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Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Friday, March 17, 2017
Six Members of Hells Angels MC Arrested
New Roc Hells Angels facing federal drugs, racketeering
charges
NEW YORK, NY ( March 16, 2017) – Six members and associates
of the Hells Angels operating in Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess counties are
facing several federal drug and racketeering charges.
Joon Kim, acting U.S. attorney for the Southern District
of New York, said on Thursday that six members of the New Roc Hells Angels,
which operated primarily in and around Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess
counties from at least 2008 to August 2014, had been arrested.
Kim said most of their activities included narcotics
trafficking, extortion, money laundering, contraband cigarettes, and
prostitution and altered motor vehicle parts.
Thomas Schmidt, Joseph Kaplan, John Calvacchio, Jeff
Amato and Gary Paganelli were arrested in New York Thursday morning, Kim said,
and Michael Picchone was arrested near Los Angeles. The case has been assigned
to U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel in White Plains federal court.
An unknown Hells Angels MC member
The six members of the New Roc Hells Angels were charged
with various racketeering, narcotics and money laundering offenses, including
assault of a rival club member with a hammer, Kim said.
“As alleged, through the sale of cocaine, oxycodone, and
marijuana and their violent conflict with rival gangs, members of the New Roc
Hells Angels wreaked havoc on the streets of Westchester, Putnam and Dutchess
counties," Kim said in a statement. "Together with our law
enforcement partners, we are determined to combat gang and drug violence
throughout the Southern District of New York.”
The assault happened in December 2012, Kim said, when
members of the New Roc Hells Angels beat a rival motorcycle club member over
the head with a hammer in a crowded restaurant in Poughkeepsie in retaliation
for encroaching "on their territory."
FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney said clubs like
the Hells Angels often use violence and intimidation to protect their turf and
"establish themselves."
"In this case, they allegedly used those tactics by
attacking a rival club member with a hammer in the middle of a restaurant and
placing innocent people in danger," Sweeney said in a statement.
"Regardless of the name these men operate under, the FBI Westchester Safe
Streets Gang Task Force works daily to remove these alleged violent members of
our society and to create a safer community for everyone."
NEWS SOURCE: The Journal News
PRESS RELEASE: U.S. Attorney’s Office
Saturday, March 11, 2017
Easyriders Magazine on Auction Block
Agoura Hills, CA (March 9, 2017) – Paisano Publications
owner and publisher Joe Teresi, 76, announced last week that he’s retiring
after 46 years at the helm of the company that was founded in 1971.
All assets of the company including 'In The Wind
Magazine', V-Twin Magazine' Tattoo Magazine and the iconic 'Easyrider Magazine'
are up for auction.
The auction package also includes: V-Twin Expo,
Easyriders Events and 46 years of compiled and copyrighted photos, art, fiction
and editorial articles.
Books out of Print
Over the years, Paisano has published a variety of books
sold on the newsstand and through retail channels. All of these are available
to be reprinted.
Not included in auction but available for sale:
Other assists not included in the auction package but
available for sale include the Easyriders Streamliner, over 400 pieces of
original artwork by the legendary Biker Artist David Mann.
David Mann Original Artwork
David Mann was the Norman Rockwell of the biker world.
His lifestyle paintings graced the pages of Easyriders and other Paisano titles
as centerfolds, advertisements and accompaniment to fiction pieces. Paisano
owns a collection of approximately 400 pieces of this original artwork.
..
..
INFORMATION:
Seller’s Reserve: $3,000,000
Sale Estimate: $5,000,000 to $7,000,000
Terms of Sale: Cash by wire transfer
For further information, please contact: bwood@paisanopub.com
Source and list of assets: Paisano Publications Auction
Friday, March 3, 2017
Hells Angels MC video help police catch suspect
Hells Angel Club House video helps catch man wanted for
attempted murder
SPOKANE, WA ( March 3, 2017) – Video surveillance from
multiple businesses along the Sprague corridor helped detectives find the man
accused of shooting a man in the back of the head near the Bel Air Motel on
January 9.
According to court documents, suspect Brice Bailey, 43,
was driving erratically on Sprague Avenue just before midnight on Jan. 8. A
witness told police Bailey had pulled up alongside his car, with his windows
rolled down and proceeded to cut him off. The witness said the man, who he did
not know, continued to drive strangely in front of him. He said Bailey turned
his turn signal off and on, or merged in the wrong direction repeatedly.
Brice Bailey
The witness said eventually he turned off Sprague and
headed home to his house near 7th and Thierman. When he got out, the suspect
was sitting in his car and fired in his direction, the witness said. Another
witness said he was awoken by loud music coming from the suspect’s car and
watched an arm exit the front passenger window of the car and fire at the first
witness.
Later that night, just after midnight, Spokane Police
officers responded to a call of a man being shot in the head in the area of
East Sprague Avenue. A man staying at the Bel Air Motel called 911 after
hearing gunshots and seeing a person lying in the middle of the motel parking
lot. That witness described the same car as the witnesses in the previous
shooting.
The motel guest went outside to the victim after calling
911 and saw that he had been shot in the back of the head.
SPD identified the shooting victim as Dakota Runge, 17.
Runge was taken to Sacred Heart and initially listed in critical condition. As
of Thursday afternoon, Runge was not listed as a patient.
Unknown Hells Angels MC Member
Police got video from the Hells Angels Club House across
the street – along with other businesses in the area – and were able to track
the involved car to Brice Bailey, according to court documents.
Bailey has a criminal history for theft and controlled
substances, according to court documents. He was on supervision with the
Washington State Department of Corrections and had recently refused to attend a
mental health assessment.
“During a routine DOC visit, Bailey was slightly agitated
and disturbed, and his mental health stability was a concern,” reported an
officer in court documents.
SOURCE: KREM2
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Bandidos MC Leaders arrested
Arrest made here after new indictments returned against
top Bandidos
WACO, TX (March 2, 2017) – Authorities arrested four top
officials of the Bandidos motorcycle club Thursday, one of them in Central
Texas, after a federal jury in San Antonio returned a second superseding
indictment against the highest-ranking leaders of the club, adding four new
defendants and additional murder-related charges, federal prosecutors said.
Thursday morning, authorities arrested the following:
Bandidos National
Sergeant at Arms Johnny Romo, 47, of San Antonio;
Bandidos San Antonio Centro Chapter member Robert Romo, 45, of San Antonio;
Bandidos San Antonio Centro Chapter Sergeant at Arms Jesse James Benavidez, 40, of San Antonio,
and Bandidos San Antonio Centro Chapter member
Norberto Serna, Jr., 35, of San Antonio for their roles in the
2006 murder of Anthony Benesh.
Johnny Romo was arrested in Waco and the other three were
arrested in San Antonio.
They remained in custody Thursday night pending detention
hearings next week before United States Magistrate Judge John Primomo in San
Antonio.
An unknown Bandidos MC Member
The 12-count indictment, unsealed late Thursday afternoon
in San Antonio, charges all four with one count of discharging a firearm during
a murder in aid of racketeering.
Johnny Romo and Robert Romo are also charged with murder
in aid of racketeering, prosecutors said.
Benesh was attempting to start a Texas Chapter of the
Hell’s Angels in 2006 in Austin, but was warned by members of the Bandidos to
abandon the effort, the indictment says.
Benesh ignored the warning.
The indictment charges that the four murdered him on
March 18, 2006, outside an Austin restaurant “to protect the power, reputation
and territory of the Bandidos enterprise.”
The new indictment includes previous federal charges
filed against Bandidos National President Jeffrey Fay Pike, 61, of Conroe, and
National Vice President John Xavier Portillo, 57, of San Antonio.
Portillo also faces a new charge of discharging a firearm
during a murder in aid of racketeering for his role in the retaliation murder
of Robert Lara in January 2002 in Atascosa County for killing one of their own,
prosecutors said.
Javier Negrete, a member of the same Bandidos chapter as
Portillo, was killed in October 2001 outside a San Antonio bar.
Pike and Portillo are charged with one count of
conspiracy to violate the Racketeering Influenced Corrupt or RICO) statute; one
count of conspiracy to commit violent crimes in aid of racketeering or VICAR,
and one count of conspiracy to interfere with commerce by extortion.
Portillo is also charged with: one count of VICAR
(murder); two counts of aiding and abetting VICAR (assault with a deadly
weapon); one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute
methamphetamine and cocaine; one count of possession with intent to distribute
cocaine; and, one count of felon in possession of a firearm.
The two are accused of sanctioning and directing members
of the Bandidos to carry out such acts as murder, attempted murder, robbery,
assault, intimidation, extortion and drug trafficking, prosecutors said.
Jury selection is currently scheduled for August 7, 2017.
SOURCE: KWTX