Member of Outlaws agrees to plea

OFF THE WIRE
Michael “Madman” Pedini, of Madison, tells federal officials he will plead guilty to conspiracy charges stemming from Canaan incident
By Trevor Maxwell tmaxwell@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PORTLAND -- A former state and national "enforcer" in the Outlaws motorcycle club has agreed to plead guilty to federal conspiracy charges in connection with the near-fatal shooting of a rival club member in central Maine last fall.



click image to enlargeMichael Pedini

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The plea hearing for Michael "Madman" Pedini is scheduled for this morning at U.S. District Court in Portland.

Whether Pedini actually goes through with the plea remains to be seen. His lawyer, Andrews Campbell of Bowdoinham, acknowledged that he and his client signed a plea agreement with the government dated Aug. 15, but on Tuesday he said it is not set in stone.

"I wouldn't assume anything," Campbell said. "Nothing is ever definite until you see it in court."

Campbell declined to comment further.

The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Wolff, said Pedini's case was transferred to Maine from the federal court in Richmond, Va., because of Pedini's agreement to plead guilty and to waive his right to a trial. Pedini is currently being held at the Somerset County Jail on cocaine trafficking charges.

"The case has been transferred for the purposes of a guilty plea," Wolff said. He declined to answer other questions about the case.

Pedini, 39, of Madison, is charged with racketeering and conspiracy to commit violence in aid of racketeering. He would face up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted.

Prosecutors say Pedini and another member of the Outlaws, Thomas "Tomcat" Mayne, shot and seriously injured a Hells Angels member on Oct. 8, 2009, outside a Hells Angels clubhouse in the Somerset County town of Canaan.

Pedini and Mayne were allegedly following orders given to them personally by national Outlaws president Jack "Milwaukee Jack" Rosga, according to a summary of the case filed at the court by Wolff.

Pedini and Mayne were among 27 members of the Outlaws from around the country who were indicted in June by a federal grand jury in Virginia.

The indictment was the result of a sprawling two-year undercover investigation of the motorcycle club by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies. It alleges that the Outlaws used a complex chain of command to commit crimes ranging from illegal gambling to drug trafficking to murder.

Mayne, 58, of Old Orchard Beach, was shot and killed at his home on June 15 after agents from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives showed up to arrest him.

Agents said someone shot at them from inside the house as they stepped out of their vehicles around 6 a.m., and Mayne was killed when they returned fire.

The charges against Pedini cover his activities with the Outlaws beginning in 2005. At various times Pedini has held the position of "enforcer," both nationally and within the Maine Chapter of the Outlaws, prosecutors say.

According to Wolff, the shooting of a 63-year-old Hells Angels member in Canaan by Pedini and Mayne was payback for an assault and robbery by Hells Angels against two Outlaws members in Waterbury, Conn., on Sept. 10, 2009.

"Immediately after the violent assault of the Outlaws members, the Outlaws began planning retaliation against the Hells Angels," Wolff wrote.

On the weekend of Oct. 2, 2009, Pedini went to an Outlaws gathering in Arkansas, where he spoke with Rosga, the national president. Rosga ordered Pedini and Thomas Benvie of Sanford, the alleged president of the Maine chapter, to carry out the retaliation, according to Wolff.

Pedini and Mayne allegedly staked out the Hells Angels clubhouse in Canaan on Oct. 8, 2009, and they confronted and shot one of the gang's members in the cab of his pickup truck. The man was hospitalized for gunshot wounds.

Pedini and Mayne received new patches indicating they had committed a violent act on behalf of the gang, Wolff wrote in his summary of the case.

In November, Pedini was arrested by Waterville police and the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency and charged with four counts of trafficking in cocaine. He continues to be held in a medium security unit at the Somerset County Jail in Madison, where he has contact with other inmates.

"He works, and he doesn't cause us any problems. He's quiet. I can't complain about his behavior here," said Jail Administrator David Allen.

Benvie and a third Mainer charged in the sprawling case against the Outlaws, Joseph Allman of Hollis, are among 26 defendants whose cases are tied together at U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va. Benvie and Allman have pleaded not guilty to charges of racketeering and conspiracy to commit violence in aid of racketeering.

If Pedini decides to recant his agreement to plead guilty, he would again be subject to prosecution along with the other defendants in Virginia.

Reporter Erin Rhoda of the Morning Sentinel contributed to this report.