Iron Range judge rejects bid to dismiss Hells Angels cases
The court found no breach of attorney-client privilege or witness coercion after a contested hearing.
By Tom Olsen Duluth News Tribune May 07, 2025
https://www.duluthnewstribune.com/news/local/iron-range-judge-rejects-bid-to-dismiss-hells-angels-cases
VIRGINIA — A judge declined to dismiss rape and kidnapping charges against two members of the Iron Range chapter of the Hells Angels motorcycle club.
Judge Robert Friday said there was no breach of attorney-client privilege, as one of the defendants, Paul Anthony Debelak, failed to use proper channels to communicate with his attorney from the St. Louis County Jail, and there was no evidence that messages reviewed by investigators contained legal advice.
Additionally, the judge said, defense attorneys failed to prove their assertion that Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension agents intimidated witnesses into cooperating with the investigation.
“The court finds there were no deliberate intrusions on privileged attorney-client communications,” Friday wrote in a 21-page order. “Assuming (for the sake of argument) that there was an intrusion, the court would still deny defendants’ motion to dismiss because defendants’ Sixth Amendment right to counsel was not violated.”
The ruling, in the cases of Debelak, 39, and Eric Anthony Newman, 50, came five months after a contentious evidentiary hearing in which attorneys asserted that agents eavesdropped on private communications and three witnesses claimed they were threatened with prosecution if they did not comply with orders.
The cases stem from allegations that a woman was sexually assaulted and a man was abducted and beaten at the Hells Angels’ downtown Eveleth clubhouse.
Authorities reported that the man escaped from the group on crutches on Nov. 28, 2023, and ran to the safety of police, expressing fear that members could find him.
Investigators said they went on to learn that both victims were visiting an Eveleth residence Nov. 27 when club members arrived. It was reported that the woman was raped there by Debelak and Newman.
The man, meanwhile, was allegedly taken to the clubhouse in a van driven by Jake Douglas Novaczyk. He said he continued to be beaten by the chapter president, Jerand Paul French, as other members recorded video.
Authorities have released few details about the alleged motive or relationships between parties, other than to say that French was allegedly upset about the man’s association with the woman.
Defense attorneys, however, allege in their new filings that investigators were eager to implicate the club in serious crimes, noting BCA agents had been conducting surveillance outside the headquarters since at least June 2023.
The attorneys also say the alleged victims had been using drugs, a practice that is not tolerated by the Hells Angels, that other witnesses in the house said the rape and kidnapping did not occur, and that there is no DNA or other forensic evidence to support it.
The defense claimed in filings that investigators had listened to or read phone calls and text messages from the jailed defendants to their attorneys — something that was revealed when a BCA agent mentioned to a prosecutor that he had learned Novaczyk planned to surprise the state by filing a speed trial demand at a hearing last July.
A BCA analyst, Jessica Zimmer, also acknowledged under oath that she violated the terms of an agreement with the jail by sharing her login information and placing some materials in a shared drive for other employees to access.
But Judge Friday sided with prosecutors, who pointed out that inmates are provided clear instructions for designating their attorney’s phone numbers as private. Neither Debelak nor Newman can assert privilege over Novaczyk’s communications, the judge wrote, and texting devices were not supposed to be used for attorney messages.
A review of records showed Debelak had placed eight calls to his attorney — the longest lasting just one minute — to discuss basic procedural issues before designating her number as private.
“Defendant Debelak and Defendant Newman failed to prove that the alleged intrusion on privileged attorney-client communication involved legal advice,” the judge wrote, “and (that) the communication was intended to be confidential.”
Three witnesses also testified at the November hearing that they were threatened with charges if they did not comply. The judge noted discrepancies between their testimony and that of two BCA agents, so he relied on audio recordings of the interviews.
Friday said the tapes showed witnesses were warned against witness tampering, and one was told he could be charged with aiding and abetting because he was seen in the background of a video witnessing alleged crimes.
But the judge said there was no evidence anyone was “actively discouraged” from testifying or threatened with charges as a result of testifying. Three witnesses, in fact, spoke with a defense investigator, testified at the evidentiary hearing and said they would appear again at trial.
“While the court acknowledges the witnesses may have been intimidated by the BCA agents due to their status as law enforcement,” Friday wrote, “the BCA agents’ actions did not reach a level that ‘substantially interfered with any free and unhampered determination the witness might have made as to whether to testify and if so the content of the testimony.’ ”
Debelak is set for a jury trial beginning June 9, while Newman’s case is set to proceed Aug. 25.
French, 40, and Novaczyk, 46, have filed motions on the same grounds and were heard in March, agreeing to rely on the testimony from their co-defendants’ hearing. Judge Andrew Peterson is awaiting briefs before ruling in their cases.
All defendants except Newman have either posted bond or been released under pretrial supervision.