Prosecutors seek forfeiture of 39 guns from Outlaws Motorcycle Club members, others in Pharaoh’s case
Dan Herbeck , Patrick Lakamp Buffalo News (Buffalo, New York) January 16, 2024
https://buffalonews.com/news/local/crime-courts/prosecutors-seek-forfeiture-of-39-guns-from-outlaws-motorcycle-club-members-others-in-pharaohs-case/article_4fa9efdc-b1bb-11ee-baad-271235b8bf82.html
Prosecutors are seeking the forfeiture of 17 shotguns, 17 rifles, five handguns, 3,848 rounds of ammunition and 13 boxes of ammunition in connection with arrests related to the death of a witness in the Pharaoh’s strip club case.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is also seeking the forfeiture of the home in Wellsville where government witness Crystal Quinn died of a drug overdose Aug. 1.
Sixteen of the guns and 1,844 rounds of the ammunition were seized by federal agents from the Lancaster residence of John Ermin, who has been identified by prosecutors as manager of Pharaoh’s Gentlemen’s Club in Cheektowaga and the international president of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.
“Quite frankly, all of the guns were mostly shotguns and I think some long rifles – all used for hunting,” George Muscato, defense attorney for Ermin, told a judge during a December detention hearing.
There was nothing illegal about any of the firearms Ermin had, Muscato said, and “not any indication that these guns that were found in my client’s house was used in any kind of illegal activity.”
“Most of my client’s family was from Pennsylvania and are hunters, and this is where he got these firearms from,” Muscato said at the hearing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph Tripi acknowledged Ermin holds a hunting license but has doubts over whether he actually hunts.
“He has not reported killing any deer, bears or turkeys,” Tripi told Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford at the recent court proceeding. “So we submit that the cadre of weapons is really for the preparedness of use in the Outlaws Motorcycle Club.”
FBI agents also seized a shotgun and 133 rounds of ammunition from the Wellsville home of Simon Gogolack, who is accused of intentionally giving Quinn, 37, a fatal drug overdose to prevent her from testifying against Pharaoh’s owner Peter Gerace Jr.
Federal prosecutors claim Quinn was targeted for retribution because she testified last year before a grand jury investigating alleged narcotics and human trafficking activities, including prostitution at the strip club.
Ermin, Gogolack and Michael Roncone of the Rare Breed Motorcycle Club were named in a 28-count superseding indictment unsealed last week as part of a conspiracy to obstruct justice by targeting Quinn to keep her from testifying against Gerace.
Gerace faces federal sex- and drug-trafficking and bribery charges, and Quinn had entered a formal cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors.
Ermin now faces charges of obstruction of justice, witness tampering, witness retaliation and an unlawful user of controlled substances in possession of firearms.
Twenty-four of the guns and 1,629 rounds of ammunition were seized at the Rare Breed Motorcycle Club clubhouse in Wellsville and the Lancaster home where Roncone lived, authorities stated in court papers.
“That is a lot of firearms when you couple that with the evidence of drugs in the residence,” Wolford said at Roncone’s detention hearing.
Wolford released Roncone from custody under certain conditions as his case proceeds in court.
Roncone faces an obstruction of justice conspiracy charge connected to Quinn’s death in addition to a firearms charge and a charge of making false statements to the FBI.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Cooper, at Roncone’s detention hearing, cited a poster hanging on a wall of the Rare Breed’s Buffalo clubhouse that reads: “Due to the rising cost of ammunition, I’m no longer able to provide a warning shot.”
Given the Rare Breed’s role as a support club for the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, “this poster evinces a belief within members of the group a willingness to use firearms … to shoot individuals – not to hunt or target practice,” Cooper said.
Attorney Paul Dell, who represents Roncone, told Wolford all of the guns were legally possessed.
Scott Barnes, a member of the Outlaws who was living at the Outlaws’ Buffalo clubhouse, faces firearms charges but no counts related to Quinn.
When the FBI searched the clubhouse, they found a stolen Glock semi-automatic pistol the government also intends to seize.
Agents found it on a bedside table near his keys, wallet and cellphone.
“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that the defendant lied to the agents when they asked him if there were any firearms or weapons inside the clubhouse,” Cooper said.
Attorney David Cotter, who represents Barnes, noted at a court hearing what the government hasn’t said about the gun.
“It doesn’t say it’s in his pocket,” Cotter said. “It doesn’t say it has his DNA. All we know is that there is a gun in this clubhouse.”
Gerace, Gogolack, Ermin, Roncone and Barnes have denied charges filed against them in the case.
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