Galloping Goose MC members sentenced

Kansas City, Missouri (March 15, 2019) BTN — Three men have been sentenced in federal court this week for their roles in a drug-trafficking conspiracy that led to the kidnap and torture of an Independence man almost three years ago. Randal Holmes of Kansas City, also known as “Peckerwood” or “Wood,” Michael Borrusch of Lakewood, Colorado, also known as “Birdie” were sentenced Thursday during separate appearances in federal court in Kansas City.

Holmes, 54, was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Borrusch was sentenced to three years and 10 months. Jeremy Bond, 40, of Independence, was sentenced Wednesday to two years and six months in federal prison without parole. In July, Holmes pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, kidnapping, conspiracy to distribute 50 kilograms or more of marijuana and brandishing firearms in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.

Borrusch and Bond pleaded guilty to roles in drug trafficking. Holmes’ son and co-defendant Gerald, 27, also known as “Jerry” or “Joker,” and Richard Phoenix, 77, also known as “Snake,” have also pleaded guilty in the case and await sentencing. The Holmes duo and Phoenix were part of the Galloping Goose Motorcycle Club.

This particular drug trafficking lasted from May into September 2016, according to court documents. Bond invested $10,000, receiving $1,000 a week in return and free marijuana until the investment was repaid in full. The investment allowed Gerald Holmes and the eventual kidnapping victim to purchase greater quantities of marijuana in Colorado and then resell it in the Kansas City area. Conspirators bought at least 120 pounds of marijuana from Borrusch in Colorado, paying between $1,600 and $2,400 per pound. Randal Holmes received $100 for each pound brought back to Kansas city because of his prior connection to Borrusch. According to court documents from the state charges that preceded the federal ones, the kidnapping victim had made several drug runs for the motorcycle club.

But in September 2016, Gerald and Randal Holmes kidnapped him because he had taken the latest bunch of cash and the car given to him, had parked the car at Kansas City International Airport and had flown to Denver and then Las Vegas, where he spent the money.

The Holmes pair kidnapped the victim by going to his father’s house and having him call his son and tell him he was being held a gunpoint and needed to come to the house right away.


When the victim arrived, they pointed a gun at him, told him to get in the vehicle and then drove away to another conspirator’s house, beating him up along the way.

Phoenix met them at the house, and the victim was taken to a basement and beaten with fists and a ballpeen hammer. The men also threatened to cut off his fingers and toes using tin snips, demanding to know where a duffel bag of money was, and according to state documents gave him methamphetamine when we went unconscious so he could wake up and be beaten again. Phoenix then held the victim at gunpoint until the Holmes pair returned. The father and son then drove the victim to a home in rural Benton County, reportedly owned by a member of a support motorcycle club, where he was beaten again.

They then told the victim to call his father and tell him he was OK, had taken a beating that he deserved and would be home in a couple days. Law-enforcement officials traced the phone call and found the victim the day after the kidnapping took place. They saw his face was swollen and bloodied, and he also had injuries to his head, hands and feet, including a fractured hand, and had trouble walking. Officers found a pistol in Randal Holmes’ vehicle and another one in the house where the victim was held. They also found five guns, 36 grams of pot and drug paraphernalia in another residence.

SOURCE: Neosho Daily News

Funeral for murdered Hells Angels member scheduled

Mississauga, Canada (March 15, 2019) BTN — A massive turnout is expected for the funeral of Michael (Diaz) Deabaitua-Schulde, 32, a full-patch Hells Angels member who was murdered in broad daylight at a Mississauga strip mall Monday. All of Ontario's roughly 200 Hells Angels members are required to attend and Hells Angels charters from across the country must also send members, a source said.

A Quebec man with Hells Angels ties is already in custody on first-degree murder charges and police have issued a Canada-wide first-degree murder warrant for another Montreal man who has a history of weapons possession, fraud and possession of false documents, and is awaiting trial for allegedly intimidating someone connected to the court system. The funeral of Deabaitua-Schulde, a father of two, is set for Saturday, March 23 at the Vescio Funeral Home in Woodbridge, according to the funeral home's website.

A GoFundMe page has also been set up in Deabaitua-Schulde's name. "God called Michael on Monday March 11, 2019, at the age of 32," his online obituary begins. "He will be forever missed by his loving spouse, Ashley and his children … He will be held dear in the hearts of his family, relatives, and many friends." As his funeral is being planned, police continue to hunt for Montreal fugitive Joseph Pallotta, 38. Deabaitua-Schulde was shot dead shortly before noon on Monday outside a gym in Mississauga at 700 Dundas St. E., near Cawthra Road. Peel Regional Police chief Chris McCord said that Deabaitua-Schulde was the victim of a targeted attack. Pallotta is considered armed and dangerous.

Related | Hells Angel MC member killed in shooting

Peel Regional Police announced on Thursday that they have arrested two Montreal men and that Pallotta is their third suspect. None of the three suspects are members of biker gangs but they are linked to organized crime, Peel Regional Police acting Supt. Martin Ottaway said at a press conference on Thursday. Marckens Vilme, 28, of Montreal was also charged with first-degree murder for Deabaitua-Schulde's death, Peel Regional police announced on Thursday. Vilme has a lengthy criminal record that shows a long-standing association with a Montreal street gang called the Ruffriders, and connections to Quebec Hells Angels.

The Ruffriders are considered by police to be associated with a larger Montreal street gang called les bleus, who in turn are close to the Quebec Hells Angels. Vilme's record includes convictions for violence and drug trafficking in Pierrefonds and in the west part of Montreal island. Vilme was sentenced to 21 months in jail for drug trafficking in June 2011 and eight months for conspiracy and extortion in February 2014. He also has an outstanding assault charge in Laval.

A third suspect Jonathan Martinez-Seyes, 27, was charged on Wednesday night with complicity after the fact. Deabaitua-Schulde was a member of the Niagara Region charter of the Hells Angels. One of his fellow Niagara Region members has been seen in Montreal several times recently, according to a Quebec source. Peel Regional police recovered a burned blue Honda Civic at the corner of Rymal Road and Tomken Road shortly after the murder on Monday.

SOURCE: The Hamilton Spectator

Harry "Taco" Bowman funeral set for fairgrounds

Dayton, Ohio, USA (March 15, 2019) BTN — Harry Joseph "Taco" Bowman, the former president of the Outlaw Motorcycle Club who was on the FBI's top ten most wanted fugitive's list, will have his funeral on Saturday at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds. Bowman's funeral is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.

A procession from the fairgrounds to Bear Creek Cemetery on North Union Road in Madison Twp. will begin at 12 p.m. Sheriff's Deputies will be shutting down North Union Road to Hoover Avenue in Trotwood for the funeral. Additionally, deputies will also partially close down Infirmary Road from the Montgomery County fairgrounds to SR-35 for the procession.

Related | Outlaws MC: Harry "Taco" Bowman dead at 69

Montgomery County Sheriff Rob Streck said officers are not expecting any safety issues but given the size of the crowd and the reputation of the group, they do have contingency plans in place. "There's always concerns when you have get large groups of people who have been known to be violent. They do not try to hide that fact," Streck said. "(But) We don't have any chatter of suspected violence, we don't have any indications that other clubs are going to try and cause trouble at the event." 

Bowman, who was serviving a life sentence in federal prison, died on Sunday at the Federal Medical Center in North Carolina. He was 69 years old. According to the Detroit News, Bowman was considered one of the most infamous motorcycle club leaders in U.S. history. The Outlaws were rivals to the Hell's Angels.


Bowman was placed on the FBI's Most Wanted List in 1998, interrupting what had been a relatively low profile kept by Bowman while serving as leader of the Outlaws. In 2001, he was convicted in a Federal court in Florida of the murders of several rival club members, firebombings, racketeering and conspiracy among other charges.

He was sentenced to two life sentences plus 83 years. Bowman had a long-running feud with Hell's Angels leader Sonny Barger over which club was superior. Several members of the Outlaws were previously interned at Bear Creek Cemetery.

SOURCE: WDTN2 News

Hells Angels ride off from their clubhouse

New York, NY (March 22, 2019) BTN — The Hells Angels have been vacating their East Village clubhouse and residence in recent days, an exodus spurred by the apparent transfer of their six-story building to a buyer. The new owner, Nathan Blatter, president of the Whitestone Realty Company in Brooklyn, said he was not available for immediate comment.

A pickup truck parked across the street from the Hells Angels clubhouse this past weekend 

So where are the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club heading on their motorcycles after 50 years at 77 E. Third St.?

Related | Hells Angels might sell their 3rd Street clubhouse
Related | Man punched in front of Hells Angels clubhouse

“We don’t know,” said a lean, member of the famed motorcycle club. As he moved packing material out through the clubhouse door over the weekend, he shielded his face from this reporter’s camera. Two motorcycles belonging to the Hells Angels were parked outside. Across the street was a pickup truck with and the words “Hell Bound” on its tailgate.

Last Thursday, The Villager rang the bell on the clubhouse door repeatedly after learning the Angels were leaving. Finally, a muscular biker of middle age came outside, his face nearly covered by a sock cap and huge sunglasses.

“No pictures,” he said, declining a request to pose for a photograph. “But you can take photos of the clubhouse if you want.” Was he going to miss it? “Of course, I’m going to miss it,” the black-clad biker replied as he walked west toward Second Ave.

The building has some distinctive touches. The ground floor’s red-brick facade bears the Angels “death’s head” insignias. There’s also plaque commemorating deceased club president “Big Vinnie” Girolamo, along with his motto, “When in doubt, knock ’em out.” The rotund biker died in 1979 before he could stand trial for allegedly throwing his girlfriend Mary Ann Campbell off the roof of the clubhouse to her death, reportedly because he believed she was an F.B.I. informant.

The federal government tried for years to shut down the clubhouse under a 1984 law that allows seizure of properties used for drug trafficking. In 1985, it was one of 12 “H.A.” hangouts raided by F.B.I. agents across the country. The G-men arrested 15 New York City members and confiscated drugs like cocaine.

The incident and the resulting convictions became part of an unsuccessful 1994 civil lawsuit by the government to take over the East Village clubhouse. All that, of course, was a long time ago. Several newcomers to the East Village seem to revere the Angels as heroes.

Three teenage female students who live in a dormitory run by the New York City Conservatory for the Dramatic Arts, at 81 E. Third St., said they would miss the bikers’ presence on the block. “I won’t be able to tell my friends anymore that I live next door to the Hells Angels,” one said, plaintively.

Nina Holton, 18, a Barnard student who was photographing Angels motorcycles on Saturday, said her mother lives on E. Third St. “She’s upset and sad that they are leaving,” Holton said. “She feels they added character to the neighborhood and now they’ll be replaced by some developer who’ll build condos.”

Holton believes the Angels helped keep the neighborhood safe and provided a sense of community. “I’d pass the clubhouse late at night, and a couple of them would be outside and they’d nod,” she recalled. “They were like eyes on the street.”

Others on the block are clearly terrified of them.

“They’re known for being menacing and they cultivate that image,” said a longtime block resident who asked only to be identified as a community activist. She claimed the Angels had “assaulted” a friend of hers and her boyfriend’s.

“I try to stay as a far away from them as possible,” she said. “It’s a myth that they make neighborhoods safe.” The woman noted that the Angels have become known recently for “ridiculous disputes over parking spaces and their stupid cones” used to reserve public spaces as their own.

“One of them shot someone in the stomach over a parking cone,” she said. She was referring to now-deceased Angel prospect Anthony Iovenitti, who was accused of shooting David Martinez, 25, in the early-morning hours of December 2016. A rumble erupted erupted after Martinez had gotten out of his Mercedez- Benz to move an orange cone blocking his car’s way. Assault and weapons possession charges were dismissed against Iovenitti after he died at 52 of an aneurysm during a motorcycle trip in 2017.

Captain John L. O’Connell, commanding officer of the Ninth Precinct, said there were “no interactions” with the club since his arrival last year “except for one short fight.”

In that instance, a 22-year-old deliveryman was sucker-punched in the face for parking in front of the clubhouse in late December 2018, according to the Daily News. O’Connell noted that his cops have taken away the Angels’ cones “because they’re not allowed to reserve spots on a public street.”

Criminal defense lawyer Ron Kuby has represented members of the club for years. He dismissed claims by some in law enforcement that the Hells Angels are into rackets and operate like organized crime.

“Think of it as a church,” he said of the group. “Members of clergy who violate the law don’t make the church a criminal enterprise.”

The New York City Hells Angels are actually incorporated in New York State as the Church of the Angels, a nonprofit religious organization. That name was used when club members purchased the property in 1977, for a reported $1,900. The moniker was used again last year in a preliminary memorandum of contract to sell the property to 77 East Third LLC, a limited-liability company linked to the aforementioned Nathan Blatter, EV Grieve reported last month. A 2013 court dispute over a deceased Angel president, Sandy Alexander, who had held title to the deed, was settled last year, apparently leading to a sale.

Kuby said he doesn’t know the buyer or the club’s current president “and I have no authorization to speak to the press with regard to the business sale.” He also couldn’t provide a “nose count” on the number of members in the club. He only said that most of them are just “looking to be left alone and to ride motorcycles with their colleagues.”

Photos: Mary Reinholz

SOURCE: The Villager