Category: Gangs in the news…

https://news.yahoo.com/4-hells-angels-gang-members-015829543.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAL3ZXNyRXpm03IrRGFPO_eKASdKKuIjyYBcNYJBIYWpTheMR5ErFh9YQvSzIDbLlDSzKskP8jd865Xlot1SXGMRi2LIEqc7JRoc95oLCKbhEQ0njmGVJW7tnAlmyD1rqc7T1pSf1gg6ZThGphvfhiPMuWpe6QOCv4OqCQ_Kn6btY

In warning to public, Keys sheriff says notorious biker gangs behind local toy drives

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2023/10/24/in-warning-to-public-keys-sheriff-says-notorious-biker-gangs-behind-local-toy-drives/
Ryan Mackey, Digital Journalist Local 10 News WPLG in South Florida October 24, 2023

MONROE COUNTY, Fla. – Monroe County Sheriff Rick Ramsay is urging to public to be aware of holiday toy drives that are being hosted by the Pagans Outlaw Motorcycle Club, one of South Florida’s most notorious outlaw motorcycle gangs.

In a video posted to social media Tuesday morning, Ramsay said he was reading a Florida Keys newspaper last weekend when he noticed the “End of the Line” toy drive was being hosted next month by PMC, which stands for Pagan Motorcycle Club, and LMC, which stands for the Led Motorcycle Club, a “feeder club” for the PMC.

Viewers can watch the video at the top of the page.
Ramsey said that both clubs are criminal, outlaw motorcycle gangs that are involved in crime involving drugs, guns and violence in the community.

Authorities said they have had several encounters with PMC over the years.
MCSO spokesperson Adam Linhardt announced the arrests of several suspected gang members who were facing several firearm, DUI and drug charges.

Marie Fortier, 45, of Spring Hill, was arrested on Feb. 21 for possession of methamphetamine, possession of a concealed weapon without a permit and possession of drug paraphernalia following a traffic stop on U.S. 1 near 17th Court in Marathon, according to Linhardt.
The driver of the vehicle, Nicholas Joseph La Bella, 69, also of Spring Hill, was cited for traveling 60 mph in a 35 mph zone and for not wearing a seat belt, authorities said.
According to Linhardt, La Bella also admitted to speeding in order to keep up with a group of motorcyclists also affiliated with the Pagans.

Deputies said 29-year-old Ryan Alan St. Clair of DeLand, who was arrested on February, 7, 2022, on firearms and drug-related violations.

St. Clair is affiliated with the Pagan’s motorcycle gang. Authorities said it is unclear if he is still associated with the gang.

Linhardt said St. Clair was charged with carrying a concealed weapon without a license, possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and possession of a controlled substance without a prescription.

Deputies also said they arrested Pagan’s member Austin Christopher Reynolds, 26, of Key West, on February, 3, 2022, after fleeing from a MCSO deputy on U.S. 1 on Stock Island. Reynolds was arrested on charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a weapon (a large knife) by a convicted felon, possession of cocaine, fleeing and eluding, evidence tampering, reckless driving and knowingly driving with a suspended license, according to Linhardt.

Deputies previously arrested Pagan’s member Justin August Meyer, 31, of Key West, on Jan. 27 following a search warrant of his Staples Avenue home. Meyer was arrested on charges of possession of cocaine, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of ammunition by a convicted felon and possession of drug paraphernalia. About 12 grams of cocaine, an AR-15 pistol, a 9mm pistol, 140 rounds of ammunition, $3,310 in suspected drug sales and a digital scale were found in the residence, authorities said.

In 2019, the Sheriff’s Office arrested another Pagan’s member, Adam Matthew Miller, 42, of Big Pine Key, for allegedly making threats on Facebook, authorities said Miller posted a picture of himself holding a knife that was captioned: “Support Pagan’s MC or else! Support or life support! Sons of the Fire God coming to a neighborhood near you!”

Ramsay ended the video by saying “there are great organizations that people can team up with, but PMC is not one of them.”
Copyright 2023 by WPLG Local10.com – All rights reserved.

Vikings Motorcycle Club members receive prison sentences for drug convictions

Justice Daniel M. Boone released the trio’s sentencing Thursday, which also includes fines

Elizabeth Whitten · CBC News · October 21, 2023

After being arrested seven years ago, three recently convicted members of the Vikings Motorcycle Club were given their sentences this week, and all of them will be spending time in prison.
Vince Leonard, Wayne Johnson and James Curran were first arrested in 2016, with the criminal case trickling through the courts since then.
In 2019, their lawyers submitted an application to the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador, arguing the accused hadn’t gotten a speedy trial, but it was dismissed.
In a St. John’s courtroom in May, the trio were found guilty on several charges, including selling drugs to undercover cops — even handing over the drugs in Tim Hortons cups and boxes.
All three were convicted of charges related to drug trafficking and possession of the proceeds of crime, with Leonard and Johnson also found guilty of organized crime offences.
Prison time for all 3 men
The judgment was released Thursday by Supreme Court Justice Daniel M. Boone, who revealed all three would be going to prison.
Leonard was sentenced to five-and-a-half years imprisonment, whereas Johnson was allotted five years. Curran was given the shortest prison sentence — three and a half years.
All three got credit for time already spent in jail before the trial, though in each case it amounted to less than a month.
Justice Boone explained his reasoning behind the sentencing, including the types of drugs that were being trafficked.
“The consequences of oxycodone abuse in this community, and particularly on some of its most vulnerable members, have been the subject of extensive reporting in the media and the subject of investigation and commentary by public health officials,” he wrote.
He also noted the court’s approach to fentanyl is “still evolving” and that the province’s medical examiner recently highlighted the “alarming” number of fentanyl overdoses and that some had resulted in deaths.
Fines and bans
Boone also wrote that the Crown had established the men received proceeds from a crime, but the Crown didn’t seize money from them. As a result, Boone determined that Leonard, Johnson and Curran will have to pay fines imposed by the court.
Leonard will have to pay $33,500, whereas Johnson has to pay $49,800 and Curran will pay $48,100.
In addition, all three won’t be allowed to own firearms for 10 years.
The men’s lawyers have previously said they were going to apply for a stay of charges, arguing entrapment, which would have seen the court case end.
The Crown’s case centred around testimony and audio recordings from undercover police officers and agents.
During an investigation, the three men sold drugs to undercover officers several times, but a successful entrapment case would need to establish that police induced the three men to commit crimes.
As part of the investigation, in 2014 the RCMP hired an agent to go get close to the Viking Motorcycle Club. When it came to trial, he didn’t take the stand.

Hells Angels member charged after search warrant
https://www.policenews.act.gov.au/news/media-releases/hells-angels-member-charged-after-search-warrant

Australian Federal Police New Release 21 October 2023,

A 22-year-old Franklin man police believe is a member of the Hells Angels criminal motorcycle gang has been charged following a search warrant at his home earlier this month.
Investigators from ACT Policing’s Organised Crime team and AFP Specialist Operations attended the home in Franklin on 13 October (2023) and executed search warrants on the man’s home and two vehicles. During the search warrant a mobile phone was seized and the man was required to provide passwords under a 3LA order issued by a magistrate.

The man refused to do so.

A subsequent examination of the phone identified use of an encrypted messaging application. As the man refused to provide appropriate access to this application police will allege he breached the 3LA order. A 3LA order requires a person to provide any information or assistance that is reasonable and necessary to allow police to access data, including account based data, held in or accessible from a computer or data storage device found on the premises where a search warrant is being executed.

The man was arrested yesterday (Friday 20 October 2023) and was charged with contravening a 3LA order. As a result of being charged with this offence, he was found to be in breach of an existing Intensive Corrections Order issued in NSW in 2022.

The 22-year-old man is expected to face the ACT Magistrates Court today (Saturday, 21 October 2023).

Detective Inspector Mark Steel said ACT Policing is continuing to target anyone who associates with criminal gangs in the ACT and the surrounding district.

“We will continue our pursuit of criminal motorcycle gang members,” said Detective Inspector Steel.

“Our dedicated investigators will use all lawful means to make the ACT a hostile environment for gang members.”

Anyone with any information about criminal motorcycle gang activity is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000, or via the Crime Stoppers ACT website. Information can be provided anonymously.

MEDIA ENQUIRIES 
POLICE MEDIA — (02) 5126 9070,  act-police-media@afp.gov.au 

Restaurant frequented by Hells Angels and people tied to Mafia shut down for 25 days
Once during the pandemic, when restaurants were closed, police found Montreal Mafia leader Francesco Del Balso among a group of 35 inside Prima Luna.
Author of the article: Paul Cherry • Montreal Gazette
Published Oct 04, 2023 • Last updated Oct 05, 2023

A restaurant in the Rivière-des-Prairies—Pointe-aux-Trembles borough was ordered to shut its doors for 25 days because it was frequented by members of the Hells Angels and people tied to the Mafia during the worst parts of the COVID-19 pandemic, when all establishments were supposed to be closed.
During a hearing on the matter, the liquor board was informed that police officers saw several organized crime figures in the restaurant at times when all restaurants were ordered closed as part of health measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. At other times, the city’s restaurants were only allowed to deliver food.
Included among the people the police took issue with were Francesco Del Balso, the Montreal Mafia leader who was killed in the West Island in June, as well as Martin Robert and Stéphane Plouffe, two members of the Hells Angels whose homes were recently searched as part of a drug trafficking investigation led by the Sûreté du Québec.
According to the Régie’s decision, the first significant event occurred on Dec. 20, 2020, when all restaurants in Montreal were supposed to be closed. Police officers noticed several vehicles parked outside Prima Luna.
“When the police arrived, the vehicles left the parking lot, but three of them were intercepted. The police identified the people behind the wheels and recognized one of them as being criminalized,” the liquor board wrote in its lengthy decision.

2 members of Outlaws Motorcycle Club charged with arson

by: Shaun Towne, Alex Torres-Perez WRPI Providence, Rhode Island October 19, 2023
https://www.wpri.com/news/local-news/northwest/2-members-of-outlaws-motorcycle-club-charged-with-arson/

NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Two members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club were in court Thursday on charges related to two fires at the same location in Scituate.
John Petrarca, the club’s president, and Robert Anderson are both facing two counts of felony arson and conspiracy. No pleas were entered at their arraignments and both were ordered held without bail.
Prosecutors say the same detached garage off Tunk Hill Road caught fire around midnight on June 29 and 5 a.m. on July 6. Investigators from the state fire marshal’s office found accelerant at the scene in both cases.
Petrarca’s defense attorney, John Harwood, argued in court that his client was never there, however.
“I haven’t heard that this young man’s anywhere near this place, other than he’s a friend of a guy named Anderson,” Harwood said. “I know you too. Doesn’t mean we’re setting fires.”
Scituate police conceded that they weren’t able to place Petrarca at the scene, but they believe he’s the one who ordered Anderson to set the two fires. Sgt. Matthew King said surveillance footage showed Anderson’s car at the scene, and he recited text messages between the two men aloud in court.
“Asking, ‘All set?’ And then the second suspect, Robert Anderson, responding back, ‘It will be later.’ Shortly after that, the fire was lit for the first time,” King said.
While a specific motive for the alleged arson is unclear at this time, police allege that Petrarca and the victim had a disagreement with one another.
Petrarca, 53, and Anderson, 50, are both due back in court next week for a status hearing.

Man hurt in motorcycle club shooting now charged with murder
Bethany Bruner Columbus Dispatch Columbus, Ohio October 19, 2023
https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/crime/2023/10/19/motorcycle-club-shooting-charged-murder-brody-sieber-glen-clark-nicholas-dowler-avengers-columbus-oh/71240836007/

A grand jury indicted a 39-year-old man injured in a August 2022 shooting involving a motorcycle club with murder.
Brody Sieber, of the South Side, was formally charged Thursday with two counts of murder and felonious assault, as well as a charge of having weapons under disability.
Columbus police said Sieber is responsible for the Aug. 1, 2022, shooting deaths of 50-year-old Glen Clark III and 34-year-old Nicholas Dowler.
The shooting occurred around 9:40 p.m. that night outside the Old Landmark Tavern, located on Rumsey Road on the city’s South Side. Multiple 911 calls from the scene indicated the Avengers Motorcycle Club was involved and that multiple people suffered gunshots.
Clark was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
Four other people, including Dowler and Sieber, were taken to OhioHealth Grant Medical Center. Dowler later died from his injuries.
The following day, Columbus police searched the Franklinton-area headquarters of the motorcycle club for evidence.
According to court records, prosecutors are requesting a warrant for Sieber’s arrest. He was not listed as being in custody in the Franklin County jail as of Thursday afternoon.
Anyone with information about the case or Sieber’s whereabouts is asked to call detectives at 614-645-4730 or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS.
bbruner@dispatch.com

2 more Pinellas biker gang members arrested in slaying of man believed to be informant
Two members of the Mongols biker gang were previously arrested in the fatal shooting of Dominick Paternoster. Tuesday’s arrests make four arrests in the case so far.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/crime/2023/10/17/2-more-pinellas-biker-gang-members-arrested-slaying-man-believed-be-informant/
Amy Gehrt Tampa Bay Florida Times staff October 18, 2023
Over a year after authorities said more arrests would be coming in the April 2022 killing of a man who Mongols motorcycle gang members believed was a police informant, the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announced two additional arrests Tuesday.
Vincent Romanino, 42, of Lutz was booked into a Hillsborough County jail Tuesday and is being held without bond, jail records show. Joshualee Garcia, 33, of Zephyrhills was booked into a Pasco County jail, according to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office. His booking photo and information were not available Tuesday night. Each faces a charge of accessory after the fact to first-degree felony murder in the fatal shooting of Dominick Paternoster, the sheriff’s office said.

Both men were members of the Mongols when Paternoster was killed, the agency said.
Paternoster, 46, was shot multiple times in his home, located at 104 Dunbridge Drive in Palm Harbor, sometime between 10:20 p.m. on April 27, 2022, and 1 a.m. the following morning, according to court documents. His body was found around 4:30 p.m. on April 28.
Around four months later, Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri called a news conference on Aug. 29, 2022, to announce the indictment of Paul Mogilevsky on a first-degree murder charge in Paternoster’s death. He said Paternoster, now 49, had been a member of a feeder group for the Mongols called the Raiders. The Mongols are based in California but have a Tampa Bay chapter.
The Mongols and the Raiders share a clubhouse in Tampa, according to Gualtieri, and Paternoster and Mogilevsky both were there the night of April 27, 2022. Later, they left with another person and went to Paternoster’s house.

According to court documents, a confidential witness told authorities that Mogilevsky had planned the shooting and admitted to killing Paternoster. Some of the details provided by the witness were verified by investigators.
Authorities also said evidence connected to the slaying was disposed of in Tampa Bay, and dive team members were able to recover items.

During an April 29, 2022, interview, Dylan Pascale told detectives that he and another person had taken Paternoster home, and when they left, Paternoster was asleep in a recliner, the sheriff’s office previously said.
As the investigation progressed, detectives said they found evidence that Pascale, now 36, had lied about that night. In addition, spent shell casings located next to Paternoster’s body had DNA that belonged to Pascale, the agency said.
Pascale was arrested Oct. 12, 2022, on a first-degree murder charge.
Detectives said members of the Mongols biker gang believed Paternoster was a “snitch,” but authorities would not confirm whether Paternoster was an informant or not.
“Paternoster was not just killed. He was executed,” Gualtieri said at the Aug. 29, 2022, news conference.
Multiple guns were used in the killing, he said at the time, and added that Mogilevsky would not be “the last person arrested in this case. More arrests will be made.”
The investigation remains ongoing, the sheriff’s office said Tuesday.
Former Times staff reporter Natalie Weber contributed to this report.

Hells Angel to appear in court as potential extradition looms over $100m fraud

Courtney Vasseur once worked for a Langley man convicted of a $6 million fraud

Matthew Claxton Langley Advance Times Langley , British Columbia, Canada October 17, 2023
https://www.langleyadvancetimes.com/local-news/hells-angel-to-appear-in-court-as-potential-extradition-looms-over-100m-fraud-5893008
A Lower Mainland Hells Angel with ties to Langley will be in court this month facing extradition over an alleged $100 million fraud scheme.
Courtney “Court” Vasseur, a member of the elite Nomads Hells Angels chapter, is one of 10 people charged with fraud in the United States last year. The FBI alleged Vasseur and others were part of a $100 million international pump-and-dump stock scheme.
The hearing on Oct. 30 in B.C. Supreme Court is for an application, according to courthouse staff. A date for the full extradition hearing has not been set.
Vasseur, who allegedly went by aliases including “Black Water,” “Cyril Vetsch,” “Arctic Shark” and “Oscar Devries” during the scheme, is allegedly linked to $35 million of the $100 million total in the schemes.
He’s facing securities and wire fraud charges that could each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars in the U.S., if he’s convicted.
Persons charged with a criminal offence are considered not guilty until the charges are proven in court.
A pump-and-dump scheme is a con in which a low-value or worthless stock is promoted and “pumped” in a variety of ways, including via online promotion claiming the stock will go up in value, or fake trades between people in on the con, which makes the stock look more valuable than it actually is.
Vasseur formerly worked for Aggressive Roadbuilders, a Langley-area company that went under in 2008 after accountants and investigators discovered its head, Matthew Brooks, and his comptroller, Kirk Roberts, had defrauded Scotiabank of $6 million.
Brooks, in an interview with the Langley Advance Times last year, vehemently insisted that Vasseur never got any money from the Scotiabank fraud and had nothing to do with it.
Vasseur has never been convicted of a crime in Canada, but in 2013, he was charged with possession of fentanyl for the purpose of trafficking, after his Cadillac Escalade crashed into the back of a bus at Cambie and 16th in Vancouver.
Both Vasseur and the man at the wheel, Craig Leonard Retvedt, were discovered passed out due to accidental fentanyl overdose – an open baggie of the drug was found in a console between the seats. Both men were charged, but because there was not enough evidence to say which of the men had brought the drug into the vehicle, both were found not guilty in a B.C. Supreme Court trial in 2017.
“One of the two men clearly was in possession of at least the powder, and possibly both of them were,” Justice Heather Holmes noted in her 2017 ruling.

Hells Angels member who organized toy runs for kids also arranged 4 illegal cremations to make bodies disappear: Feds
DAVID HARRIS LAW & CRIME Oct 16th, 2023, 3:19 pm

https://lawandcrime.com/crime/hells-angels-member-who-organized-toy-runs-for-kids-also-arranged-4-illegal-cremations-to-make-bodies-disappear-feds/
Merl Hefferman, a Hells Angels Motorcycle Club member seen here promoting the organization’s 2018 toy run in Fresno, California, admitted to organizing the illegal cremation of four murder victims to get rid of their bodies, federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. (KMPH)
Hells Angels Motorcycle Club member arranged to have four bodies cremated in order for them to disappear, federal prosecutors said in a sentencing memorandum filed last week in California.

Merl Hefferman, 54, is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty in December to obstructing justice. He was one of 11 Hells Angels members named in a 2018 superseding indictment alleging racketeering and conspiracy to commit murder.
Prosecutors with the Northern District of California wrote that Hefferman admitted he had murder victim Joel Silva’s body illegally cremated on or about June 16, 2014.
“Hefferman obstructed justice. He also caused immense pain to Silva’s family: they had no body to mourn, no closure, and no certainty about what had happened to Silva until the Group 1 Trial in 2022 — nearly eight years after Silva disappeared,” prosecutors wrote.
Levi Phipps, crematory manager at the Yost & Webb Funeral Home in Fresno, testified at the trial of Hefferman’s co-defendants that before Silva’s murder, Hefferman became “fascinated with the crematory” and asked for the keys to the facility so that he could make “something disappear” someday.
The day after Silva was murdered, Hefferman called Phipps to say he “better be” at the crematory. Later that day, two men, one of whom Phipps identified as Hefferman’s stepson, came to the crematory, threatened him with a gun and loaded Silva’s body into the incinerator, prosecutors wrote.
The next day, Hefferman called Phipps to tell him to keep quiet about the illegal cremation. Cellphone records corroborated Phipps’ story, according to prosecutors.
Phipps testified that three other cremations were carried out in a similar fashion. Several months after Silva’s murder, Hefferman facilitated another cremation, this one later identified as Robbie Huff, a former Hells Angels member who went missing on Feb. 11, 2015. Prosecutors say Huff was involved in Silva’s murder and coverup.
Cellphone records show Hefferman contacted Phipps several times the day Huff went missing. This time Hefferman “personally delivered” the body to the crematory to have the body incinerated, prosecutors allege.
The third body to be incinerated was Art Carasis, who was last seen at the Fresno Hells Angels clubhouse on July 7, 2016. Finally, a fourth body was cremated, but this body has yet to be publicly identified. Phipps testified two men arrived at the facility and unloaded a body wrapped in plastic and duct tape. All four bodies that were incinerated are believed to have been murdered, according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors allege one of the most “chilling” aspects of Silva’s murder was he was planning his daughter’s 15th birthday party when he was killed at the Fresno Hells Angels clubhouse.
Silva’s mother wrote in an impact statement that her son’s death has “impacted us to the point of sleepless nights, nightmares and a huge financial loss for myself and daughter-in-law Stacy Silva.”
“Not knowing where our son was for years was difficult and extremely emotional,” his mother wrote.
Prosecutors are asking a judge to sentence Hefferman to more than seven years in prison.
Hefferman’s attorney James Bustamante wrote in his own sentencing memo that his client had a “tumultuous and violent upbringing” and was thrown out of a second-story window and then down two flights of stairs when he was 6 months old. His mother became romantically involved with his father’s best friend who threw the father out of a car and ran over his legs. Bustamante also alleged that Hefferman’s stepfather was abusive to him and his mother.
“When Mr. Hefferman was seven years old, he came home from school to find his stepfather dragging his mother around the house by her hair. His stepfather then pulled out a gun and shot at Mr. Hefferman four times,” Bustamante wrote. “As a result of this incident, Mr. Hefferman packed up his belongings, including a sleeping bag, and left home.”
Bustamante also wrote that Hefferman has complied with all the court’s requirements since his 2018 arrest. They are asking Hefferman to be sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison.
Several friends wrote in character letters about Hefferman’s charitable work in the Fresno community including bicycle and toy giveaways.
In December 2016, just months after he allegedly had Carasis’ body illegally cremated, Hefferman went on local Fox affiliate KMPH to promote the 18th annual Fresno Hells Angels Toy Run. He described all the support as “awesome.”
“The need is so great for these kids,” he said.