Taking exception

OFF THE WIRE
MCs in the News
Local motorcycle group members object to police gang allegations
By Cindy Allen, Managing Editor Enid News and Eagle
ENID — Specifically, Oklahoma Mongols Motorcycle Club president Michael C. Wooten, of Enid, said he objects to allegations his group is involved in drugs or distribution of drugs.
The Oklahoma Mongols were mentioned this week during a school district workshop on gangs given by an Enid police officer as being a gang that operates in drugs and other crimes.
“We’re just a bunch of Okies that like to ride and party,” Wooten said. “None of us do drugs.” He did acknowledge some of the group “occasionally smoke pot.”
Wooten said his group has specific rules against being involved in what he calls hard drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine. He said the club’s rules prohibit the sale of any drug, including marijuana.
“We catch a brother doing that, he’s out of the club,” Wooten said.
Wooten said the Oklahoma Mon-gols participate in fundraisers, specifically motorcycle poker runs that benefit charities, such as Toys for Tots.
Wooten also contends since a federal judge in California ruled against the government’s attempt to seize the Mongols Motorcycle Club’s trademarks, and in her ruling called the biker’s club “not a gang,” they should not be classified by law enforcement as a gang.
The government case in California stemmed from a 2008 case in which at least 61 members were arrested under a racketeering indictment that accused some of murder, attempted murder and drug sales.
Wooten said he believes a gang is a group that is a criminal enterprise that is actively selling drugs for revenue. He said all members of Oklahoma Mongols have jobs and families. He is a truck driver for Lavickey Sand Co.
“We have respectable jobs, some are aircraft mechanics, some are truck drivers,” he said. “I find it offensive when someone calls me a gang member.”
Garfield County Undersheriff Jerry Niles said the group can “call themselves a club, and I can even refer to them as a club, but I can also believe they are acting in concert to conduct criminal enterprises at various times.”
Several of the club members, including Wooten, have had brushes with the law over the past 10 years, including assaults, allegations of intimidation and some drug paraphernalia arrests, Niles said. The most recent charge of a known Mongol member being involved in drug distribution was back in 1996, Niles said.
Wooten admitted he’s been arrested for speeding tickets and some “bar fights, but I’ve never been arrested for drugs and never been arrested for dealing drugs.”
Wooten said the requirements for becoming a Mongol member include having an American-made motorcycle (Harley-Davidson) and being willing to do service in order to become a “patched in” member. He said no Mongol is required to do anything illegal to become a full member.
Original article...
http://enidnews.com/localnews/x1085946359/Taking-exception