apparently unable to find the “required nexus” between the items and the group’s criminal activity.
Friday’s verdict confounded Mongols members and their lawyers.
Stephen Stubbs, the club’s general counsel, described the outcome as “very strange” because the jury did not find the logo forfeitable on the count of racketeering, but did so on the racketeering conspiracy count.
“How can we make sense out of that?” Mr. Stubbs said, adding that it appeared to be a compromise verdict, one agreed upon so the jury could go home after long days of deliberations. “So, we continue to fight so that Americans can’t be banned by the government from wearing symbols.”
The effort to take the logo followed the convictions of 77 club members on racketeering charges in 2008.
The convictions were the result of an investigation in which four male agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives infiltrated the club and four female agents posed as their girlfriends.
Willoughby, Ohio (January 10, 2019) BTN — A judge on Thursday sentenced a fired
Euclid police officer to five days in jail for pulling a gun during a bar fight
with suspected members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club. Todd Gauntner, 32, previously pleaded guilty to using
weapons while intoxicated, a first-degree misdemeanor, during an Aug. 24, 2017
incident at a Willoughby bar.
Willoughby Municipal Court Judge Marisa Cornachio sentenced
Gauntner to 180 days in prison, but she suspended 175 days. She also sentenced
him to one year on probation, and barred him from possessing a gun during that
period, according to court records.
Gauntner will report to jail Friday morning, court records
say.
His attorney, Spiros Gonakis Jr., could not immediately be
reached for comment Thursday afternoon. Gauntner fought with two suspected member of the Hells
Angels at Frank and Tony’s Place on 2nd Street near Clark Avenue in Willoughby,
according to police reports.
Gauntner pulled out a gun and held it to one of the men’s
head, police said. The trio also fought in the bar and broke several bottles.
Euclid Mayor Kirsten Holzheimer Gail fired Gauntner on Sept.
17, saying in her resignation letter that he “put [himself] and many bar patrons
at a significant risk of substantial harm due to [his] reckless behavior.” The other two men involved in the bar fight -- Bradley
Peterson, 40, and Dustin Wolf, 28 – each pleaded guilty to aggravated
disorderly conduct. Both men were fined $200 and given 30-day jail sentences
that were suspended.
Gauntner was a four-year veteran of the Euclid Police
Department who was once honored for saving the life of a man shot 16 times. He
is also a U.S. Marine Corps. Veteran who served two tours of duty in Afghanistan.
The bar fight was the second time Gauntner was charged with
a crime involving a gun. He previously pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm
while he was off-duty on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 26, 2015, in Sims Park in
Euclid. In that case, he told investigators he was grieving the
death of a family member. A witness reported that Gauntner was “blowing off
steam” by shooting into Lake Erie.
A Euclid Municipal Court judge ordered him to pay a $235
fine and to attend counseling in that case. The Euclid Police Department also
suspended him for 90 days following the incident.
Tampa, Florida (January 10, 2019) BTN – Court documents that
were recently made public revealed shocking facts about the 2017 assassination
of Pasco Outlaws motorcycle club leader Paul Anderson, who was shot by rival club members on motorcycles in rush hour traffic.
The execution-style killing
put law enforcement on high alert that a motorcycle club war was brewing. It
also led to numerous arrests. Some of the cases are inching toward trial.
While motorcycle clubs are far from their heyday, they’re
still around in the Tampa Bay area. Many may not realize it, but motorcycle clubs actually have a long and dark history in Tampa Bay that includes
everything from from prostitution and murders to a shootout with deputies at
their old Tampa clubhouse near Busch Gardens.
Who are the Outlaws?
The Outlaws, or American Outlaw Association,are the dominant outlaw motorcycle club in
Florida, and one of the “Big Four” biker clubs in the United States (the others
are Hells Angels, the Pagans and the Bandidos). They are classified as a
violent gang by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Biker culture started to emerge after World War II. The
Outlaws formed in Chicago in 1959 and now have chapters in over two dozen
countries. Most of the members can be found throughout the United States,
Germany, Australia and England.
Florida has been home to various Outlaw chapters since the
1960's, and the club has been active in Tampa as early as the ’70s.The most well-documented Outlaw activity in
the state has taken place in Key West and other parts of South Florida.
Outlaws are identified by “Charlie,” the red and black logo
of a skull over crossed pistons, which appears on member’s uniforms.
To be
initiated a patched member, prospective Outlaws must go through a probation
period that includes coming to meetings, also known as attending church.
According to Times archives, the logo is protected “like a valuable trademark.”
One Florida-based member, Stephen Lemunyon, was even accused of beating a man
nearly to death for falsely claiming association with the logo.
Club membership is limited to men who ride cruiser-stye
motorcycles with engines of 1,000 ccs or more, such as Harley- Davidson.
Women
are seen as property. Outlaws have been known to trade female supporters for
items like drugs and force them into prostitution or topless dancing.
The club’s motto is “God forgives, Outlaws don’t.”
Murders, shootouts, firebombings: A history of the Outlaws in Tampa Bay
Outlaws were suspects in dozens of murder cases throughout
the state in the ’70's and ’80's. But members of the club were skilled in
quieting witnesses, and for decades law enforcement struggled to pin charges on
them.
In the 1990's, federal prosecutors concocted a plan to wipe
out the club for good. Instead of trying to nail down individuals for specific
crimes, prosecutors said the Outlaws' crimes, such as murder and extortion,
were “part of an ongoing criminal conspiracy.” This led to several successful
convictions. But the goal to exterminate the Outlaws failed over and over again
— the club is still present in the area.
Some notable moments from the Outlaws' history in Tampa Bay:
In 1976, law enforcement stopped by the club’s Tampa
headquarters, located about two miles west of Busch Gardens, with a narcotics
search warrant. The visit ended with a shootout. Three Hillsborough sheriff’s
deputies and one Outlaw were shot, and one of the deputies was left paralyzed.
In 1983 and 1988, dozens of club leaders were convicted in
Jacksonville and Fort Lauderdale. One was indicted in 1989 for “threatening to
skin the tattoo off the arm of a rival biker," while another allegedly
disemboweled a person who cooperated with police and threw the corpse into a
lake. Though these busts gutted Outlaw membership, the club maintained active
chapters in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Daytona Beach.
From 1995 to 1997, several cases made Tampa the “epicenter
of Outlaws prosecution,” the Associated Press reported. Federal prosecutors won
convictions or guilty pleas from 30 Outlaws from Tampa Bay and South Florida.
At least 20 were convicted on charges of racketeering, drugs and weapons
charges from ’95 to ’97. During the trial at the end of 1997, prosecutors took
aim at the regional leaders of the club to try to eliminate it.
“They’re like cancer," said Terry Katz of the Maryland
State Police in 1995. “If there are any cells left, it will come back, and
regenerate.”
In 1995, Florida had six Outlaws chapters -- the most out of
any state. Sixteen Outlaws from the Tampa, St. Pete and Daytona Beach chapters
were arrested on charges including racketeering, kidnapping, possessing illegal
weapons, running drugs and firebombing a rival club’s clubhouses.
The list of accusations was long and colorful: Jeffery “Big
Jeff” Hal Sprinkle was accused of purchasing a 15-year-old girl “to be his
personal property.” Tampa Outlaws president Edgar “Troll” Ruof was accused of
shooting a man in the head in North Carolina 20 years prior. Other Outlaws
allegedly hired members of the Bandidos motorcycle club to kill a Tampa police
officer.
According to the Times archives, the 1995 federal trial in
Tampa was one of the most important prosecutions of a biker club in the
country. By the end, a federal jury convicted 14 of 16 members.
In 1996, authorities carried out Operation Silverspoke and
Shovelhead and arrested seven Outlaws on accusations that they were running a
16-year crime scheme. The members were arrested on an 18-count federal
indictment aimed at taking out the upper ranks of the club. Authorities accused
the Outlaws of eight murders, three bombings and 17 drug charges.
St. Petersburg-based Outlaw Christopher Maiale was targeted
for distributing meth and extortion for threats against two people. After the
arrests, U.S. Attorney Charles Wilson said, “We think this eliminates the
Outlaw club as a significant threat to Florida.”
In 1997, four Outlaws went on trial: Maiale, then 36; former
Tampa Outlaws president Clarence “Smitty" Smith, then 53, of Lighthouse
Point; James Evan “Pinball” Agnew, then 45, of Hollywood; and Bobby “Breeze”
Mann, of West Palm Beach. By November, the government had spent nearly $250,000
bringing the case against the Outlaws. The prosecution resulted in four
convictions.
In 2001, international Outlaws leader Harry “Taco” Bowman
received two life sentences plus 83 years in a federal trial in Tampa, toppling
his 20-year reign of absolute power. Bowman became one of the top national and
international leaders of the club in the ‘80's. He was indicted in 1997 and
remained on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list for two years. Authorities
tracked him down while he was visiting family in Detroit in 1999.
Former Outlaws testified against Bowman in exchange for
lighter sentences. A stream of tattooed bikers admitted to blowing up
rival clubhouses and throwing delinquent club members off of motel balconies.
By the end, jurors found Bowman guilty of using clubhouses in St. Petersburg,
Tampa, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale and Daytona Beach for gang activities. The list
of crimes includes fire bombings, drug trafficking, ordering killings of rival club members, and the transfer of firearms including machine guns and
silencers.
In 2003, Bowman’s successor, James Lee “Frank” Wheeler, was
convicted in U.S. district court in Tampa. He was the second international
Outlaws president to be convicted in Tampa. Wheeler got 16 1/2 years for
racketeering, drug distribution and obstruction of justice. Wheeler’s criminal
record stretches back to 1967. Once again, prosecutors cut deals with former
Outlaws in exchange for information that could be used to put the leader away.
In 2015, a violent shootout involving cops and at least six clubs in
Waco, Texas, left nine bikers dead in a strip mall parking lot and resulted in
the arrest of 177 members. The slayings prompted Tampa Bay Times criminal
justice reporter Dan Sullivan to investigate motorcycle gang culture in Tampa
Bay. He found that biker gangs are still dangerous and widespread in Florida,
though the clubs became more secretive after all of the public attention they
received in previous decades. An expert on biker gangs estimated that Florida
had probably 800-1,000 members. Many have day jobs, from operating strip clubs
to practicing medicine or law.
In September 2016, a bar fight broke out in Key West. About
15 Outlaws members were suspected, including Hillsborough fire rescue medic
Clinton Neal Walker, then 33, of Bradenton.
Walker was arrested and placed on paid administrative leave,
but his actions sparked a series of countywide ordinances that prohibited
Hillsborough County employees from participating in motorcycle clubs or other
gang activity. In a memo, county administrator Mike Merrill said being a member
of a criminal organization was “contrary to the mission of public service.”
Walker had already been placed on administrative leave three
months prior to the Key West fight -- he had joined in another bar fight in May
and brawled with a St. Petersburg police officer.
After the new ordinances were
in place, he became the first county employee to be investigated for gang
activity.
In January 2018, Walker was fired after an internal investigation
revealed he had worn his firefighter uniform while off-duty in order to help
another club member, James Costa, who was shot while riding his bike in July
2017.
Costa was president of the St. Petersburg Outlaws and had recently
retired as a Hillsborough County Fire Rescue captain after the media publicized
his ties to the Outlaws.
December 2017: While idling in his truck at a red light
during rush hour, Cross Bayou Outlaws chapter leader Paul Anderson was executed
by members of a rival gang.
Three members of the 69ers Motorcycle club were arrested on
charges of first-degree murder. According to Pasco Sheriff Chris Nocco, Allan
“Big Bee” Guinto had been tracking Anderson in a scout vehicle, while
Christopher Brian “Durty” Cosimano and Michael Dominick “Pumpkin” Mencher
followed on motorcycles. Anderson sat in his vehicle near the Suncoast Parkway
and State 54 interchange.
Cosimano knocked on the truck window to get his
attention before shooting Anderson, deputies said. After the arrests, Nocco said he worried that a war could
erupt between the clubs. “There’s no doubt in my mind there’s going to be more
violence because of this,” Nocco said.
Thousands of bikers showed up for a funeral procession to
honor Anderson.
The three 69ers are still in jail. Two others, Erick “Big E”
Robinson, and Cody “Little Savage” Wesling, were also indicted. If found
guilty, each man would face up to life in prison, Dan Sullivan reported.
The court documents that were recently released showed that
the killing was prompted by a fight at a local brewery between Outlaws and
members of the 69′ers -- who identify their local group as the “Killsborough”
Chapter. The 69′ers were particularly upset because the Outlaws had stolen some
of their uniforms during the fight.
First, the documents state, the 69′ers tried to assassinate
an Outlaws leader by shooting Costa as he drove his Harley across the Sunshine
Skyway Bridge. He was able to escape. Weeks later, the Outlaws clubhouse in St.
Petersburg was destroyed in a fire that the 69′ers are suspected of setting.
Several months later, Anderson was shot and killed.
Times senior researcher John Martin contributed to this
report.
Montreal, Canada (January 9, 2019) BTN – More than 150
police officers were mobilized early Wednesday morning in a series of raids in
eastern Quebec and New Brunswick.
The operation targeted a suspected drug-trafficking ring
that police say is directly linked to high-ranking members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club.
Investigators from the Sûreté du Québec’s anti-organized
crime unit carried out 35 searches, police said. However, no arrests were made. Police say the drug-trafficking network is particularly
active in the Bas-Saint-Laurent, Gaspé and Îles-de-la-Madeleine regions.
Ann Mathieu, a SQ spokesperson, said police searched 15
homes, two businesses and 18 vehicles.
In Quebec, searches took place in Longueuil, Brossard,
Drummondville, Scott, Ste-Marguerite, Mascouche, Blainville and St-Jérôme.
In New Brunswick, RCMP officers took part in the operation
in Edmundston and Ste-Anne-de-Madawaska.
Santa Ana, California, (January 9, 2019) BTN — Allowing the
government to take control of the Mongols motorcycle club’s prized
patches would be a “death sentence” for the organization, an attorney for the motorcycle club argued on Tuesday.
It is a muscled Genghis Khan-like figure on a chopper, part
of a set of patches which members say display their brotherhood with other
members.
Unknown Mongols MC members
A jury recently convicted the organization on racketeering
and conspiracy charges.
Now that same jury must decide if there is a link between
the patches and the racketeering acts. If so, the Mongols must give up what is
called their collective membership marks, their patches. The forfeiture would
be a penalty for outlaw activity.
The Mongols did not speak to the media Tuesday while the
case was in trial, but days ago they described the
significance of the badges.
"It means everything to us. This is a lifestyle, a
culture and a way of life," said David Santillan, national president of
the Mongols Motorcycle Club.
The Mongols say that the criminal convictions sprang from
acts committed a decade ago, under the leadership of a president that the
Mongols kicked out themselves .
"If it wasn't sad it would be funny, these things have
nothing to do with alleged racketeering," lead Mongols attorney Joe Yanny
told the jury.
Retired ATF undercover agent Darrin Kozlowski testified that
members were allowed to buy patches or had them awarded according to what they
carried out for the club.
Prosecutor Steve Welk told the jury that the marks serve as
a unifying symbol for an organization that deals drugs, intimidates, engages in
violence and even commits murder.
The Mongols say the racketeering acts and other offenses
were committed by bad apples, not the entire membership.
It's a case like none other undertaken by the U.S.
government. If the jury finds for the prosecution a separate proceeding will
follow to determine whether compelled forfeiture of the patches would violate
the Mongols' First Amendment rights.
London, Ontario (January 8, 2019) BTN — One person remains on
the lam, yet two people were arrested and a slew of items was seized —
including drugs and three Hells Angels vests — during police raids in London
over the weekend.
Police are still looking for a 27-year-old woman, but made
the two arrests and seized the drugs during raids on Saturday morning in London.
Provincial police executed the search warrants with the help
of the Organized Crime Enforcement Bureau, the Biker Enforcement Unit, London
police’s Guns and Drugs Section, and the RCMP.
Between two homes on Wharncliffe Road North and Springmeadow
Road and a storage locker on Scanlon Street, officers seized $15,400 worth of
cocaine, 12 Percocet pills, two Tasers, brass knuckles, drug packaging, weigh
scales, cell phones, cash, and three Hell’s Angels vests.
27-year-old female suspect sought and 2 people charged after 154 grams of cocaine, other drugs, weapons and Hell’s Angels vests seized by #OPP, @lpsmediaoffice and @RCMPONT in London. If you can help, call 1-888-310-1122 or @CSOntario anonymously 1-800-222-8477. pic.twitter.com/RTPKnjvYlx
Sean Burger, a 47-year-old London man and known Hell’s Angel
member, has been charged with possession of cocaine and Percocet for the
purpose of trafficking, possession of a firearm or ammunition, and possession
of a prohibited device. He appeared in court Monday.
Jessica Boloshetshenko, a 33-year-old London woman, has been
charged with possession of Percocet and unauthorized possession of a weapon.
She’s expected to appear in court Feb. 15.
Police say they continue to search for a 27-year-old woman.
St. Marys, New South Wales, Australia (January 8, 2019) BTN — A senior
member of the St Marys Bandidos Motorcycle Club has fronted Penrith
Court on Monday after he allegedly threatened a St Marys police officer last
week.
Police allege the 29-year-old St Clair man went to the St Marys
police station on Thursday and threatened one of the officers.
The man was being investigated after Strike Force Raptor
detectives raided his home in November of last year and allegedly seized drugs,
various prescription medications and a gun safe containing a 12-guage shotgun,
ammunition and various documentations.
The raid was part of ongoing operation Strike Force Raptor
which served a firearms prohibition order to the then 28-year-old man at a St
Clair home on Saturday November 3.
Willoughby, Ohio (January 7, 2019) BTN — A judge is expected to sentence a fired Euclid police officer Thursday after he pleaded guilty to pulling a gun on suspected member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club during a bar brawl.
Todd Gauntner, a 32-year-old who was fired after the Aug. 24 fight, pleaded guilty Nov. 29 in Willoughby Municipal Court to using weapons while intoxicated, a first-degree misdemeanor.
He could be sentenced anywhere from a fine to 180 days in jail.
Willoughby Municipal Court Judge Marisa Cornachio ordered that Gauntner is not allowed to own a gun and set his sentencing hearing for Thursday.
Gauntner started an argument with two suspected members of the motorcycle club — Dustin Wolf, 28, and Brandley Peterson, 40— at Frank and Tony’s Place bar on 2nd Street in Willoughby, according to police reports.
Gauntner pulled out a gun and put it to one of the men’s head, according to police.
Gail wrote in a letter sent to Gauntner notifying him of his firing that that he had the choice to “remove himself from the situation but failed to do so.”
“You put yourself and many bar patrons at a significant risk of substantial harm due to your reckless behavior."
Wolf and Peterson both pleaded guilty to aggravated disorderly conduct and were fined $200. Their 30-day jail sentences were suspended.
Gauntner was a four-year veteran of the Euclid Police Department once honored for saving the life of a man shot 16 times. He is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served two tours in Afghanistan.
Gauntner previously was convicted of a crime involving a gun in 2015.
He pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm in an incident that happened Thanksgiving at Sims Park in Euclid.
In that case, he told investigators he was dealing with the death of a family member the park and fired shots from two guns into Lake Erie.
A Euclid Municipal Court judge ordered him to pay a $235 fine and to attend counseling in that incident. Euclid police suspended him for 90 days.
Amsterdam (January 6, 2019) BTN — On May 29, it will be
clear whether the motorcycle club Hells Angels will be banned. Then the Utrecht
District Court will rule on the civil law case filed by the Public Prosecution
Service.
The banning of the Angels, who established themselves as the
first outlaw motorcycle club in the Netherlands in 1978, is a long
cherished wish of justice. In the mid-nineties, reports were already received
from members who were engaged in internationally organized crime, including
drug trafficking.
When hundreds of members accompanied the funeral procession
of Hells Angel member Sam Klepper in 2000, this led to
irritation among the police and judiciary. They saw it as a public
glorification of crime.
In 2004, for the first time among politicians, there were
noises for a ban on the Hells Angels. That year the bodies of three members
were riddled with bullets found in a Limburg stream. A few months later Hells
Angels founder Willem van Boxtel ('Big Willem') was honorably discharged after
he was arrested on suspicion of preparing an attack on Willem
Holleeder.
An attempt by the judiciary in 2006 to ban the Dutch
departments of the Hells Angels stranded three years later with the Supreme
Court. The latter judged that individual members were guilty of 'socially
undesirable behavior', but that it could not be sufficiently demonstrated that
the motor club as an association was criminal.
Justice is turning its backs this time at the foreign
corporation Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and the Dutch subdivision Hells Angels
Motorcycle Club Holland. According to justice, these constitute a danger to
public order. A file of hundreds of pages, in which the suspected criminal
activities of the club and its members are described, must provide evidence for
this.
The civil procedure, which will be dealt with in March, is
separate from the criminal case that last year was conducted against three
members of the Haarlem branch. In July they were found guilty of, among other
things, violence, extortion, threats and possession of weapons and were
punished with sentences of 5 to 9 years.
The court prefers not to violate the basic right of
association, but previous civil proceedings against the Bandidos and Satudarah
led to a victory for justice. Satudarah was banned last year, the Bandidos at
the end of 2017 - the ban continued on appeal. This means that members of both
clubs may no longer be active in any way. Ex-members can no longer wear their
vests in public and the creation of a new club under the same name is not
possible.
Marysville, WA (January 2, 2019) BTN — The North County
Chapter of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club helped to collect more than 3,700
pounds of food for the Marysville Community Food Bank this December.
The club’s food drive was held on Dec. 15 in Marysville at
the Lucky 13 Saloon and helped to bring in a total of around 3,760 pounds of
food in addition to $1,461 raised from items auctioned at their event.
This was the first time that the local club has decided to
put on a holiday food drive and Bandido Milkman Josh Leathers, a member of the
club and one of the main organizers of the event, was happy with how it went. “Overall I believe that the food drive was a success,” he
said.
From left, Bandido Roadman Will Holloway, Marysville food bank CPA Robyn Warren, food bank director Dell Deierling and Bandido Milkman Josh Leathers.
The club had decided they wanted to help locals this holiday
season and decided to try a food drive. “We wanted to give back to the community so we chose to give
to the local food bank,” said Leathers. “They do a lot of good work for the less fortunate in the
community,” he said.
The collected food helps the Marysville Community Food Bank
provide their Christmas baskets to local individuals and families in need. The food bank typically serves more than 500 families during
their Christmas basket giveaways each year.
Food drives during the holidays also help stock the food
bank going into next year as well, said Dell Deierling, director of the
Marysville Community Food Bank.
Donations, such as from the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, help
the food bank continue serving into the new year and typically keep the shelves
stocked for months to come.
“The Marysville Community Food Bank provides groceries to
about 300 families on an average week,” said Deierling. “Nearly one person in 10 in Marysville/Tulalip/Lakewood
utilizes the food bank at least once during the course of the year,” he said.
From left, Casper James Jennings, Bandido Probationary Roach Scott Caudel and Bandido Probationary Wizard Tol McAleese.
Leathers said he was glad that people came together to work
on the food drive. “I would say I enjoyed bringing everyone together in the
community, including motorcycle clubs and other civilians,” he said.
Deierling appreciated the help from the local club as well.
“It was incredible to ride up to the Lucky 13 Saloon and see
rows of Harley-Davidson's, a flurry of bikers socializing and a trailer awaiting
the bounty of food that was stacked inside the bar and being carried up to a
scale to be weighed,” he said. “This was an amazing first-time event that I sure hope
becomes and annual tradition.”
Leathers said that the club is currently considering if they
should run the food drive again next year. “We are looking into that right now and will have a decision
in the next couple of months,” he said.
New York City, NY (December 31, 2018) BTN — A food deliveryman
was punched in the face outside the Hells Angels MC's clubhouse in the
East Village Monday, police said. The 22-year-old victim was attacked on East Third Street near
Second Avenue outside the clubs’s headquarters about 2 a.m. Monday.
Cops said the deliveryman parked in front of a row of
motorcycles to deliver food to a nearby address. A 60-year-old man told him he
couldn’t park there, cops say.
Hells Angels MC Clubhouse
The victim refused to move and a second man in his 30's
punched him in the face. He declined medical treatment. Nobody has been arrested.
It wasn’t the first time members have allegedly attacked
outsiders over parking spaces in front of the clubhouse.
In December 2016, Hells Angel MC member Anthony Iovenitti was
arrested for shooting a 25-year-old man during a wild brawl after the victim
moved an orange parking cone club members use to reserve public parking spaces
for themselves.
David Martinez survived but had a bullet lodged in his
spine.
Odessa, Florida (December 31, 2018) BTN — The 69'ers
Motorcycle Club is a nationwide organization whose members pride themselves on
being part of the one percent — that is, the small fraction of bikers who shirk
society’s rules.
In the Tampa area, they called themselves the “Killsborough”
chapter. Inductees adopted names like “Pumpkin” and “Durty” and “Big Beefy.” They nurtured what prosecutors say was a criminal enterprise
focused on narcotics distribution. Last year, according to a federal
indictment, they graduated to murder.
A lone Harley-Davidson Motorcycle belonging to Club member
Their target was Paul Anderson.
Anderson was president of the Cross Bayou chapter of the
Outlaws Motorcycle Club, the predominant one-percenter club in the eastern
United States. Anderson’s brazen slaying in December 2017 during rush hour
on the Suncoast Parkway rattled local law enforcement. Sheriff's officials
warned of more violence.
What authorities didn’t reveal, though, was the story of a
deliberate campaign of violent retribution. That tale has since been spelled
out in court documents and transcripts related to the federal racketeering case
against five members of the 69'ers.
It all started when someone stole a couple of vests.
Allan Burt Guinto was a 69'er. They called him “Big Beefy,”
all 250 pounds of him. In a photograph obtained by law enforcement, the Brandon
man stands in a sleeveless black vest with a miniature Confederate flag behind
him and a long white, semi-circular patch on his side reading, “Killsborough.”
The patch, known as a “rocker” is how one-percenters
identify themselves and their clubs. The vests feature the 69’ers logo — a
red-tongued wolf, and often, an interlocked 6 and 9.
Guinto, 27, and another Killsborough member were wearing
their vests the night of April 18, 2017, when they attended a “bike night” at
the Local Brewing Company restaurant in Palm Harbor.
The Outlaws were there, too. And they didn’t take kindly to
the two 69'ers. The pair suffered a beating from a dozen sets of fists and
boots. Then the Outlaws took their cherished vests, according to court
documents.
Word got back to the other Killsborough members. Christopher
“Durty” Cosimano — their president, according to prosecutors — vowed they would
take the lives of two Outlaws in retaliation for the thefts.
Within a few months, prosecutors said, they made their first
try.
It all happened to James "Jimbo" Costa in the span
of 18 minutes one warm, breezy summer evening as he drove his Harley Davidson motorcycle
south across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge then north on U.S 41 into Hillsborough
County. Costa was a captain and a career firefighter with
Hillsborough County. He was also president of the St. Petersburg chapter of the
Outlaws Motorcycle Club, according to law enforcement. He retired from
firefighting in 2016 after news reports about his involvement with the club.
On July 25, 2017, he donned his black leather vest with the
Outlaws' logo — a skull and crossed pistons — and left a meeting in Pinellas
County.
A photograph shows Costa entering the Skyway at 11:14 p.m.
Fourteen seconds later, a white Chevrolet van appeared behind him. The van,
investigators learned, was registered to Cosimano, according to court records. Costa crossed the Hillsborough County line just before 11:32
p.m. and the van sped past. Someone inside fired a gun.
The van made a U-turn, Costa later told sheriff’s deputies,
then more gunshots. Costa ran, bleeding, to a nearby trailer park and called
911. Sheriff’s deputies used the bridge toll records to identify
Cosimano’s van. Deputies took DNA swabs and fingerprints from inside, but made
no arrests. Six days later, Pasco County Sheriff's Office investigators
wrote in a search warrant affidavit that Cosimano planned to assassinate Paul
Anderson.
Sheriff's deputies visited Anderson at home. They told him
they had heard about a hit placed on him. Anderson didn't seem surprised. "Paul advised there were a lot of people that wanted to
kill an Outlaw," according to the affidavit. He repeatedly denied knowing Cosimano, but still had a
message for him. "Tell him good luck," Anderson said, according to
the affidavit.
Deputies also interviewed Cosimano, but he denied knowing
Anderson or plotting against him, the affidavit said. Almost four weeks later, the Outlaws clubhouse in St.
Petersburg went up in flames. Footage played on TV news shows a fireball
engulfing the two-story stucco building on 18th Avenue S. In federal court
documents, prosecutors say Cosimano and Guinto set the blaze. On Dec. 21, 2017, Paul Anderson rode north in his pickup
truck along the Suncoast Parkway.
Department of Transportation toll cameras captured him at
4:53 p.m. as he cruised down the exit ramp to State Road 54. Seconds later, the
same cameras spotted two men on motorcycles, both with their license tags
covered. The riders wore black, their faces covered in bandanas and sunglasses.
One man wore a glossy German military-style helmet. They pulled up on either
side of Anderson's truck as he stopped at a traffic light, waiting to turn
left.
The helmeted man stepped off the bike, walked to the
driver's window and tapped on the glass. Then, before a handful of rush-hour
drivers, he pulled a gun. Bullets shattered the truck's windows. Anderson was
shot five times.
Images of the bikers saturated local news and
prompted a confidential informer to call law enforcement.
The informer told investigators Guinto contacted him after
the murder and asked for help getting rid of the gun. Investigators later
equipped the informer with a hidden camera, which he used to secretly record a
conversation with Guinto. Guinto admitted he had been in a car behind Anderson's truck
before the shooting, according to an arrest affidavit. He said he'd watched
Cosimano shoot Anderson, and that a second man, Michael "Pumpkin" Mencher,
52, was standing by in case anything went wrong. He said he was proud of the
killers, according to the affidavit. Federal agents already had reason to suspect the 69'ers.
Hours after the assassination, they set up surveillance on a
Riverview home rented to Erick "Big E" Robinson, 46. They reported
hearing mechanical sounds, which they suspected to be gang members taking
motorcycles apart. Mencher was later seen leaving the home on one of the two
motorcycles in the Suncoast Parkway surveillance images, investigators said.
They later searched the home and found the second bike, ridden by Cosimano,
they said.
Both bikes had been modified to make them less identifiable,
prosecutors said.
Within days, Cosimano, Mencher and Guinto were arrested.
Months later came a federal indictment alleging murder in the aid of a
racketeering and narcotics conspiracy, among other charges. The indictment
roped in Robinson, whom prosecutors said was in the car with Guinto and helped
dispose of evidence, and a fifth man, Cody "Little Savage" Wesling,
said to be directly behind Anderson's truck. Wesling, 28, was a "prospect," who was seeking to
become a full member of the 69'ers. Before his arrest, he was also a Polk
County firefighter.
Prosecutors discussed seeking the death penalty for the
group but ultimately ruled it out.
All five men remain jailed. If found guilty, each faces up
to life in prison.
Australia (December
27, 2018) BTN — After playing the Toronto International Film Festival back in
2017, the Australian motorcycle club drama formerly known as 1% is finally coming to
theaters, but with a new title and an early 2019 release date.
The film is now known as "Outlaws", and it follows Matt Nable as the Copperheads motorcycle club leader
Knuck who has been busy doing a three-year stint in prison.
Meanwhile, Paddo
(Ryan Corr) has been keeping everything in order, even turning quite the
handsome profit for the club. So when Knuck returns, there’s a bit of a
conflict as to whether Paddo should keep leading, or if they go back under the
old leader. Violence and biker loving ensues, as you can see in the Outlaws trailer
below.
The trailer doesn’t bring anything fresh to the table when
it comes to the motorcycle club drama. Of course there’s dissension among the club, and of course there are plenty of girlfriends supporting the dudes in this club,
and of course they have fun in between bar fights and stand-offs at gun point.
This is a motorcycle club movie! That explains why The Playlist wrote in their
review last year when the movie was still called 1%:
But maybe audiences will see something they like in this
movie. After all, even though the "Motorcycle Gang" subgenre has tropes, perhaps
there are enough people out there who don’t get enough of them to really be
frustrated by a lack of originality. Or maybe there are audiences who just
don’t care and will watch it anyway.
After all, Sons of Anarchy stuck around
for years and Mayans MC picked up the mantle and delivers more of the same.
Audiences seem to like feeling comfortable more than they like originality, and
that’s the way the cookie crumbles. The Biker Trash Network placed this under the tags of Propaganda and Cartoon
Victoria, B.C. (December 27, 2018) BTN — The president
of the Devils Army Motorcycle Club in Campbell River will find out Jan. 10 if
he will be released on bail. Richard Ernest Alexander was charged in October with the
first-degree murder of mixed martial arts fighter John Dillon Brown in March
2016.
The 30-year-old Saanich man was found dead inside his car
near the west side of the one-way bridge to Sayward, about 75 kilometres
northwest of Campbell River, on March 12, 2016.
Alexander, 63, applied to be released on bail during a
four-day hearing held in early December in B.C. Supreme Court. The judge
reserved her decision until Jan. 10. A two-week preliminary inquiry is set for September.
Brown, a father of four, was last seen alive on March 11,
2016, leaving a home in Campbell River in his 2009 Honda Accord. Alexander was arrested after a joint investigation by B.C.’s
anti-gang task force, the Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit of B.C. and
the Vancouver Island Integrated Major Crime Unit.
The Special Enforcement Unit said the investigation involved
more than 200 police officers.
On Aug. 10, 2017, about 60 officers raided the Devils Army
clubhouse on Petersen Road in Campbell River in connection with Brown’s
killing. The Devils Army, active in Campbell River since 2009, is a
support club for the Haney Hells Angels chapter, with five full-patch members
and two prospective members, according to the Special Enforcement Unit.
At the time of the raid, Alexander told a Times Colonist
reporter: “I don’t know what’s up myself — no comment.” There is no information to suggest that Brown, a semi-pro
mixed martial arts fighter, was a member or associate of the Devils Army or the
Hells Angels, the Special Enforcement Unit said after the August 2017 search.
Alexander is one of the founding members of the Devils Army
Motorcycle Club, which the Special Enforcement Unit described as an outlaw
group.
Corpus Christi,TX (December 23, 2018) BTN — The Bandidos motorcycle club in Corpus Christi donated toys to Driscoll Children’s Hospital earlier this week.
The motorcycle club held toy drives at local stores around the coastal bend for children that have to spend Christmas at the hospital.
Bandidos MC members loading up truck with toys to be donated
“It’s all about the kids, man. It’s Christmas time, it’s about kids and to us it’s a huge honor to us to do something for the community,” said Marty Pickett, Secretary of Bandidos Corpus Christi Chapter.
All 18 Bandidos members chipped in and filled up a 24-foot trailer with toys.
Rockford, Illinois (December 23, 2018) BTN — The Hells Angels motorcycle club helped provide for needy families this Christmas season.
In just two days, the motorcycle club came up with about 300 to 400 toys for a toy drive. At one point, the club says, they almost ran out of toys.
People line up for free toys from the Hells Angels MC in Rockford, Illinois
To get the word out, they just used word of mouth and Facebook. They say this is their first time doing a stationary toy drive because they normally drive around to different places.
Organizers say it feels good to give back to the less fortunate.
"A lot of these kids don't have anything; they don't have any presents or anything, and somebody's got to do something," said Matt Yarber with the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.
Halifax, Nova Scotia (December 21, 2018) BTN — The Hells
Angels have re-established an evolving presence in Atlantic Canada, although
experts say they have not expanded their roster of full-patch members since
first reappearing in the region more than two years ago.
Police and organized crime experts say it's not clear why
the country's most powerful motorcycle club has not found any local prospects
worthy of full membership, but confirm the Angels are retrenching after their
former Halifax chapter was smashed by police in 2001.
Stephen Schneider, a criminology professor at Saint Mary's
University who has written extensively on organized crime, believes the
establishment of a new puppet club in the last year -- the Red Devils -- is a
significant sign of intent.
"The Red Devils is pretty much their sort of AAA
affiliate club internationally," said Schneider. "So this is a signal
that the Hells Angels have not given up and that they are really serious about
their presence in Atlantic Canada."
The Red Devils have set up chapters in Moncton, N.B., and in
Halifax.
The members of the Halifax Red Devils chapter, which was set
up in July, were recruited from two other motorcycle clubs, the Gatekeepers and the
Darksiders, according to RCMP Staff Sgt. Guylaine Cottreau of the Criminal
Intelligence Service Nova Scotia.
"They were known to the Hells Angels and they came from
the already existing support clubs," said Cottreau. "We have no Hells
Angels prospects ... but they still have a good footprint in the province with
their support clubs."
Cottreau said there had been a Nova Scotia prospects
chapter, but it fell below six members this fall, and they've since become
prospects for the Hells Angels in New Brunswick, where a Hells Angels Nomads
club includes some full patch members that were transplanted to that province.
She said in addition to the Red Devils, Nova Scotia has a
series of other motorcycle clubs, including Darksiders clubs in Dartmouth and the
Annapolis Valley, Sedition clubs in Fall River and Weymouth, and Highlanders
clubs in Antigonish, Pictou County, and Cape Breton.
Experts believe the Angels are looking to expand territory
and crack the drug trade in a region with several thousand kilometres of
coastline, which makes it easier to import drugs.
The only so-called group of one percenters -- the elite
outlaw bikers -- in Nova Scotia is the Bacchus Motorcycle Club, which appears
to have reached a detente region-wide with the Angels. It was also declared a
criminal organization in a July ruling by a Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge --
a move that has the potential to put a damper on its activities because it
establishes tougher sentencing for crimes carried out to benefit the club.
Meanwhile, a traditional rival group for the Hells Angels,
the Outlaws, has also pushed into the region with support clubs known as the
Black Pistons in Fredericton and in Sydney, N.S., where they set up shop
earlier this year.
The Outlaws and Bacchus also operate in Newfoundland, along
with several Hells Angels support clubs.
"Right now it is peaceful, however they (Outlaws MC) are
the main rival group to the Hells Angels so there is potential there (for
violence)," Cottreau said.
Schneider said he finds it surprising that the Outlaws MC are
trying to move into Atlantic Canada after failing to emerge as a significant
threat to the Hells Angels in Ontario. "They have chutzpah I'll give them that,"
Schneider said. "They are still in there battling and trying to establish
territory."
In Prince Edward Island there are two Bacchus club chapters
and one affiliate chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club. RCMP Cpl. Andy Cook said the Hells Angels are down to six prospect
members from 10 in P.E.I. and none of the bikers are full-patch. He said
stepped up police enforcement likely led to some members leaving the club.
"Some of the incidents were probably not very
attractive to the Hells Angels who are frequently trying to portray themselves
in a positive light in the media," he said.
While it's believed the Port of Halifax is the main prize
coveted by the Angels, police say they're not aware of any activity there. Schneider, who recently completed a study for the federal
government on organized crime in marine ports, said he hasn't seen any direct
evidence either.
"I didn't see any known Hells Angels members working on
the docks in Halifax, but that's not saying they aren't, or there aren't
associates," he said.
Schneider said the Angels' influence has suffered setbacks
through police enforcement actions such as the arrest in July of prominent New
Brunswick member Emery Martin on 10 drug-related offences. However he believes
it was the success of a crackdown years before against the motorcycle club in
Quebec that has had the most impact.
In April 2009, Operation SharQc resulted in 156 arrests and
the closure of several of the biker gang's clubhouses, however many of the
court cases eventually fell through and Schneider said the Hells Angels have
seen a resurgence in Quebec that has implications for the Atlantic region.
"They are in a better position to help Atlantic Canada
establish chapters and puppet clubs. Having the Red Devils set up in Moncton is
significant because they are a Tier 1 puppet group that has long been
associated with the Montreal chapter of the Hells Angels."
Cottreau said police are aware of the emerging threat and
observed a Quebec Hells Angels presence in the region over the summer.
She said police will move to enforce the law against the
Angels where and when they can.
"We are trying to disrupt and dismantle them but it is
a big task. They are a pretty well established organization."
Cape Coral, Fla. (December 20, 2018) BTN — The Cape Coral
Police Department has suspended the extended hours permit of Dixie Roadhouse
after about 40 patrons leaving the bar started fighting in the parking lot
across the street earlier this month.
Bike Night at Dixie Roadhouse in Cape Coral, Florida
Master Sgt. Allan Kolak, the department's public affairs
officer, said via email that shortly before 3 a.m. Dec. 8, the patrons got into
an altercation and yelled gang-affiliated comments. Police determined they were
related to a Fort Myers-based motorcycle club that is on the U.S. Attorney's Most Violent
Offender List.
He said officers observed members of both the
"Eternals" and the "Outlaws" motorcycle clubs leaving Dixie Roadhouse
about the time of the altercation.
"Officers called for backup and all south units
responded to the scene, totaling 13 police officers," Kolak said.
"The necessary allocation of police personnel required by this violent
activity compromised the police protection for the remaining south district for
approximately one hour."
According to an officer narrative report from the incident,
some people who were fighting were detained in handcuffs but released after the
situation calmed down. No one cooperated with the investigation, the report
said.
Police Chief David Newlan suspended the permit on Wednesday,
Dec. 12, but the decision to revoke the permit stems from an "increasing
threat to the public health, safety and welfare" posed by Dixie Roadhouse,
Kolak said.
He said officers have reported an increase in motorcycle club members
patronizing Dixie, and there were six incidents in September concerning
intoxicated patrons. Among those, he said two patrons were found passed out,
one in the bar and the other in a nearby public parking lot; and two patrons
were arrested as a result of DUI incidents, one of which resulted in a
DUI-related vehicle crash.
Kolak said Dixie staff "failed or refused to take
reasonable precautions to discourage unlawful activity including, but not
limited to, disturbances and vehicular use by intoxicated patrons." The
police chief recommended prohibiting motorcycle club colors at Dixie, but Kolak said the
recommendation was ignored.
"Chief Newlan has discussed, several times, the need
for this establishment to impress on its employee's responsible hospitality
industry practices concerning both the welfare of intoxicated patrons and the
need to refuse to serve persons who are or are in danger of becoming
intoxicated,"There has not been
any appreciable improvement in the management of these practices.
A Dixie Roadhouse manager was not available Wednesday
afternoon.
Cape Coral issued the extended hours permit to Dixie
Roadhouse in April, after City Council passed an ordinance to extend bar hours
to 3 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the city's CRA district, which
includes businesses along Cape Coral Parkway East and SE 47th Terrace. Bars
previously had to close by 2 a.m.
Proponents of the ordinance, which passed 7-1, argued the
extended hours would attract more people to the Cape and show local businesses
that the city supports them. Newlan said during the city council meeting in March that
the city's previous trial with 4 a.m. hours showed an increases in service
calls.
"When you bring in a larger crowd down to an area,
you've got to expect there's going to be an uptick in calls for service and/or
crime," Newlan said at the March meeting. "It's going to
happen."
The News-Press previously reported that Dixie Roadhouse was
deriving the greatest benefit from a previous extended bar hours trial in the
city. Police said that two other businesses, BaackStreets Sports Bar and Remixx
Lounge, currently use their extended hour permits.
