Richmond, VA - SC Outlaws leader to be sentenced in Va, to 9 years

OFF THE WIRE
LARRY O'DELL
dailycomet.com
A former regional boss of the Outlaws motorcycle gang who led attempts to hunt down rival Hell's Angels with the intent of assaulting them was sentenced Friday to nine years and two months in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson rejected Leslie Werth's plea for a lighter sentence Friday, saying the Outlaws became a more dangerous organization because of Werth's actions.
"You weren't just someone who sat there and listened," Hudson told Werth. "You exhorted people to commit violence."
A jury in November convicted Werth, a member of the Rock Hill, S.C., Outlaws chapter, of conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to commit violence in aid of racketeering.
Prosecutors asked Hudson to sentence Werth to 10 years and one month, the maximum under sentencing guidelines computed by the federal probation office. Werth's attorney asked for no more than five years.
Werth was among 27 gang members indicted in June 2010 on racketeering and other charges. More than half pleaded guilty. Five, including Werth and Outlaws national president Jack Rosga of Milwaukee, were convicted and three were acquitted in two separate jury trials. One was shot to death by federal agents trying to arrest him in Maine. Rosga and three others will be sentenced April 8.
At his sentencing, Werth told the judge he joined the Outlaws because he loved to ride motorcycles and he never intended to commit any crimes.
"I have no intentions of making the same mistakes again," Werth said. "What I'm asking for is a second chance to prove I'm not the person the government set out to prove I am."
A character witness, Bob MacLeod, said he hired Werth for his construction business about 20 years ago and the two became good friends.
"He was by far the most dependable and loyal employee I've ever had," MacLeod said.
Werth's attorney, Craig W. Sampson, said his client's loyalty extended to his biker friends. Werth was incensed over an assault on two Outlaws by the Hells Angels, and his retaliatory actions were "a response out of loyalty to what he perceived as attacks on his Outlaws family," Sampson said.
Sampson also pointed out that two other Outlaws who pleaded guilty to racketeering received sentences 27 months and 51 months, so the much longer prison term sought by prosecutors seemed "out of whack."
However, Hudson agreed with the government's claims that Werth's promotion of violence set him apart from the others.
"He called for violence on numerous occasions," Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Duffey said. "It permeates the entire case."
Jeffrey Grabman, a federal agent who infiltrated the Outlaws for about two years, testified that a paid government informant told him about a conversation in which Werth said assaulting Hells Angels would not be enough to keep them out of the Charlotte, N.C., area - the Outlaws would have to kill one.
The informant, nicknamed "Chef" because he was a former methamphetamine cook, did not testify at Werth's trial.
Werth also got a longer sentence for carrying a gun during the Hells Angels hunting expeditions. Sampson objected, noting that the jury acquitted Werth of a firearms charge and using violence in the aid of racketeering.
"If the jury had wanted him punished for that particular crime, it would have convicted him of that particular crime," Sampson said.
But the judge said sentencing guidelines allow for consideration of evidence that Werth carried a gun to further the racketeering conspiracy.
Werth will appeal his sentence as well as his convictions, Sampson said.
A character witness, Bob MacLeod, said he hired Werth for his construction business about 20 years ago and the two became good friends.
"He was by far the most dependable and loyal employee I've ever had," MacLeod said.
Werth's attorney, Craig W. Sampson, said his client's loyalty extended to his biker friends. Werth was incensed over an assault on two Outlaws by the Hells Angels, and his retaliatory actions were "a response out of loyalty to what he perceived as attacks on his Outlaws family," Sampson said.
Sampson also pointed out that two other Outlaws who pleaded guilty to racketeering received sentences 27 months and 51 months, so the much longer prison term sought by prosecutors seemed "out of whack."
However, Hudson agreed with the government's claims that Werth's promotion of violence set him apart from the others.
"He called for violence on numerous occasions," Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Duffey said. "It permeates the entire case."
Jeffrey Grabman, a federal agent who infiltrated the Outlaws for about two years, testified that a paid government informant told him about a conversation in which Werth said assaulting Hells Angels would not be enough to keep them out of the Charlotte, N.C., area - the Outlaws would have to kill one.
The informant, nicknamed "Chef" because he was a former methamphetamine cook, did not testify at Werth's trial.
Werth also got a longer sentence for carrying a gun during the Hells Angels hunting expeditions. Sampson objected, noting that the jury acquitted Werth of a firearms charge and using violence in the aid of racketeering.
"If the jury had wanted him punished for that particular crime, it would have convicted him of that particular crime," Sampson said.
But the judge said sentencing guidelines allow for consideration of evidence that Werth carried a gun to further the racketeering conspiracy.
Werth will appeal his sentence as well as his convictions, Sampson said.