OFF THE WIRE
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A federal jury convicted a member of the Charleston chapter of the Pagans Motorcycle Club Thursday on charges that he was an illegal user of cocaine who possessed a gun.
The jury deliberated for just over an hour before finding Eric W. "Fritz" Wolfe, 43, of St. Albans, guilty. Wolfe did not call any witnesses to testify in his defense.
During his closing argument, defense attorney Tim Carrico told the jury that the government had built its case by relying on the testimony of convicted felons who were looking to reduce their own prison sentences by cooperating with prosecutors.
"They took a plate of spaghetti and threw it against the wall and want you to sort through it," he said.
But Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Loew countered that Wolfe, whom he called a "cokehead," had picked the witnesses, not the government.
"[Wolfe] picked his drug buddies. He wanted to hang out with drug users and violent felons," he said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Blaire Malkin reminded the jury that Wolfe had conceded that he possessed a gun, which he pawned in May 2009. Several former members of the Pagans testified that they had done cocaine with Wolfe repeatedly around that time.
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One, James "Bones" Claypool II, said he and Wolfe had used the drug together in seven states, she said.
Wolfe faces up to 10 years in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston on Nov. 17.
Wolfe's conviction ends the prosecution phase of the sweeping racketeering case against 55 members and associates of the Pagans Motorcycle Club, which was unsealed in October 2009 and included charges against defendants from West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Kentucky and Florida.
Many entered into plea deals to vastly reduced charges, and a handful entered into agreements where their charges will be dismissed if they stay out of trouble for a year. Several saw their charges dropped, pending an appeal by the government of a ruling by Johnston that they could not be "employed" as bodyguards for convicted felon Floyd B. "Jesse" Moore, the gang's national vice president, unless they were paid or received some tangible benefit.
Unless the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit reverses Johnston's decision, those defendants are clear of all charges.
The indictment resulted in three trials, including Wolfe's. Two defendants were convicted, while a third, a 50-year-old Pagan from Kentucky, was acquitted on charges that he was a felon who possessed a gun.
