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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Ex-Pagan gets year on gun charge

OFF THE WIRE
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A former member of the Pagans Motorcycle Club was sentenced Friday in federal court to one year and one day in prison for possessing a gun while he was a cocaine user.
Steven Jeffrey Bailey, 51, of St. Albans, pleaded guilty to the charge in January, admitting that he took a handgun safety course in 2008 in an effort to obtain a permit to carry a concealed weapon. During the course, he handled a Smith and Wesson revolver, which he was not allowed to do because he was a regular user of cocaine at the time.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston said Bailey's offense technically fit the definition of the crime, but noted that Bailey didn't own the gun - the instructor provided the gun during the class.
The circumstances mitigated the offense somewhat, but nonetheless it was illegal for him to possess the gun, the judge said.
"People using drugs are more likely to cause problems with firearms than people who aren't," he said, "and the court can't ignore that."
Bailey had a largely middle-class upbringing before attending Virginia Tech on a football scholarship, Johnston said. Bailey also served honorably in the U.S. Navy and has a good employment history, he said.
But Bailey, who is known in the biker world as "Oscar," also has an "aggressive streak" which sometimes landed him in trouble, Johnston said.
"I think that you joined the Pagans and embraced that lifestyle," Johnston said, adding that Bailey has a "1 percent" tattoo, interpreted by some to be a reference to the outlaw biker life. "And that lifestyle included drug use."
Bailey briefly addressed the court, acknowledging his involvement with cocaine.
"I made some mistakes," he said. "I would just like to get this behind me, get this over with, and move on."
Defense attorney Carl Hostler said Bailey has ended his association with the Pagans, but that there is no truth to the rumor that he is "out bad," or on bad terms with the club.
Since he has been out on bail, Hostler said, Bailey has passed multiple drug tests.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Blaire Malkin said Bailey has a long history of cocaine use, and his criminal history involves violence.
Johnston sentenced Bailey to one year and one day in prison, a term at the bottom of the 12- to 18-month range recommended by the federal sentencing guidelines. He also fined Bailey $3,000.
Johnston ordered Bailey to self-report to prison at a future date.
Bailey is the fifth defendant convicted of felony charges to be sentenced in the racketeering case, unsealed in October 2009, against 55 members and associates of the Pagans Motorcycle Club. The indictment included charges against defendants from Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
Many entered into plea deals to vastly reduced charges, and a handful entered into agreements where their charges will be dismissed if they stay out of trouble for a year.
Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...©wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.
http://wvgazette.com/News/policeblotter/201010081197?page=2&build=cache