Bandidos MC member busted with pot crop

Sydney, AU (November 29, 2018) BTN — A senior member of the Bandidos motorcycle club will face court today after Strike Force Raptor located an elaborate hydro set-up in a bunker under a Western Sydney home, NSW Police say.

As part of ongoing targeting of criminal networks operating in NSW, the Criminal Groups Squad’s Strike Force Raptor attended a property at East Kurrajong about 7.30am yesterday (Tuesday 27 November 2018) to conduct a Firearms Prohibition Order (FPO) search.

Officers spoke with the subject of the FPO – a 41-year-old man – and his partner and two kids before commencing the search.

During the search, police located a hidden trapdoor which lead to an underground bunker which contained an elaborate hydroponic set-up.

A crime scene was established, and a short time later, Strike Force Raptor, assisted by specialist forensic officers, executed a crime scene warrant to dismantle the set-up. Police were also assisted at the location by an agronomist, Integral Energy, and Fire & Rescue NSW.

During the warrant, Strike Force Raptor seized 164 cannabis plants at various stages of maturity, 2kg of dried cannabis, and equipment used in the hydroponic cultivation of cannabis.

The 41-year-old man was arrested at the property and taken to Windsor Police Station.

He was charged with enhanced indoor cultivation for a commercial purpose, two counts of supply prohibited drug, and operate drug premises.

The man, who is a senior member of the Bandidos motorcycle club, was refused bail to appear at Windsor Local Court.

Strike Force Raptor was established in 2009 and conducts proactive investigations and intelligence-based, high-impact policing operations to prevent and disrupt conflicts, and dismantle any network engaged in serious organised criminal activity.

SOURCE: Daily Telegraph

Jesse Ventura defends Mongols MC in federal court

Santa Ana, California (November 29, 2018) BTN — Former Minnesota governor and retired pro wrestler Jesse Ventura testified in a Santa Ana courtroom Wednesday about his longstanding membership in the Mongols Motorcycle Club, defending the organization against government allegations that it has operated as a criminal enterprise.

Ventura, the highest profile member of the Mongols, took the stand as an expert witness in the midst of an ongoing federal racketeering trial in which prosecutors are attempting to gain control over the motorcycle club’s trademark name, a move that would allow law enforcement to bar the bikers from wearing the patches that adorn their vests.

Jesse Ventura sitting on his Harley - Photo Credit: Alexia Wambua

“Are you a member of the Mongols Motorcycle Club,” Attorney Joseph Yanny, who is representing the Mongols, asked Ventura at the beginning of his testimony. “Yes I am,” replied Ventura, who later explained that he is currently an inactive member of the Mongols. “Are you member of a gang?” Yanny asked. “No,” Ventura responded. “Gangs generally don’t broadcast who they are.”

Related | Feds attempt to seize Mongols MC trademarked logo

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During the trial, prosecutors have accused Mongols’ leaders of encouraging and rewarding members who commit crimes, including assault, drug trafficking and murder. The Mongols’ attorney has denied the allegations, telling jurors that the organization isn’t responsible for crimes committed by individual members or attacks carried out in self-defense, and claiming that law enforcement has entrapped some members into committing crimes.

Ventura said he joined the Mongols in 1973, shortly after returning from his second tour in Vietnam. The former governor testified that he was still an active duty member of the U.S. Navy when he became a “full-patch” member of the Mongols, recalling putting on his club vest as he left the base. “It was a stepping stone I needed to make the transition from military life back to civilian life,” Ventura said. “I owe them for being there for me when the rest of the world wasn’t.”

Ventura became an officer in the now-defunct South Bay San Diego County chapter of Mongols, but by late 1974 decided to step back from active membership in order to move back to Minnesota, where he had grown up. But Ventura said he has held onto his club vest and patches, including a “property of” patch he gave to his wife last year after more than 40 years of marriage.

Ventura denied that he had been ordered to take part in illegal activity as part of the Mongols.

“Yeah, there are some bad apples, that is true for any organization,” Ventura said. “But there are also a lot of damn good people in there. You can’t blame all for a few.” Ventura acknowledged he was not an active member of the Mongols when the clubs problems with the Hells Angels motorcycle club began in the late 70s, a rivalry that has led to repeated bloodshed on both sides over the subsequent decades. He said the Mongols had no choice but to retaliate. “I’d lose respect for them if they didn’t,” Ventura said.

During at times contentious questioning, a prosecutor challenged Ventura’s claim that he was unaware of any illegal activity. A clip of an interview between Ventura and podcaster Joe Rogan was played for the court, in which Ventura said the group’s president would tell him to leave their meetings if they were going to talk about illegal activity, since they knew Ventura was still in the military.

In the portion of the interview played in court, Ventura responded to Rogan asking him if it was weird to be in an organization involved in illegal activity by saying “No, because I thought at least I’m not going to go to jail.”

Ventura testified that he had no idea what the rest of the club’s leadership talked about during the meetings when he wasn’t present. At times, Ventura responded angrily or sarcastically to the prosecutors’ questions, at one point saying “are you kidding me” when asked if he knew what a SWAT team is.

What the Feds want

“I believe this trial is ridiculous because of the First Amendment,” Ventura said. During breaks in the hearing, a group of Mongols, dressed in suits and ties, gathered around to speak to Ventura in the hallway outside the courtroom.

The current federal trial stems from Operation Black Rain, a multi-agency effort involving law enforcement infiltrating the Mongols, which began in Montebello in the 1970s, and is now based in West Covina. An earlier racketeering case that targeted members of the Mongols rather than the organization itself resulted in 77 guilty pleas.

Among the incidents outlined by prosecutors during the trial have been the so-called 2002 River Run Riot in Laughlin, Nev. that left three Hells Angels and Mongols dead, a melee at the Morongo Casino in Cabazon near Palm Springs, and attacks, some fatal, allegedly carried out by Mongols in bars or restaurants in Hollywood, Pasadena, Merced, La Mirada, Wilmington and Riverside.

SOURCE: The Sun

Photo of Jesse: Artistry Work of Alexia Wambua

Secret recordings of Hells Angels played at trial

Toronto, ON (November 27, 2018) BTN — Clandestine recordings of Hells Angels members from a 2004 police investigation were played Tuesday at the civil forfeiture trial between the B.C. government and the motorcycle club. Former police agent Micheal Plante recalled in B.C. Supreme Court on Tuesday some of the conversations he had with Hells Angels about their conflicts and crimes more than 14 years ago.

Plante, in his second day of testimony on behalf of the director of civil forfeiture, listened intently as tapes of some of his intercepted conversations from 2004 were played for Justice Barry Davies. In one of the tapes, East End Hells Angel member Ronaldo Lising complained to Plante about other members of the club, including his fellow chapter mate, John Punko. Lising referenced Punko’s conviction for threatening a federal prosecutor in a Vancouver food court several years earlier.

The conversation happened in a drive to Kelowna in 2004 when Plante was working on behalf of the RCMP to infiltrate the East End Hells Angels.

Several Hells Angels and associates were later charged and convicted as a result of Plante’s work for the police on the E-Pandora investigation. Plante, who now lives under a new identity, was paid $1 million for his undercover work and for testifying at a series of criminal trials.

He told Davies Monday that he was being paid another $80,000 to testify in the civil proceedings between the Hells Angels and the government agency.

The B.C. Director of Civil Forfeiture is trying to get Hells Angels clubhouses in East Vancouver, Nanaimo and Kelowna forfeited to the government as the instruments of criminal activity. The Hells Angels have counter-sued the government, claiming the Civil Forfeiture Act is unconstitutional. The case has been ongoing since November 2007 when police first raided the Nanaimo clubhouse.

The recordings played Tuesday highlighted the infighting and petty disputes between some of the Hells Angels. In one reference, Lising complained about two other Hells Angels that he was in the drug trade with at the time. Plante explained the references to Davies.

“He was saying he was doing all the work … but he was still paying those guys half the money,” Plante testified.

Cops also want the East End Hells Angels Clubhouse 

Lising also appeared to threaten an unidentified group of people, saying, “those guys are not welcome in this f–king province.”

“If we see them, we are going to f–king take care of them,” he said in the recording.

Lising said he liked “being around Hells Angels” and attacked other full-patch members who didn’t want to socialize much within the group.

“Why do you want to be a Hells Angel if you are not going to hang out with Hells Angels?” he told Plante.

Two lawyers for the Hells Angels, Joe Arvay and Greg DelBigio, both objected to Plante’s attempts to interpret what Lising was referencing in the 14-year-old conversation.

“When he is listening to his own voice, he can say this is what I meant,” Arvay said. “But actually interpreting the tape, I don’t know if he has any greater expertise than any of us.”

Davies said that “the tape is the evidence, not the interpretation and not the transcript.”

“Unfortunately I have been doing this business of listening to these kinds of tapes for a long, long time,” Davies said of the grainy recordings. “I am just very glad that they aren’t playing heavy metal in the background for a change in the car because that’s the usual circumstance.”

Plante will be on the stand all week before returning for cross-examination in February.

SOURCE: The Province

Pagans MC: Another member sues city officials

Pittsburgh, PA (November 26, 2018) BTN — A second member of the Pagans motorcycle club involved in a brawl with Pittsburgh police at a South Side bar last month that is under review by the U.S. attorney's office has sued the officers, the city and the sheriff.

Erik Heitzenrater, 28, of Hampton, names detectives Brian Burgunder, David Honick, David Lincoln and Brian Martin along with the city of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County Sheriff William Mullen.

The federal suit is the second filed in regard to fight at Kopy's Bar between cops and the Pagans.

Related | Pagan MC member files lawsuit against City and Police

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Related | Pagans MC: The cops were drunk and started thefight

Frank DeLuca, a Pagan from Greenfield seen on video being repeatedly beaten, sued last week on claims that his civil rights were violated. Mr. Heitzenrater's suit raises similar allegations, saying the police officers were drunk and initiated the fight with the bikers.

Like Mr. DeLuca, he also claims false arrest and imprisonment, saying police lied in a complaint against him and his friends. He also says the sheriff's office improperly revoked his license to carry a gun after the incident. Mr. Heitzenrater's suit says the police had been drinking heavily in the bar on Oct. 11, starting at 7:30 p.m. The complaint, filed by attorney Martin Dietz, says Detective Honick had at least 13 drinks; Detective Burgunder had 19; Detective Martin had 14 and Detective Lincoln had seven.

Mr. Heitzenrater said Mr. DeLuca and another Pagan, Michael Zokaites, first entered the bar at 11:41 p.m. and ordered drinks. The suit said Detective Honick, who was seated at the bar near the door with the other police, noticed their Pagans jackets and "appeared to have some sort of fascination with DeLuca and Zokaites."

The bikers went to the back room to play pool.

Mr. Heitzenrater came into the bar next. He said Detective Honick noticed his jacket and turned to the other officers to say something. Two other Pagans also came in and ordered drinks. Detective Honick shook their hands and talked to them briefly, according to the complaint. Another Pagan, Bruce Thomas, then came in and stood next to his friends, after which they all went to play pool.

At 12:21 a.m. on Oct. 12, the complaint says, Detective Honick grabbed the bartender by the back of his head and said he and the others were police officers and there was going to be trouble with the Pagans. He told the bartender that the Pagans were staring and pointing at the officers, but the complaint says the bartender said he didn't see any such behavior.

Detective Martin went to the pool room and talked to some of Mr. Heitzenrater's friends, then walked back to the police and raised his arms as if showing off his strength. Detective Martin and several other officers briefly returned to the pool area to talk to the Pagans some more, then went back to the bar.

At 12:31, two of the Pagans left the bar and waved to the officers, at least one of whom waved back, the complaint says.

A few minutes later Mr. DeLuca and Mr. Zokaites walked outside so that Mr. DeLuca could talk on his cell phone. When they came back into the bar, according to the complaint, Detective Honick turned towards them and stared at them.

At 12:36 a.m., tension mounted when Detective Honick lifted his shirt to show a gun his waistband, the complaint says. Nearby, Detective Burgunder also placed a gun in his waistband after receiving a clip from Detective Lincoln.

The complaint says Detective Lincoln, meanwhile, tried to calm Detective Honick, and shook Mr. DeLuca's hand. Mr. DeLuca also shook Detective Honick's hand, but the detective began arguing with the biker while handling the gun, according to the complaint.

The situation then escalated, with Detective Martin now yelling at the bikers as well. At 12:40, Mr. DeLuca pushed Detective Honick, and a melee erupted. Uniformed officers who had arrived a few moment earlier tried to pull Detective Honick away but didn't obey them and attacked Mr. DeLuca, the complaint alleges.

Mr. Zokaites tried to help his friend but was struck with a Taser and fell to the ground, where according to the complaint Detective Martin began punching him. Detective Martin also threw Mr. Thomas into some bar stools as the fighting progressed.

Mr. Heitzenrater said that Detective Honick approached him during the brawl and raised his fist as if to hit him, but Mr. Heitzenrater said he put his hands up to show he had a splint on his left hand and didn't want to fight.

At that point, according to the complaint, Detective Honick turned away to punch Mr. DeLuca. But Detective Martin then swore at Mr. Heitzenrater and punched him twice in the head, knocking him down. As he lay on the ground, he said Detective Martin taunted him and claiming that Mr. Heitzenrater had grabbed him.

Video of the incident shows no grab, according to the complaint.

After the fight, Mr. Heitzenrater and his friends were arrested on assault charges and jailed. The Allegheny County district attorney's later dropped those charges.

The FBI and U.S. attorney's office are examining the case for possible civil rights violations against the police.

SOURCE: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette