Judge postpones first sentencing in Pagans racketeering case

Off the Wire
MCs in the News By Andrew Clevenger
Staff writer
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CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A federal judge on Thursday postponed what would have been the first sentencing in the racketeering case against members and associates of the Pagans Motorcycle Club, saying he wanted more time to review the factual basis for each guilty plea.
U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston said recent developments, including a defendant backing out of his plea earlier this week and another plea that was set aside, had caused him to question the legal foundations of other guilty pleas in the case.
"I am going to have to go back and scrutinize each factual basis with a fine-toothed comb," he said.
Steve Harlan "Creature" Stover, 50, of Proctorville, Ohio, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to commit and assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering in November. Stover, a construction worker who was the eighth defendant to strike a deal with prosecutors, faced up to 20 years in prison.
Stover is a member of the Last Rebels Motorcycle Club, a smaller club affiliated with the Pagans. As part of his plea deal, he admitted that he traveled with members of both clubs to Portsmouth, Ohio, where the Pagans intended to strip the Road Disciples Motorcycle Club of their colors and patches because they had not been sufficiently loyal to the Pagans.
Defense attorney Michael Frazier said he decided to ask for a postponement after reading the Gazette's account of Joseph J. "Hard Rock" Schmidt backing out of his plea deal during a Tuesday hearing. Also, rumors are swirling among defense attorneys in the Pagans case that the government's racketeering case is faltering, he said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Loew said Stover's guilty plea provided an adequate factual and legal basis for him to be sentenced, but Johnston said he wanted to wait until he had reviewed the factual stipulations of other defendants who have pleaded guilty.
"When you really start scrutinizing these things, questions can arise," he said. "I need to be given a record where I can say, 'Oh, yeah, I see [that a crime was committed].' Right now, I don't have that."

Other developments
Earlier Thursday, a member of the Pagans' Charleston chapter pleaded guilty to drug charges for using cocaine in the Pagans' Kanawha County clubhouse and ordering subordinates in the club to buy and pick up cocaine for senior members.
William Daniel "Danimal" Copen, 49, faces up to 20 years in prison when sentenced by Johnston on June 29.
Also Thursday, the president of the Pagans' Buckhannon chapter asked Johnston to release him while he awaits trial.
Elmer Luke "Tramp" Moore, 43, of Buckhannon, has been in custody since the original indictment was unsealed in October. Since then, the evidence that Moore poses a threat to the community has been weakened as more facts about the government's case come out, according to Moore's attorney, Jim Roncaglione.
Moore is accused of ordering a beating, known in the biker world as a "bang check," of a suspected informant in a New Jersey hotel room in January 2009. The victim was providing information to agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.



Since the indictment was unsealed, prosecutors have revealed that the informant used and bought drugs without prior permission from his government handlers. The informant also sold guns to two of the defendants in the racketeering case, according to prosecutors.

Roncaglione said the informant's account of the alleged beating is suspect because his credibility has been undermined by the government's revelations. Also, one of the defendants who struck a deal with prosecutors has repeatedly changed his story after originally telling investigators that he was too drunk and high at the time to remember details of the alleged beating.

Another cooperating witness, who reported hearing Moore described the beating later, has been convicted of perjury, Roncaglione said.

"You don't build cases like this on Boy Scouts," the judge replies.

Loew said that the government's evidence against Moore has gotten stronger since U.S. Magistrate Mary E. Stanley ordered him held without bond.

One defendant, James R. "Bones" Claypool II, admitted as part of his plea that Moore ordered him to punch the informant, Loew noted. He also said there is mounting evidence of Moore's extensive drug use.

As a chapter president, Moore could order others to intimidate or harm potential witnesses, he said. Moore has already threatened to kill a co-defendant and his wife if they cooperated with the government, Loew said.

Loew also referred to a recording of a conversation purportedly between a confidential informant and Moore, in which Moore complains that his cocaine dealer sold him "1.5 grams of [expletive]."

"If it ever happens again, I'm going to have somebody come and get him and I am going to take everything he's got and put him in the hospital," Moore says on the recording, according to a transcript in court records. "As sure as God made little green [expletive] apples, this is what will happen."

Johnston said he would review the matter and make a decision.

The judge is scheduled to hear arguments on many pending motions, including numerous motions to dismiss various counts in the indictment, on Monday. His rulings will likely reshape the course of the racketeering prosecution.

With Copen's plea, 19 defendants have struck deals with prosecutors, including Pagans national vice president Floyd "Jesse" Moore, 64, of St. Albans. Floyd Moore, who is Elmer Moore's father, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges in December.

Charges are still pending against 36 defendants, including Pagans national president David K. "Bart" Barbeito, 49, of Myersville, Md.

Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 304-348-1723.

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