Idaho - Ponderay, Raid targets Hermanos Motorcycle Club

OFF THE WIRE
BY: KEITH KINNAIRD
Source: bonnercountydailybee.com

PONDERAY — A grand jury investigation into a range of criminal activity in Bonner County unfolded further Monday with the arrest of three members of a motorcycle club with outlaw elements.

Two more were sought for arrest after local, state and federal law enforcement agents conducted five simultaneous early-morning raids on homes in Ponderay and Sandpoint, in addition to three more residences in the Pack River and Rapid Lightning valleys.

All five suspects have direct or indirect ties to the Hermanos Motorcycle Club, a group sheriff’s officials said have displayed an expanding presence in Bonner County.

Agents clad in SWAT attire moved on a residence at Fifth and Oak in Ponderay at about 7 a.m. After deploying a non-lethal stun grenade through a corner window to disorient the home’s occupants, agents gained entry as Ponderay Police and sheriff’s deputies encircled the home and covered potential routes of escape.

One disgruntled occupant who was not a target of the grand jury indictments taunted law officers as he was led out of the home in his underwear. A short time later, a dejected Bryan Michael Lukezich, who officials identify as president of the local Hermanos chapter, was escorted to an awaiting patrol vehicle.

Lukezich, 33, was arrested on a $100,000 warrant alleging that he has been recruiting criminal gang members, a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The Hermanos’ road captain, Steven Jay Beal, was arrested Monday by bailiffs when he showed up at the Bonner County Courthouse to undergo drug testing in a prior criminal matter. Beal, 32, was hooked up on a $100,000 warrant on charges of criminal gang recruitment and obliterating identification numbers of motor vehicle parts.

A third Hermanos chapter member, Dale Mihael Champine, was arrested at his apartment on Oak Street in Sandpoint. The 41-year-old is charged with obliterating manufacturers’ identification numbers, grand theft and criminal gang recruitment. Champine is being held in lieu of $200,000 bail.

Two more Hermanos members targeted by the grand jury managed to avoid capture on Monday. Jonathan Brandon Bates, 28, is wanted on a $100,000 warrant for criminal gang recruitment. The chapter’s sergeant of arms, James Ray Smith, is being sought on a $100,000 warrant for criminal gang recruitment.

A third subject, Paul Leslie Spencer, is wanted on a $100,000 warrant for five counts of delivery of methamphetamine and a count of grand theft. Sheriff’s officials said Spencer, 56, is not an official member of the Hermanos chapter, but runs in the same social circles as those in the group.

The raids were coordinated by the sheriff’s Criminal Interdiction Team with assistance from the sheriff’s Emergency Response Team, Ponderay Police, detectives from the North Idaho Violent Crime Task Force and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

There were no reports of injuries, following the coordinated strikes. Five motorcycles adorned with Hermanos insignias and other red-and-yellow club signifiers were seized, as was a sport utility vehicle.

Her-manos is well known for its support of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club, an international group whose members have earned the club a reputation for violence and lawlessness.

“This is a support club for the Bandidos,” said sheriff’s Sgt. Marty Ryan. “The goal of the sheriff’s office and the Criminal Interdiction Team is make sure it doesn’t get seated here.”

The move on Hermanos in Bonner County is one of the byproducts of a broader, 11-month investigation which Ryan said could not have been accomplished without the ingenuity and talent of the sheriff’s CIT officers.

Sheriff Daryl Wheeler formed the CIT shortly after taking office and in 2009 embarked on “Operation New Hight,” the spelling of which is intentional and central to the operation for as-yet undisclosed reasons. The name also refers to Wheeler’s challenge to reach new heights in drug enforcement in the county.

Operation New Hight led to the formation of a grand jury as undercover operations continued. The grand jury found probable cause for 68 felony violations and returned indictments against 24 people, primarily for drug offenses.

Along with the Hermanos indictments, undercover agents from CIT set up controlled buys for marijuana, meth, cocaine, hallucinogenic mushrooms from residents without gang affiliations. Investigators also uncovered and shut down an indoor 1,300-plant marijuana growing operation in the Selle Valley.

Wheeler said he was pleased with the outcome of the progress of Operation New Hight and the usefulness of the grand jury, which enabled the arrest of individuals without jeopardizing subsequent elements of the operation or the safety of undercover agents.

“We’ve never been able to pull off an operation like this in the county,” he said.