Indiana HAMC President Arrested in House Raid

South Bend, Indiana, USA (May 16, 2025) - The president of the South Bend Charter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was arrested on drug charges Tuesday, according to the Marshall County Prosecutor’s Office. The Marshall County Prosecutor’s office announced the arrest of Norman Tackett after execution of a search warrant in Bourbon, Indiana.

 

On Tuesday, Officers with the Marshall County Sheriff’s Department Drug Task Force, Indiana State Police, Net 43, Fulton County Sheriff’s Department, Bourbon Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration, executed a search warrant in the 300-block of South Harris Street in Bourbon. 

During the execution of the search warrant, officers seized suspected methamphetamine, items indicative of dealing in methamphetamine, and drug paraphernalia. Arrested during the operation, was Tackett. 

He is currently being held at the Marshall County Jail on a $50,000 cash bond for dealing in methamphetamine, a level 3 felony; possession of methamphetamine, a level 5 felony; and maintaining a common nuisance, a level 6 felony.

The initial hearing date has yet to be set in Marshall Superior Court.

Hells Angels MC Cases Move Forward

Virginia, Minnesota, USA (May 11, 2025) - A judge declined to dismiss rape and kidnapping charges against two members of the Iron Range chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club. Judge Robert Friday said there was no breach of attorney-client privilege, as one of the defendants, Paul Anthony Debelak, failed to use proper channels to communicate with his attorney from the St. Louis County Jail, and there was no evidence that messages reviewed by investigators contained legal advice.

Additionally, the judge said, defense attorneys failed to prove their assertion that Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents intimidated witnesses into cooperating with the investigation. “The court finds there were no deliberate intrusions on privileged attorney-client communications,” Friday wrote in a 21-page order. “Assuming that there was an intrusion, the court would still deny defendants’ motion to dismiss because defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to counsel was not violated.”

 

The ruling, in the cases of Debelak and Eric Anthony Newman, came five months after a contentious evidentiary hearing in which attorneys asserted that agents eavesdropped on private communications and three witnesses claimed they were threatened with prosecution if they did not comply with orders. The cases stem from allegations that a woman was sexually assaulted and a man was abducted and beaten at the Hells Angels’ downtown Eveleth clubhouse.

Authorities reported that the man escaped from the group on crutches on November 28, 2023, and ran to the safety of police, expressing fear that members could find him. Investigators said they went on to learn that both victims were visiting an Eveleth residence November 27 when club members arrived. It was reported that the woman was raped there by Debelak and Newman.

The man, meanwhile, was allegedly taken to the clubhouse in a van driven by Jake Douglas Novaczyk. He said he continued to be beaten by the chapter president, Jerand Paul French, as other members recorded video. Authorities have released few details about the alleged motive or relationships between parties, other than to say that French was allegedly upset about the man’s association with the woman.

President of Brothers East MC indicted for trafficking

Baytown, Texas, USA (May 7, 2025) - The Jefferson County grand jury has indicted a man a DPS special agent calls a founding member and president of the Brothers East Motorcycle Club on a charge linked to accusations of trafficking women to have sex for money, including in Jefferson County.

 

The grand jury on Wednesday indicted Michael Leonard Cupp, 49, for Promotion of Prostitution. If convicted of the 3rd degree felony, he could face 2-10 years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine. Magistrate Marc DeRouen set bond at $50,000.

According to a probable cause affidavit for his arrest, a DPS special agent opened an investigation in February 2025 about possible human trafficking by the motorcycle club. The DPS special agent says he obtained information from an FBI task force officer that Cupp was involved in trafficking women to commit sex acts for money.



The DPS special agent and FBI special agent say they confirmed through their investigation that Cupp was "running" girls and taking proceeds from the acts of prostitution.

The DPS special agent says he confirmed that a woman was traveling to cities across Texas and Louisiana to have sex for money, and that Cupp was behind it all.

Tributes Pour in for Hells Angels MC Member

Wallsend, Newcastle, England (April 25, 2025) - A South Shields mum has paid a devastating tribute to her husband, Chris Brown, 37, who tragically died following a motorcycle crash on Stephenson Street in Wallsend on April 7, 2025.

Chris, a father of two and supervisor at Smulders, suffered critical injuries when his Harley-Davidson collided with a van. Despite being rushed to the RVI by air ambulance, Chris passed away three days later. 

 

Image: Northumbria Police

His wife Stacey, speaking with deep emotion, said: “Our kids are not going to see their king again. It broke me in two.” Chris, a proud member of the Hells Angels, was described as “a proper, genuine, nice person” and “a family man who would do anything for anyone.” His passing has shaken the South Tyneside community, with Stacey adding: “Anybody who met him loved him.”

She added: “My brother worked with Chris and was the first on the scene because he was travelling just behind him in the car. “When I got the call from my brother, I knew that something that happened to Chris and my heart just sank. I could tell that it was bad.

“Chris was a very experienced rider – he had ridden bikes since he was around seven years old. You’d never expect something like this to happen to someone who’s so experienced. “He used to have sports bikes when he was younger but as he got older, he got into Harleys and that’s when he joined the Hells Angels.”

In his memory, Stacey is taking on the Three Peaks Challenge on June 21 – the Summer Solstice – a dream they once shared together. Over £13,000 has already been raised for Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Charity through a fundraiser Stacey launched in Chris’s honour.

Chris’s funeral will take place on May 10, 2025 with more than 600 bikes expected to join in tribute. “Please remember to hold your loved ones close,” Stacey says. “You never know what’s around the corner.” A fundraiser has been set up at: gofundme.com/f/chris-last-hike