Off the Wire
by Cheryl Caswell
Daily Mail staff
Charleston Daily Mail
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Pagan member Michael Keith Trone, 54, of Newport, Pa., was given a suspended one- to five-year prison sentence and will instead spend two years on unsupervised probation for his part in a 2003 incident at the Spring Hill club of the motorcycle group.
Trone pleaded no contest in April to one count of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. He and Michael James Grayson, 64, of Byron Springs, Va., faced state charges and not federal charges when a long list of outlaw Pagans were rounded up by investigators last October.
Grayson will be sentenced July 26.
Kanawha Circuit Judge James Stucky said he believed Trone was unlikely to commit further crime and imposed probation.
Trone's attorney, Shawn Bayliss, called Trone his friend, a gentleman and "a man of the highest character."
"There are discrepancies in the roles that each individual in this matter played," he told the judge. "I would entrust this gentleman with anything, and we're asking that this court likewise invest in Mr. Trone and place him on probation."
At his plea hearing, Assistant Prosecutor Dan Holstein described Trone and Grayson in other terms like "rebels" and "outlaws" who came to Charleston to help settle a growing power struggle between local clubs and the national club.
Holstein said Trone and Grayson were among those who helped hold local members against their will and at gunpoint for hours to await individual questioning.
In exchange for his plea, prosecutors agreed not to pursue recidivist action against the two, which could result in exchanged prison sentences. Trone was convicted in 1976 on charges of kidnapping and rape.
David Barbeito of Myersville, Md., former national president of the Pagans, is in federal custody awaiting sentencing in October. Earlier this month he pleaded guilty to racketeering and weapons charges, admitting he received thousands of dollars from so-called "raffles." Some of those funds went to Floyd "Jesse" Moore of St. Albans, national vice-president.
Contact writer Cheryl Caswell at cher...@dailymail.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 304-348-4832.
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