Hells Angel MC member killed in shooting

Mississauga, Canada (March 12, 2019) BTN — A full patch member of the Hells Angels motorcycle club was the victim of a fatal shooting Monday in a Mississauga plaza that sent bystanders scrambling for cover in what was described as a "chaotic scene." The shooting outside a popular gym comes amidst a massive shuffling amongst the Hells Angels in Ontario, multiple sources said.

Peel Regional Police are investigating whether a burnt-out car found in the area was the shooter's getaway vehicle. A senior Hells Angels member from London, Ont., has recently moved to the Niagara Region to bolster the club there while Keswick-area Hells Angels have moved to Ottawa, multiple sources said.

Peel Region paramedics and heavily-armed tactical officers with police dogs responded to gunfire at 700 Dundas St. E. near Cawthra Rd., just before 11:20 a.m. on Monday A 32-year-old man was rushed to a trauma centre with life-threatening injuries, according to Peel paramedics. Police said he died in hospital. His name has not yet been released. "It's a chaotic scene and we're just waiting in the car," tweeted Joyce Clarissa, who was visiting St. John the Baptist Anglican Church across the street. Clarissa said she saw at least two people running into their vehicles as police were responding to the scene. "They're taping off the whole plaza," she said.


The plaza houses Huf Gym, the Floor Shop and other businesses. The shooting occurred near the gym. Olga Rosa Heron, who owns the gym, said the victim ran into her facility for help after he was shot. Huf Gym employees "helped him out and hopefully they can be an asset to the investigation as well," she said. Peel Const. Iryna Yashnyk said police were investigating a scene near the Bank of Montreal at Dundas St. E. and Tomken Rd., in relation to the shooting. "As far as suspect information, we know that there was one male running east on Dundas towards, which we now know is what we believe is a second associated scene," Const. Bancroft Wright told reporters.

The elite Hells Angels Nomads chapter returned to the Ottawa area this year, three years after the chapter was abruptly dismantled. The Nomads are considered an elite group who require little direction. The Ontario Nomads had run into conflict with Quebec Hells Angels, sources said. The Hells Angels have about 175 Ontario members and 450 members across Canada.

SOURCE: The Star

Hells Angels MC members accused of drug trafficking

Barcelona, Spain (March 10, 2019) BTN —  The Mossos d'Esquadra of the Criminal Investigation Division of Sabadell (Barcelona) arrested 19 people on 26 February as part of a police operation aimed at illicit activities carried out by members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, in its headquarters in Barcelona and Tarragona.

In a statement on Sunday, the Catalan police has reported that the investigation relates to crimes against public health, robbery with violence, coercion, extortion, injury, possession of weapons and membership of a criminal organization . In March 2018, the Central Unit of Criminal Bands learned of an incident in which five members of the band violently broke into a bar in Cambrils (Tarragona), where members of a rival club were violently assaulted with chairs and objects.

The investigation showed that the members of this band in Tarragona "formed a perfectly structured and hierarchical criminal organization with the purpose of trafficking drugs and committing violent crimes." The agents also corroborated that the club applied a strict internal discipline against the members of the group that violated the norms of the organization.

The Hells Angels MC of Tarragona, which have members in Catalonia, Aragon and the Basque Country, exercised violence and intimidation towards other clubs of bikers present in their territory to which they had submitted to their control and supervision.

Regarding drug trafficking, agents showed that the club had marijuana crops in real estate that were rented expressly for this activity and that other members of the club did in their own homes. They also trafficked cocaine, both from the club's headquarters and through businesses related to its members, and it was detected that the headquarters of Hells Angels MC in Barcelona functioned as a point of sale for cocaine.

On February 26 the Mossos made a police device with 13 entries in the headquarters of Tarragona and Barcelona, ​​as well as in homes of the principal investigated and establishments related to the cultivation and trafficking of narcotic substances. Arrested 19 people in Catalonia and the Basque Country , both members of Hells Angels MC and other people related to the organization.

Seized items

At the Tarragona headquarters, various narcotic substances destined for trafficking were confiscated, and a firearm , abundant documentation, computer equipment and electronic devices with information on the operation, structure and internal regulations of Hells Angels MC, as well as objects and material were intervened. related to the organization. The investigation continues open, the detainees went to court on February 28 and the judge decreed imprisonment for two of those arrested and released with precautionary measures for the rest.

SOURCE: El Español

Bandidos MC member arrested for alleged threats

San Antonio, Texas (March 7, 2019) BTN - A Bandidos Motorcycle Club member was arrested for his alleged role in threatening to harm a government informant. The United States Attorney's Office Western District of Texas said federal authorities arrested San Antonio resident Albert DeLeon, with one count of retaliating against an informant.

DeLeon is a member of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, and allegedly threatened to harm an individual for the individual providing information relating to the criminal activities of the club. In 2006, two members of the Bandidos had ordered other members in the club to murder Anthony Benesh who was attempting to start a Texas Chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in Austin at the time.

Several Bandidos members murdered Benesh on March 16, 2006 to "protect the power, reputation and territory of the Bandido enterprise." In September 2018, the two Bandidos members were sentenced to life in federal prison.

Deleon Arrest Retaliation SA by on Scribd

According to a press release, DeLeon had allegedly threatened the individual who provided information and evidence relating to the previous case. “The arrest of Albert Deleon sends a strong and unified message that the mere intimidation and threating of a Government witness will not be endured and those who commit these offenses will rightfully be brought to justice,” stated Will R. Glaspy, Special Agent in Charge, DEA. DeLeon appeared Thursday in court and remains in federal custody. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.

SOURCE: KSAT 12

Warlocks MC original member “Grub” dead

Lexington, South Carolina (March 5, 2019) BTN — Thomas “Grub” Freeland, Jr., a founder of the Warlocks Motorcycle Club as died. Freeland was born in Graceville, Florida in 1948. Shortly thereafter his family moved to Lockhart, Florida. From that point on he would say "I am just a little boy from Lockhard, Florida". He attended Lockhart Elementary and Junior High School. He was a junior fireman for Lockhart's Volunteer Fire Department.

 His school days ended at Maynerd Evans High School when he decided to go see what else life had to offer. He joined the Navy at 17. He spent 29 months on the USS Shangri-La where he was a ship fitter. His second Med cruise was cut short by orders to Vietnam.

In 1968 he landed in Saigon and reported onboard the USS Tutillia which was stationed in the Republic of South Vietnam. His 9 months in-country was served working on river water patrol boats as part of The Brown Water Navy.

By the time he got home he had been to 27 countries, fought a war and went 3/4 of the way around the world. While serving on the USS Shangri-La he became one of the original 13 members of the Warlocks Motorcycle Club.

When his tour in Vietnam was over he went home and started the Lockhart chapter of the Warlocks. It became known as The Mother Chapter.

Over 50+ years later the Warlocks MC has become international and is known the world over. His brothers in the club gave him the name Grub. He enjoyed cooking and they were relieved they didn't have to. Grub was always spelled with one "b".

He was quick to point this out and did not tolerate any other nicknames or assumptions. It was Grub because he cooked and it was spelled with one B- period. Got that! During his life Grub owned and rode over 30 Harley Davidson's.

His love for Harley's which he called Davidsons never ended. He was also known to call them "The Big Iron". He was often heard saying, "Let's put the Big Iron in the wind." He took his own advice and rode to damn near every state with his club's Bird on his back.

While not a fan of organized religion he did believe in a higher power. His belief led to his love for his wife, family, club and country.

He was very proud to have all of these in his life. He spent a major part of his life enjoying hunting and fishing. Later in life he said he head earned the right to only hunt at Publix and fish at Red Lobster.

While he was always an old Lockhart country boy at heart, once he had all he could take of Mickey Mouse his father's home state became his own. But even before that South Carolina was always a big part of his life. 

He truly believed he was blessed to experience a life which many do not get the opportunity to.

He is survived by his wife, Cindy Freeland; a son, Thomas Morton Freeland III (Trey); and a grandson. His sister, Fran (David) Strawn and brother, Mike (Cathy) Freeland and numerous nieces and nephews. Lastly he will always be survived by his huge Warlock family.

He is predeceased by his father Tom, mother Jimmie and sister Beth. Grub now rides with his Warlock Brothers in the final chapter. Family will receive friends Saturday, March 23rd 2019 at Thompson Funeral Home of Lexington from 10:00 am to noon with ride to follow to graveside services at Plum Branch Baptist Church Cemetery in Plum Branch, SC.

Family and friends may sign the online guest book at www.thompsonsfuneral.com and to view full obituary.

Nomads MC member charged with sexual assault

Sydney, Australia (March 5, 2019) BTN — A member of the Nomads motorcycle club has been charged after allegedly having sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl he met at a train station in Sydney's south-west. 

Police will allege in court the pair spoke at a railway station and while on the train, before the 27-year-old man led the girl to a home in Chester Hill and sexually assaulted her on February 14. Following inquiries, detectives attended a Chester Hill home in the early hours of February 28, where the man was arrested after a violent struggle.

One officer broke their hand and another received leg injuries during the altercation, police said. The man was taken to Bankstown Police Station, where he was treated by paramedics for a head injury before being taken to hospital for further treatment.

Police charged the man with having sexual intercourse with a child aged between 10 and 14, and resisting or hindering a police officer in execution of their duty. A bedside hearing was conducted, and he was refused bail to appear at Liverpool Local Court on March 13. The man remains in hospital under police guard.

SOURCE: The Sydney Morning Herald

Outlaws MC: Harry "Taco" Bowman dead at 69

Butner, N.C. (March 3, 2019) BTN — Midwest biker baron Harry (Taco) Bowman died behind bars of cancer over the weekend at 69. The legendary Outlaws Motorcycle Club President ran his empire from Detroit and brought the Outlaws to prominence nationwide, presenting a formidable challenger to Hells Angels founder Ralph (Sonny) Barger as America’s most powerful biker boss at the apex of his reign in the 1990's.

Called “Taco” for his dark complexion and resemblance to someone of Hispanic heritage, Bowman, simultaneously feared, beloved and respected, was serving a life prison sentence in a federal correctional facility for racketeering and murder. He was found guilty at a 2001 trial in Florida, many of the offenses charged being connected to beatings, bombings and coldblooded slayings ordered during the Outlaws ongoing war with Barger’s West Coast-based Hells Angels. Barger and Bowman both took out murder contracts on each other.

Bowman was a gangland chameleon and the consummate underworld politician. He forged strong ties to Detroit’s Italian mafia and Eastern-European criminals in the area and would often shed his long hair, beard and Outlaws “rocker” for a businessman’s cut and three-piece suit in order to build valuable relationships in the white collar world. Living in a mansion on “Mafia Row” in posh Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan, he was often chauffeured around town in a custom-designed Rolls Royce and sent his children to an exclusive private school.

When he was elected International President of the Outlaws in 1984, Bowman moved the club’s headquarters from Chicago, where the club was established, to his hometown of Detroit and spearheaded a campaign to take over all of Florida, previously and somewhat currently considered a biker’s no-man’s land, a place where everybody can operate free of territory disputes. A magnetic leader, Bowman also pushed for the diversification of Outlaws street rackets, expanding from an investment structure based primarily on narcotics to a portfolio boasting gambling, loansharking and extortion to augment the drug proceeds.


Upon being indicted in 1997, Bowman went on the run. With the help of the Detroit and Chicago mobs, he avoided arrest for two years. Making it on to the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted List, he was eventually apprehended in a suburb outside Detroit in the summer of 1999. Years earlier, he had beefed with the Detroit mafia over gambling turf but finessed his way out of a murder contract placed on his head and quickly repaired his bond with local mob chieftains.

Bowman’s downfall resulted from the flipping of his main enforcer Wayne (Joe Black) Hicks, who Bowman assigned the task of overseeing Outlaws activity in Florida and getting other motorcycle clubs in the region in line. Hicks came up through the club’s ranks in the Toledo, Ohio chapter. - Scott Burnstein
SOURCE: The Gangster Report
SOURCE: Death Records

Police target schools to prevent future MC members

Sydney, Australia (March 3, 2019) BTN — ACT police have set their sights on the one commodity bikie clubs could not operate without — a steady stream of new members. Senior officers said after years chasing the drugs, money and leadership figures within motorcycle clubs, it was time for a change in tack. While those areas would still be a priority, Detective Superintendent Scott Moller said ACT Policing was stepping up their efforts to work with young, vulnerable men targeted as potential motorcycle club recruits. 

Superintendent Moller said one of the great frustrations for police was motorcycle club members convincing young people that the club could improve their life — offering fast money, friendships and a culture that would rally around them and protect them.

He said part of police's efforts would be to shatter that bikie club image, and expose the "false promises" made to young men putting on club colours for the first time. "That's where a big part of this battle will be won," Superintendent Moller said. "Really showing the true elements of outlaw motorcycle gang life, and how people get used."

Superintendent Moller said the club members police most often interacted with were the newest, who were pushed into the highest-risk and most dangerous tasks. He said the rewards offered in organised crime for that kind of work simply were not worth the risks taken. "You've got these young people making really poor decisions with their life, and being used by significant organised crime figures," he said.

"The front line in the new battle between police and bikie clubs was not in clubhouses, but in high schools."

ACT police and other youth services said the clearest signs of trouble could be seen at school — particularly young people struggling in class, running into trouble or simply not turning up at all. Police rely heavily on services like the PCYC and Menslink to work with teenagers at risk of falling into a spiral of homelessness, substance abuse and crime, and becoming easy targets as potential gang recruits.

"The biggest problem we see is when young people start disengaging from education, and start mixing with people that are probably less desirable to be around," Cheryl O'Donnell from Canberra's PCYC said. PCYC runs 20-week "intensive diversionary programs" for teenagers referred to them by police, schools or the judicial system. The programs focused on steering kids away from crime and substance abuse, and putting them back into either education or employment. 

Young men craving a connection Canberra-based youth service Menslink operates in a similar space, targeting young men they identified as lacking social connection and role models. Peter Davis from Menslink said when young men did not have figures to look up to, bikies and other crime figures were happy to fill that void. "A lot of the time it's not money and prestige [young men] are looking for, it's the connection," he said. "So if they can get that connection here, they don't need that connection on the wrong side."

Mr Davis said senior bikies were just exploiting some of society's most vulnerable young people. "They're making a lot of money using young guys to do the hard work for them. That's part of the message that we're trying to get across," he said. Superintendent Moller said going after the young people that wound up filling the junior ranks of gangs was a strategy with plenty of promise. "What we need to do now is restrict the recruitment," he said. "That's something that ACT Policing is working quite hard on doing."

With four motorcycle clubs operating in the ACT, along with other non-bikie organised criminal networks, Superintendent Moller said the strategy was not without its challenges. But he said police were willing to invest in the idea for the long run. "We've got to really spend some effort, spend some time, working on restricting the recruitment into these criminal gangs," he said.

SOURCE: ABC News

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 
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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

Undercover cops not charged in Pagan's beating

Pittsburgh, PA (February 27, 2019) BTN — The U.S. Attorney’s Office on Wednesday announced it will not file charges against the undercover Pittsburgh police officers involved in a brawl with members of the Pagan's motorcycle club at a South Side bar last year.

The FBI was investigating whether there were any civil rights violations by the officers. “Upon review of the FBI investigation into the incident, the United States Attorney’s Office determined there is no basis for charging any individual with a federal crime,” a statement from the office for the Western District of Pennsylvania said. The brawl happened early Oct. 12 at Kopy’s Bar and ended with four members of the Pagan's motorcycle club in jail.

The Biker Trash Network as been covering this story from the start. 

Timeline stories below

Related | Undercover cops drinks bought by city

Related | All 4 cops on paid leave after bar fight

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Related | FBI investigating Pagans MC bar fight

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The District Attorney’s Office withdrew all charges against the members of the motorcycle club and held off investigating the officers until federal authorities concluded their investigation. The city’s Office of Municipal Investigations and the Citizens Police Review Board are also investigating. Beth Pittinger, who heads the Pittsburgh Citizen Police Review Board, said the board put its investigation on hold pending the outcome of the federal inquiry.

The board will now “aggressively” pursue its investigation, Pittinger said Wednesday. She was stunned by the decision by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “I’m sure there is more to learn about, but my initial response is that it should concern everyone of us,” Pittinger said, adding that she felt the officers involved weren’t justified to use force against the members of the motorcycle club. “The officers escalated that situation. They initiated it and escalated it.” The city’s Office of Municipal Investigations is continuing its investigation.

Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety had no comment on the decision by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Spokesman Chris Togneri said an internal investigation continues and the department won’t discuss ongoing investigations. The decision by the U.S. Attorney’s Office comes a day after a federal civil lawsuit was filed against the city, the four officers involved and the police union on behalf of Michael Zokaites. Zokaites’ lawsuit, filed by attorney Wendy Williams, essentially calls the police an organized crime enterprise and alleges the city and the officers violated the RICO Act — a federal law meant to target organized crime participants.

Two of the other three men involved in the brawl have also filed lawsuits.

SOURCE: Trib Live

Pagan's MC dope supplier found guilty

Daytona Beach,FL,USA (February 27, 2019) BTN — A federal jury has found a Key West man guilty of conspiring with members of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club to deliver methamphetamine to the club members in Daytona Beach and his hometown.

 The verdict in the trial of Keith Kirchoff, 41, came Tuesday and now he faces a maximum of life in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, according to a statement released Wednesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

A sentencing date has not been set. Kirchoff, who was indicted on Aug. 9, is the 19th person to be found guilty as a result of a joint FBI and DEA investigation into drug-trafficking organizations that supplied motorcycle clubs with methamphetamine in the Central Florida area, the release said.

Members of the Pagan’s Motorcycle Club were among people who have already pleaded guilty to charges of distributing methamphetamine.

Related | Two Pagan's MC members plead guilty

The Pagan’s members were identified in an earlier release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office as Michael “Clutch” Andrews, 33, of Palm Coast and Brian “Sledge” Burt, 47, of Port Orange. Andrew “Yeti” Shettler, 33, of Palm Coast, was also indicted and identified as a member of the Thunderguards Motorcycle Club, which is affiliated with the Pagan’s, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

 According to testimony presented at Kirchoff’s trial, he conspired in March 2018 with Pagan’s members to deliver “ounce quantities of methamphetamine” to Pagan’s members. On March 21, 2018, the Florida Highway Patrol stopped a vehicle being driven by Kirchoff and found nearly 10 ounces of methamphetamine and a loaded firearm.

 Kirchoff is not a member of the Pagan’s or other motorcycle clubs, said William Daniels, spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. The case was investigated by the FBI, the DEA, the Florida Highway Patrol, the Volusia Bureau of Investigation, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and the Daytona Beach Police Department.

SOURCE: Daytona Beach News Journal

More cases dismissed in Waco biker massacre

Waco, Texas, USA (February 25, 2019) BTN — One of four Houston attorneys assigned to handle four Twin Peaks biker cases as special prosecutors dismissed the remaining three cases Monday and called the way the McLennan County District Attorney's Office handled the 2015 deadly shootout a "harebrained scheme" that was "patently offensive" to him.

Scene of the Twin Peaks biker massacre

Special prosecutors Brian Roberts, Brian Benken, Feroz Merchant and Mandy Miller filed motions Monday to dismiss the first-degree felony engaging in organized criminal activity charges against bikers William Chance Aikin, Billy McCree and Ray Nelson. The motions to dismiss said, "Upon reviewing all the facts, circumstances and evidence, it is the state's position that no probable cause exists to believe the defendant committed the offense."

Related | Governor wants new anti-gang center for Waco

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Archive | Waco Shooting History

The team of special prosecutors dismissed the case against Hewitt resident Matthew Clendennen in April 2018. "I think, unfortunately, — and this is probably a poor choice of words — but it was simply a shoot-first-ask-questions-later mentality," Roberts said. "I can't imagine what (former McLennan County DA) Abel Reyna was thinking other than this was a big case and it was somehow going to be beneficial for him or his office."

Roberts, a former prosecutor who served in the special crimes bureau of the Harris County District Attorney's Office, said he had no problem with the first part of the process, which was to round up more than 200 bikers, identify and photograph them. He said the process was necessary to try to see who was involved and who were merely witnesses. "I do have a very serious problem as a lawyer with the wholesale charging of people without an investigation," he said. "They had plenty of time to conduct an investigation. They had plenty of time to do what they needed to do to find out who the parties needed to be in this harebrained scheme. It is just patently offensive to me.

"Justice is the sword and the shield. You had a number of folks who never should have been charged and whose lives have been turned upside down unnecessarily, and that is something you can't change. You can't take back what has happened over the last four years." 

In the months after his defeat in the March 2018 Republican primary, Reyna dismissed the vast majority of the 154 pending indictments his office sought in the Twin Peaks shootout, which left nine dead and 20 injured. Reyna's office re-indicted 25 Twin Peaks defendants on different charges in May, with most being charged with riot and three being charged with murder and riot. District Attorney Barry Johnson, who took office in January, has said he and his staff are reviewing those cases to determine how to proceed.

Houston attorney Paul Looney, who represents Ray Nelson, said he agrees with Roberts. "What Brian said is long overdue. The defense bar has been saying the same thing for nearly four years. This gives a lot of credibility to what we have been saying, and I am very appreciative of them to go through all of the evidence thoroughly and to have the courage of their convictions when it came time to announce it. These people deserve vindication. It is long overdue. They have been treated horribly."

Roberts, who made it clear that he was speaking only about the four cases he and the others were appointed to handle, said that prosecutors bear a greater responsibility to ensure that justice is done. "Whatever justice means. Whether that means pursuing a prosecution, whether that means reducing a case, whether than means getting rid of a case, whether than means never charging a case," Robert said. "A prosecutor's job is not to put people in prison. It is to do justice. I don't think anybody can say that was done here back in 2015."

SOURCE: Waco Tribune-Herald

Mongols MC member suspected in freeway shooting

El Monte, California (February 24, 2019) BTN — A motorcyclist was shot and wounded Saturday on the 10 Freeway in El Monte by a suspected member of the Mongols Motorcycle Club, authorities said. Two motorcyclists were riding just east of the 605 Freeway at around 1 p.m. when they were surrounded by four to six riders who likely belong to the Mongols Motorcycle Club, according to the California Highway Patrol.

An alleged Mongols member then shot one of the motorcyclists, who was riding a red Honda CBR 1000, in his right thigh, the CHP said. The wounded motorcyclist exited the freeway at Garvey Avenue and called the police.

He was taken to the hospital. Authorities were still searching for the suspected shooter Sunday night. Witnesses said the man has an unknown tattoo on his forehead and a long ponytail. All westbound lanes of the 10 Freeway at Interstate 605 were closed for an hour while officers attempted to locate evidence, the CHP said. They found two .380 caliber shell casings and shards of a bullet.

The Mongols were formed in the 1970s in Montebello, it has expanded over the decades to include several hundred members in chapters across Southern California and elsewhere.

SOURCE: ABC7

Hells Angels might sell their 3rd Street clubhouse

New York, NY (February 22, 2019) BTN — The word coming from Third Street is that the Hells Angels are selling their clubhouse (No. 77) between First Avenue and Second Avenue with a springtime move planned. According to public records, there's a Memorandum of Contract (the form preceding a contract of sale) dated this past Dec. 21 between Church of the Angels, Inc. (aka — The Church of Angels) and 77 East 3rd LLC .

The document is signed by Bartley J. Dowling, president of the NYC Hells Angels chapter, and the purchaser, Nathan Blatter of Whitestone Realty Group. Attorney Ron Kuby, who has represented the Angels in legal matters through the years, said that he was unaware of any sale. "I have heard nothing about it," he said on the phone yesterday. He also said that he doesn't handle real-estate law. At this time, it's not known where the NYC clubhouse may be relocating or what the reasons are for doing so.

The Hells Angels have had a presence in 77 E. Third St. since 1969. They eventually bought the six-floor building, which includes their clubhouse and member residences, Realtor.com lists 14 units from Birdie Ruderman in the Bronx for a reported $1,900. The deed on file with the city from November 1977 shows the then-dilapidated building changed hands for $10.

Memorandum of Contract

In 1983, chapter president Sandy Alexander took over ownership of the building. The deed from that time states that Alexander, his wife Collette and their family could live on the premises rent free. In addition, in the event that the building was sold, she would stand to receive half of the proceeds. This agreement was later the basis for a legal tussle in 2013 between the clubhouse and Alexander's family. (Sandy Alexander, who spent six years in prison for dealing cocaine, died in 2007.)

According to the Post in 2013: 

They are suing his second wife, Alison Glass Alexander, of Jamaica, Queens and his daughter from another marriage, Kimberly Alexander, of Needles, Calif. to prevent them from making a grab for the property. A source told the Post that the members have no immediate plans to sell 77 E. 3rd St. — which is on the periphery of New York University’s $6 billion expansion plan and in a once-crime ridden neighborhood where one-bedrooms now rent for $3,500 a month — but they wanted to clear up the "cloudy deed." 

Deed in 1977 shows it changed hands for just $10.00

That deed was eventually reversed in April 2018, per public documents.

The U.S. government unsuccessfully tried to seize the building starting with a drug bust in 1985. The feds charged that the clubhouse was used to make drug deals. However, a jury ruled against the forfeiture in February 1994, per The New York Times. At another time we may note more of their legal run-ins here through the years. Most recently, in late December, the Post reported that a deliveryman was allegedly sucker punched by a member when he parked his car in front of motorcycles outside the clubhouse.


And here's a portion of the 1983 documentary "Hells Angels Forever" that highlights the Third Street clubhouse at the two-minute mark.

SOURCE: New York Post
SOURCE: Ev Grieve

Hells Angels MC members face 300 years in prison

Mallorca, Spain (February 21, 2019) BTN —  Five years after the Mallorca chapter of the Hells Angels was shut down, 46 alleged members are set to be tried and are facing a combined 300 years in prison. The suspects were arrested in connection with 16 crimes which include drug trafficking, prostitution, threats, bribery, possession of weapons, money laundering and extortion in S’Arenal and Palma.

And among the defendants are two local police officers and a Guardia Civil sergeant from Palma, who face between five and seven years each for criminal involvement and bribery. The National Police dismantled the ‘powerful criminal gang’ at the end of July 2013 in the so-called ‘Operation Casablanca’, in collaboration with the Guardia Civil. Investigations have been ongoing and the magistrate of the Central Court of Instruction, 6, of the National Court, has now announced all 46 will be brought to trial at the Criminal Chamber.

At the recent hearing, an order was made for the ‘precautionary seizure of assets, both real estate and vehicles’, together with documents and money. The magistrate also set civil liability bonds of more than €4 million for several of the money laundering suspects. The alleged European leader of the organisation, German Frank Hanebuth, could face 13 years in prison for criminal organisation, threats, money laundering and illegal possession of weapons.

Video of the Raid on July 24, 2013

His two suspected ‘lieutenants’, the Youssafi brothers, Khalil, considered the vice president of the chapter of the motorcycle club in Mallorca, who could get 38 and a half years in prison for a string of crimes. Abdelghani, believed to have acted as treasurer, faces 33 and a half years. The club reportedly settled on the island because of its location, the existence of alternative businesses, and the possibility of money laundering and drug trafficking.

SOURCE: Euro Weekly

Former Hells Angels member a free man again

Quebec, Canada (February 21, 2019) BTN — A former Hells Angel who took part in one of the most notorious crimes committed in Quebec when he and other bikers slaughtered fellow club members three decades ago is a free man again, despite having recently pleaded guilty to assaulting someone during a road-rage incident in Montreal.

Jacques Pelletier, 63, was a full-patch member of the Hells Angels in 1985 when the club decided to slaughter several members of its now-defunct Laval chapter. The club members who were killed in what became known as the Lennoxville Purge were considered unruly drug dealers whose actions affected relations with other organized crime groups, notably the leaders of Montreal’s West End Gang who supplied the gang with cocaine.

On March 24, 1985, five Laval members were shot to death after they were summoned to a Hells Angels’ clubhouse in Lennoxville, just outside Sherbrooke. Several Hells Angels were present that day and played a role in the slaughter, but only four — including Pelletier — were convicted of first-degree murder and received life sentences.

Pelletier was granted full parole in 2013, but returned behind bars a couple of times for parole violations. For example, in October 2017, he was returned to a penitentiary after police noticed his motorcycle parked outside a strip bar frequented by known criminals.

In November, he was returned to a penitentiary again following his arrest, by Montreal police, for his role in a road-rage incident during which he got into a shoving match with another driver on Oct. 18.

According to court records, the incident was considered minor by the judge who ultimately sentenced Pelletier, on Feb. 6, to pay a $1,000 fine after he pleaded guilty to one count of simple assault. But Pelletier remained behind bars because he also had to explain himself to the Parole Board of Canada for having violated his release by not keeping the peace.

On Wednesday, the parole board decided to lift the suspension of his parole after having heard Pelletier’s version of events. According to a written summary of the decision, Pelletier feels he was the victim in what transpired in October.

He told the board he was driving home from work when he stopped at a light and the driver of another vehicle got out and challenged him to a fight. The other driver apparently felt that Pelletier had cut him off. He said he tried to discuss things with the man, who grew more aggressive and ended up tearing Pelletier’s jacket. The man pulled out his cellphone and took photos of Pelletier as well as the licence plate on his car.

Pelletier called his parole officer immediately to report the incident, and a co-worker who was riding in his car later told the police that Pelletier wasn’t the instigator in the dust-up. The judge who heard Pelletier’s short trial this month at the Montreal courthouse did not believe the other driver, who claimed Pelletier had punched him. The judge found Pelletier guilty of using excessive force while he tried to take the man’s cellphone from him.

According to the parole board, Pelletier quit the Hells Angels in 1995.

SOURCE: Montreal Gazette 

Gypsy Joker MC national president released

Portland, OR (February 15, 2019) BTN – A federal judge Thursday ordered the release of Kenneth Earl Hause, the 61-year-old national president of the Gypsy Joker Motorcycle Club, who is charged in an alleged racketeering conspiracy. But U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones placed Hause on home detention with electric monitoring and said he must resign immediately from his role as leader of the motorcycle club and not associate with any current or former Gypsy Joker members as he awaits trial.

Kenneth Earl Hause

Hause’s defense lawyer, Todd Bofferding, called his client a "man of honor'' and described him as an ailing grandfather who has the widespread support of his local community in Aumsville -- from the chief of police to waitresses in the small Marion County town of about 3,580 people. Hause also can’t get the medical care he needs in jail for his congenital heart failure, Bofferding said.

Related | Gypsy Joker MC members face charges

Though he has a past criminal record, it’s old and he hasn’t been convicted of a crime in 15 years, his lawyer said. “I don’t believe he’s now the man the government believes he is,’’ Bofferding said. Prosecutors vigorously opposed Hause’s release, contending that at his direction as the "Wiz'' or "The Boss’’ of the club, fellow Gypsy Joker kidnapped, tortured and murdered a former club member.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Mygrant called Hause the “chief enforcer of this criminal enterprise,’’ a motorcycle club he said that prides itself on being a “1 percenter’’ group of outlaws, apart from the 99 percent of motorcyclists who abide by the law. Hause has pleaded not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit racketeering.

Four co-defendants who remain in custody are accused of racketeering but also are charged in the 2015 torture and killing of former club member Robert Huggins, who was kicked out for stealing money and for his intravenous drug use, prosecutors said.

The killing was in retaliation for Huggins’ burglary and robbery at the Woodburn home of Portland’s Gypsy Joker president Mark Leroy Dencklau. Dencklau’s then-girlfriend was tied up during the robbery.

SOURCE: FOX 12 Oregon

Hells Angels MC targeted in early morning raids

Quebec, Canada (February 14, 2019) BTN —  A total of 32 people were arrested in a series of early morning raids on Thursday targeting drug-trafficking networks in eastern Quebec and New Brunswick with alleged ties to the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

The raids, conducted by the Sûreté du Québec, were carried out in 20 different communities across the two provinces, including in the Lower St. Lawrence region, the Gaspé and the Magdalen Islands.

Among the objects police seized were jackets bearing Hells Angels insignia. (Sûreté du Québec)

The SQ says that, in a period of just four months, the trafficking network brought in $2.4 million, of which $250,000 was given directly to the Hells Angels as a distribution tax.

"The Hells Angels control the territory and allowed networks to sell drugs. Those networks then paid a tax based on the quantity of drugs sold," SQ spokesperson Capt. Guy Lapointe said at a news conference in Quebec City.

"The Hells Angels have a monopoly, which they maintain with a regime of fear, violence and with their colours."

Among those arrested were prominent members of the New Brunswick Hells Angels chapter, police say.

They are still searching for four other alleged participants in the network

The people who were arrested today will appear in the courthouses of the Magdalen Islands, Percé, Rimouski and Quebec City.

Among the objects police seized were:

Six kilograms of cocaine.

More than 232,000 methamphetamine tablets.

More than $640,000.

23 firearms.

Three vehicles.

Eight vests with Hells Angels insignia.

Officers from the SQ's organized crime squad and its North Shore branch were involved in the raids, she said.

The operation, launched in August 2018, is called the Oursin project. More than 150 police officers participated in the investigations.

SOURCE:  CBC

False report leads to Hells Angels raid

Ghent, Belgium (February 12, 2019) BTN —  The police action in the Ghent borough Gentbrugge at the club room of motorcycle club Hells Angels came after a 44-year-old man claimed that he had heard gunshots in a quarrel in the room. Meanwhile, the man confessed that his report was false, reports the Ghent department of the parquet East Flanders.

The 44-year-old man from Ghent phoned the local police around 21.20, stating that he had heard several gunshots in the Hells Angels club room. 'According to the report, there would be a quarrel and some people would have fled the room', says press magistrate An Schoonjans of the Ghent department of the public prosecutor of East Flanders.

There were deployed heavily armed agents, a helicopter and special units (POSA). Certainly two men were taken into a police combination. The police immediately went on the spot. The club room is located on the Brusselsesteenweg in Gentbrugge, near the entrance and exit of the E17.

The traffic coming from the exit was diverted by the special assistance team of the Ghent local police. 'All persons present had to leave the room and the police conducted a search,' says Schoonjans. "Nothing suspicious was found.

The eleven persons present were taken by the police for questioning, but they were allowed to go home after the call was false. ' The police started the action on Monday at 10 pm, which lasted until 0.30 am.

The caller could be identified and arrested by the police. 'During his interrogation last night he confessed that the appeal was false and that he made up the facts', says the press magistrate.

Criminal prosecution

The forty is no stranger to police and justice. He will be prosecuted, says the prosecutor. Should the case come to court, the Hells Angels might claim damages. But it will probably not come that far.

In 2016 there was a shooting at the club room, but the shooter was not found.

SOURCE: VTM NIEUWS

Bandidos MC publicly deny drug bust involvement

Melbourne, Australia  (February 11, 2019) BTN —  Two men faced court over a major $1.3 billion drug bust linked to a Mexican cartel as the Bandidos bikie club made an extraordinary statement condemning meth trafficking.

Federal police revealed on Friday that they had intercepted 1.7 tonnes of methamphetamine bound for Australia – the largest meth seizure ever recorded on US soil and the biggest intercepted drug haul bound for Australia. Police said the record haul demonstrated a clear link between local outlaw bikie clubs and extremely sophisticated Mexican drug cartels.

Bandidos MC Clubhouse in Melbourne

But the Bandidos motorcycle club released an unusual statement on Monday, hotly denying having any link to the major haul. The drugs were "artfully concealed" inside a shipment of loudspeakers on a ship in Los Angeles, US authorities said.

Van Dung Le, 31, and Chi Cuong Vu, 25, faced Melbourne Magistrates Court after being extradited from Sydney last week.

Mr Vu, who appeared in court wearing a grey T-shirt with the word "obey" on the front, is charged with attempting to import a commercial quantity of methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin between October 28 last year and January 23. Mr Le, from the Sydney suburb of Hinchinbrook, is accused of importing methamphetamine to the Victorian town of Donnybrook as recently as last week.

Australian Federal Police display some of the drugs that were seized

He is charged with importing drugs since October last year.

Mr Vu, from Sydney's Bonnyrigg Heights, and Mr Le were remanded in custody.

The court heard Mr Le was withdrawing from cocaine.

Their appearances came after American nationals Nasser Abo Abdo, 52, and Leonor Fajardo, 46, who were both living in the Victorian town of Woodstock, faced court last Friday alongside 31-year-old Tuan Ngoc Tran, of Keilor Downs.

The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald revealed Mr Abo Abdo, 52, had been a prominent figure in the audio equipment industry in California and ran a series of companies selling stereos, speakers, subwoofers and digital amplifiers.

The Alphasonik-branded audio equipment case used to smuggle the methamphetamines

Photos distributed by police showed the intercepted drugs were hidden inside boxes carrying the names Audiobahn and Alphasonik, two of the speaker companies operated by Mr Abo Abdo.

US court records show that Mr Abo Abdo filed for bankruptcy in California in 2008, claiming liabilities of US$4.6 million. His debts were discharged in 2010.

All five men have been remanded in custody and are due to return to court on June 17.

The Bandidos motorcycle club has rebuffed any suggestion it is linked to the drug haul, saying the distribution and possession of ice goes against the club's spirit and culture.

Bandidos MC Statement

"We, like most Australians, shared a sigh of relief that these drugs never reached our shores," the Bandidos said in a statement on Monday.

"The Bandido Motorcycle Club vehemently distance ourselves from this insidious scourge on humanity, in every way, shape and form.

"We categorically refute any suggestion of involvement whatsoever, in this or any other matter concerning ice." 

-Bandidos Motorcycle Club

AFP assistant commissioner Bruce Hill said on Friday a Mexican cartel, which he declined to name, was allegedly behind the drugs.

"The cartel is among one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking syndicates in the world," he said.

SOURCE:  Bay 93.9

Hells Angel MC member home raided

Providence, R.I. (February 9, 2019) BTN —  A full patch member of the Rhode Island Hells Angels motorcycle club who was charged with gun and drug crimes after a search of his North Providence home has been ordered held without bail.

Douglas Leedham, 54, is charged in Rhode Island federal court with possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and three counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Lincoln Almond ordered him held without bail because of the seriousness of the charges, some of which carry mandatory minimum sentences of five years.

“Certain of the offenses charged against him trigger the presumption under law that there are no bail conditions or combination of bail conditions that I can set that would reasonably assure the safety of the community or the defendant’s appearance to future court proceedings,” he said.

A “full patch” member is someone who has made it past the prospect phase and is given full membership, and can wear the full “Hells Angel” rocker patch. Leedham appeared in court Friday.

Federal authorities searched Leedham’s residence on Thursday, according to an affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court of Rhode Island by Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Colin Woods.

Authorities found two pistols, a shotgun, a body armor vest, 44 grams of meth, 19 grams of cocaine, 35 knives, four hatchets, nine batons, a set of brass knuckles, $6,422 in cash and a suspected drug ledger, according to a court document. “Leedham admitted that the guns and drugs seized from the residence were his,” Woods wrote in the affidavit.

The Department of Justice recognizes the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club as an “outlaw motorcycle gang.” The gang, federal authorities said, has been involved in producing and selling methamphetamine, and other criminal activity including assault, extortion, homicide and money laundering. The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club’s Rhode Island chapter is based in Providence, the FBI agent’s affidavit said.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul Daly Jr. told the judge that Leedham should be held because he is dangerous.

“The defendant had many weapons at this residence, of the variety... that would be useful as a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang,” he said. “So we believe, your honor, that this defendant does present a danger to the community.” There is also a possibility that Leedham could attempt to flee due to the seriousness of the charges against him, Daly said.

The 44 grams of methamphetamine found in Leedham’s home has been sent to a forensic lab for testing, and if it turns out to be 11-12 percent pure, Leedham would face a mandatory five-year minimum sentence, he said. Leedham’s attorney, William Dimitri, argued that Leedham didn’t present a danger or a flight risk.

His past gun conviction, Dimitri said, was due to the fact that Leedham had a license to carry in Massachusetts that had expired and he was waiting for it to be renewed. “It doesn’t negate the conviction...” he said. “But there were underlying circumstances that led to that conviction.”

According to the affidavit, Leedham was arrested by the Rhode Island State Police in December 2012 and charged with carrying a pistol without a license and possession of a weapon other than a firearm. Leedham was riding a motorcycle and had a vest identifying him as a “full patch” Hells Angels member, federal authorities said.

During the stop in 2012, Leedham had two knives, a ball peen hammer and a loaded pistol, the FBI agent’s affidavit said. He pleaded guilty in Superior Court to carrying a pistol without a license and got a five-year suspended sentence with five years of probation. Dimitri also said that Leedham has never been charged with a violent crime. In fact, he was the one who flagged down North Providence police on Dec. 29, 2018, he said.

That day, Leedham flagged down a North Providence police officer because one of two women driving in a gray GMC truck with him on Mineral Spring Avenue had become unconscious, according to the affidavit. Leedham told the police officer that the woman had taken either heroin or crystal methamphetamine, the affidavit said.

While the officer was giving the woman the overdose-reversal drug Narcan, the other one also became unconscious, apparently due to an overdose. Both went to a local hospital and survived. Dimitri said there isn’t necessarily a connection between the drugs the women overdosed on and the drugs found at Leedham’s residence.

“He’s the one that flagged down police, your honor, they weren’t chasing him,” Dimitri said. “To make the leap, I submit, that because methamphetamine was found on Feb. 7, that the methamphetamine or heroin whatever it was that they were O.D.ing on on Dec. 29 is somehow connected to Mr. leedham, there’s no nexus there.”

Leedham’s case will next be submitted to a grand jury, Dimitri said.

SOURCE: WPRI News

Forfeiture fight ends for the Outlaws MC

Ontario, Canada (February 8, 2019) BTN — It’s been two decades since the investigation began, 16 years since the charges were laid and a decade since the Crown began moving in court to keep the proceeds of crime seized by police.

But only now, 20 years later, a judge’s order has finally settled the loose ends left from a controversial police crackdown that all but dismantled the Outlaws biker club in Ontario.

Police officers lead away two people arrested in a 2002 multi-force raid on an Outlaws clubhouse

After all that time and effort, however, all that’s left are a few crumbs — far less than what it cost taxpayers and defendants to complete the litigation.

“We wouldn’t want to rush these things,” defence lawyer Gordon Cudmore, who represented the late Floyd Deleary in the Outlaws prosecution, said sarcastically of how long it took to finish the civil case.

Of the 47 bikers charged in the sweeping 2002 investigation, only Londoner Clifford Tryon, arrested in the raids but whose charges were later dropped, was still hanging in to get back seized property.

Tryon was a director and officer of a numbered corporation that owned the London and Windsor Outlaw clubhouses. He soldiered on after his fellow bikers bailed and fought for the remains of the club, arguing the Crown couldn’t lay claim to the items and that his Charter rights were breached.

At issue for Superior Court Justice Heather McArthur was what was left from six fortified clubhouses, including one on London’s Egerton Street, plus such items as petty cash, biker colours and a Nazi flag.

The courts ordered the clubhouses demolished in 2009, after they’d sat empty and fell into disrepair.

Once the sites were sold and the taxes and utilities paid up, all that was left was a mere $238.97 — only enough, as defence lawyer Scott Cowan said, to cover one fancy dinner.

That was forfeited to the Crown, along with $21.58 in change and $115 in bills found in the Egerton Street clubhouse and any other spare change lying around the other properties.

Outlaw vests, patches, jewelry and any clothing depicting the skull and crossbones logo weren’t returned. But a swastika flag signed by all the Outlaws, and other “white power” items and items for private or decorative use, were given back.

Tryon agreed the gun holsters, shotgun shells, other ammo, bear spray, throwing knives and bullet-proof vests shouldn’t be given back, but won his argument that a decorative knife and two swords should be.

Cowan said he figures the government shed no tears over how long the case took. Ontario’s Civil Remedies Act is “designed to make crime not pay,” he said.

“If it takes a long time to sort these things out, I don’t think the government is terribly aggrieved because that main message still gets through.” said Cowan, who represented one of the last two bikers in the criminal case, Luis Ferreira, where the charges were dropped.

The police had searched 50 sites and seized an avalanche of property. Most of the defendants gave up fighting for their property years ago, its value not worth the legal cost of the fight.

Ferreira gave up seven years ago trying to get back his truck and motorcycle, Cowan said. The truck, left sitting in a yard as the case dragged on, had basically “disintegrated.”

Cowan noted the standard of proof in the civil cases is different than in criminal cases, meaning different weight can be applied to the evidence.

The Crown pointed to the 13 convictions on criminal organization charges as proof the Outlaws were a criminal organization. Cowan noted the 13 convictions were all guilty pleas, many made after the accused were offered time-served deals that would spring them from custody.

The main witness in the case, a police agent who infiltrated the club, claimed there was criminal activity involving drugs, weapons and stolen goods. That witness’s evidence was challenged at a preliminary hearing where the criminal organization charges were ordered dropped.

Ontario’s attorney general revived the charges through what’s known as a preferred indictment.

As the case trudged on, Cowan and Toronto lawyer Jack Pinkofsky represented Ferriera and former national Outlaws president Mario Parente, the last two accused against whom charges were dropped in 2009 after the police agent said he wouldn’t take part in the trial.

The Outlaws breakup was seen as a major test of what were then new criminal organization laws.

None of the Outlaws had a trial, but a high-security courtroom was built in London for the case. The courtroom has since been used multiple times, including for the Bandidos massacre trial after eight bikers were executed in rural Elgin County over an internal club power struggle.

SOURCE:  London FreePress