Off the Wire
By Andrew Clevenger
The Charleston Gazette
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A member of the Buckhannon chapter of the Pagans Motorcycle Club who admitted he participated in the beating of a suspected informant was sentenced in federal court to time he has already spent in custody.
In December, James R. "Bones" Claypool II pleaded guilty to obstructing justice, admitting that he hit a prospect for membership in the club in the head in a Hammonton, N.J. hotel room, during a mandatory Pagans event in January 2009.
Claypool, 47, a heavy equipment operator from French Creek, said that he was ordered to perform a "bang check" by his chapter president, Elmer Luke "Tramp" Moore, on Wes Hudnall.
Hudnall was in fact a confidential informant, having cooperated with the Pagans investigations since the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Explosives and Firearms recruited him in May 2007.
In June, Hudnall died in a hospital in Dayton, Ohio, one day after he apparently shot himself in the head.
At Claypool's sentencing hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Loew asked U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston to give Claypool a reduced sentence because he had cooperated with the prosecution, giving "numerous, significant debriefings" which were "pretty astounding in their layout of criminal activity" by Claypool and other Pagans.
Claypool's corroboration became even more important after Hudnall's death, but Claypool didn't exploit the situation to help himself, Loew said.
"There were many opportunities for him to embellish or exaggerate the information he gave to us, and he didn't," he said.
Claypool provided credible testimony at the trials of two co-defendants, he said.
Defense attorney Christopher Morris stressed Claypool's consistent work history. He said Claypool's previous employer was ready to rehire him tomorrow, should Johnston release him.
Johnston said that there was a real risk of retaliation against Claypool, given the Pagans' attitude towards members who cooperate with law enforcement.
"It was not lost on the court who was watching the trials," Johnston said, referring to the current members of the Charleston chapter of the Pagans who attended every day of the several trials in August. "I suspect that it is a risk that will not go away quickly."
Once Johnston accounted for Claypool's cooperation, federal sentencing guidelines recommended a prison sentence between 12 and 18 months.
Johnston sentenced Claypool to time served, which amounted to nearly a year in custody. If he had imposed a sentence of one year and one day, Claypool would have completed his sentence in mid-August, once reductions for good behavior had been factored in, he said.
Claypool is the second defendant convicted of felony charges to be sentenced in the sweeping racketeering case, unsealed in October 2009, against 55 members and associates of the Pagans Motorcycle Club. The indictment 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.
Sentencing for the defendants who were convicted of felonies is scheduled for various dates this fall.
Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 304-348-1723.
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