Southwest Detroit, Feds may seize Highwaymen headquarters

OFF THE WIRE

Southwest Detroit facility was allegedly used for drug sales
Robert Snell / The Detroit News
The party's over, the cocaine gone and the outlaw motorcycle gang's "godfather" is awaiting a prison sentence.

Now, the Detroit Highwaymen Motorcycle Club's windowless, low-slung clubhouse on Detroit's southwest side, where the government says members snorted and sold drugs and plotted capers, could soon be seized by prosecutors, who recently asked a judge to forfeit the building to the federal government.

It is the latest attack in a federal assault on a club that has yielded six convictions and more than 90 indictments against members for racketeering and other charges. The latest batch of bikers faces trial Tuesday in U.S. District Court.

A forfeiture complaint filed in U.S District Court details illegal activities that went on inside the clubhouse and provides a colorful behind-the-scenes peek inside an outlaw lair off-limits to outsiders and little seen by neighbors.

The clubhouse is subject to forfeiture because it served as a drug den populated by dealers and users where cocaine, marijuana and Vicodin flowed freely, according to court records.
But neighbors say the government's plan could further erode a struggling commercial stretch along Michigan Avenue, near 29th Street, dominated by vacant buildings. The Highwaymen clubhouse is one of the few surviving establishments for blocks, the most well-maintained building in sight.
"They're some of the best neighbors we have here," said Greg Rodriguez, speaking Friday inside his second-generation print shop across Michigan, the Highwaymen building visible through the front door's blinds and bars. "Some have fierce reputations, but every club has some. I belong to the (Knights of Columbus), and it ain't that different."
The club's lawyers portrayed the club as a good-natured group that raised money for families of slain police officers and charities such as Toys for Tots and the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The club hosted rigorous bike inspections that were said to be stricter than the state's. And there were family day events filled with kid activities.
Run with an iron fist
Inside, the gang's activities were far from clean, according to federal prosecutors.
During a trial earlier this year, prosecutors said the Highwaymen, founded in Detroit in 1954 with chapters in Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee, is a structured and violent enterprise peddling drugs and stolen goods. The club's godfather, Leonard "Dad" Moore, ran the clubhouse with an iron fist in a velvet glove when it came to drugs.
According to court records, Moore had one rule: "Take it in the back room." Did they ever, according to a forfeiture complaint filed Oct. 19 in U.S. District Court.
Like the time 12 club members spent four hours inhaling a pile of cocaine. Or the time Aref "Steve" Nagi, leader of the Highwaymen, ordered an underling to deliver a bag stuffed with $50 and $100 bills to the clubhouse — payment for drugs, investigators said.
While members paid, "Dad's" drugs were free, according to court records.
Moore was convicted of racketeering June 3 and, along with five others, faces sentences of 10 years to life in prison. Sentencing is set for Jan. 13.
His lawyer could not be reached for comment .
Club founded in 1954
The club was founded in Detroit in 1954 and became infamous in the '70s after some members were convicted of bombing and raiding rivals' homes and clubhouses. The Highwaymen were banished from the Detroit Federation of Motorcycle Clubs, an association that diffuses disputes that could lead to turf wars.
The Highwaymen clubhouse, painted black with a silver stripe, looks like a freshly wiped chalkboard, a tempting target for graffiti artists. But while taggers have hit every building on the block, the spray paint stops just shy of the clubhouse's property line.
If the building is forfeited, the U.S. Marshals Service ultimately will decide the building's fate, but selling is an option.
Neighbors doubt the likelihood of a sale on such a barren block.
It's unclear what members think about the forfeiture notice tacked to the clubhouse door on a recent day. Several members and their spouses did not return phone messages seeking comment and the club has not filed a response in court.
There's no reason to shut down the clubhouse, said lawyer Henry Scharg, who defended former national president, Joseph "Little Joe" Whiting. He said individual dealers used the clubhouse to sell drugs.
"It was not illegal to be a Highwayman and not all Highwaymen did illegal things," he said. "The government, through the prosecution, attempted to clean house. But it doesn't give them grounds to close the house."
rsnell@detnews.com

From The Detroit News: http://www.detnews.com/article/20101101/METRO01/11010342/1410/METRO01/Feds-may-seize-Highwaymen-headquarters#ixzz145X75a4T