Motorcycle club speaks out on attempted murder case

Off the Wire
MCs in the News

KINGSBURY -- Alun Reeks, president of The Jury motorcycle club, said he was shocked when he picked up Tuesday's Post-Star and saw that his club was being thrown into the middle of an abduction and attempted murder case.

One of the three men who faces charges related to an April kidnapping that police believe was drug-related told police that the mastermind of the attack told him he was trying to collect a bounty on the victim's head put out by The Jury.

That bounty stemmed from the theft of 11 pounds of marijuana from the motorcycle club, suspect Richard Cates told a Washington County sheriff's officer in a statement filed in County Court.

Reeks and Greg Jeskie, The Jury's treasurer, said none of the four men involved in the kidnapping were members of The Jury, and there was no truth to the allegation that the victim - Michael Benway, 39, of Washington County - had stolen marijuana from the club or was targeted by its members.

Jeskie said Scott M. Thorpe, the Greenwich resident who police have said organized the alleged crime, stopped by The Jury's headquarters three or four times over the years but was not a member.

"There's hardly anyone in our club who knows him," Jeskie said. "He (Cates) is making up stories to save his own skin."

Reeks and Jeskie also said the club is not involved in marijuana trafficking.

"If you could see how much money we have in our bank account, you'd know we're not buying 11 pounds of marijuana," Jeskie said with a laugh.

Washington County sheriff's Investigator Tony Leclaire said he was not aware of any evidence to back up the version of events that Cates told the Sheriff's Office about The Jury's alleged tie to the case.

The club, headquartered in a distinctive former oil tank on Route 196 in Kingsbury, holds a number of events to raise money for charity each year. It is currently organizing a benefit for the families of the victims of last month's fatal fire in Fort Edward.

Details of that fundraiser will be released when they are finalized, Reeks said.

Thorpe, Cates, 61, of Warrensburg, and William Dingman, 36, of Hudson Falls, have been charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, gang assault and lesser counts for allegedly beating Benway, injecting him with drugs and threatening him with a handgun and knife before Benway escaped. Benway has recovered from his injuries.

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