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.

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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. 

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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.

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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."

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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