OFF THE WIRE
BY: J.P. Freire
Source: washingtonexaminer.com
A number of cases show how police continue to misunderstand citizens’ rights to record their behavior, and they’re now neatly compiled into a video from the Cato Institute.
The Examiner editorialized on the subject in June, noting that those who record police frequently are “more of a threat to the jobs of public safety officers than to public safety itself. One is not the same as the other.” State legislatures should start addressing this issue to prevent more misunderstandings and wrongful arrests.citizens-who-record-them-102826639.html#ixzz13xzH8eqG
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Two Notorious bikie gang members arrested after bashing of Comanchero at Bondi Beach
OFF THE WIRE
Source: streetcorner.com.au
Two alleged members of an bikie gang 'Notorious' have been charged with affray what is believed to be a fight with rival Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang on Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach.
The incident occured around 12.30pm yesterday when two men, believed to be members of the criminal group ‘Notorious’, allegedly set upon two alleged members of the Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (OMCG.
Following the physical altercation, the two Notorious’ members left the scene in a Ford Falcon. Police then stopped the vehicle a short time later, arresting both men.
One of the alleged victims, a 32-year-old man, was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital where he was treated for a fractured ankle. The other man, 26, was uninjured.
The two men, aged 32 and 36, who police will allege are members of the ‘Notorious’ group, were taken to Waverley Police Station where they were charged with affray and refused bail to appear in Waverley Local Court tomorrow (Friday 29 October).
Inquiries are continuing and any witnesses are urged to contact Eastern Suburbs Police via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Source: streetcorner.com.au
Two alleged members of an bikie gang 'Notorious' have been charged with affray what is believed to be a fight with rival Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang on Campbell Parade, Bondi Beach.
The incident occured around 12.30pm yesterday when two men, believed to be members of the criminal group ‘Notorious’, allegedly set upon two alleged members of the Comanchero Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (OMCG.
Following the physical altercation, the two Notorious’ members left the scene in a Ford Falcon. Police then stopped the vehicle a short time later, arresting both men.
One of the alleged victims, a 32-year-old man, was taken to St Vincent’s Hospital where he was treated for a fractured ankle. The other man, 26, was uninjured.
The two men, aged 32 and 36, who police will allege are members of the ‘Notorious’ group, were taken to Waverley Police Station where they were charged with affray and refused bail to appear in Waverley Local Court tomorrow (Friday 29 October).
Inquiries are continuing and any witnesses are urged to contact Eastern Suburbs Police via Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Australia, Iron bar killer jailed for 11 years
OFF THE WIRE
Source: abc.net.au
A man who beat another to death with an iron bar has been jailed for at least 11 years.
Steven Aubery Kelleher, 40, killed his 62-year-old house mate, Rodney Ahmat, at their rented farmhouse at Mundoora near Port Broughton in the mid-north of South Australia last December.
A jury acquitted him of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter.
The trial in the Supreme Court at Port Augusta heard Ahmat was struck on the head seven times with an iron bar by Kelleher after a day of heavy drinking by the pair at a birthday celebration.
Justice Ann Vanstone said Kelleher got angry after Ahmat started talking about the Rebels Motorcycle Club.
She said while the killing was provoked, she was satisfied the assault was not in self-defence.
Kelleher was sentenced to 13 years and nine months in jail, with a non-parole term of 11 years.
Source: abc.net.au
A man who beat another to death with an iron bar has been jailed for at least 11 years.
Steven Aubery Kelleher, 40, killed his 62-year-old house mate, Rodney Ahmat, at their rented farmhouse at Mundoora near Port Broughton in the mid-north of South Australia last December.
A jury acquitted him of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter.
The trial in the Supreme Court at Port Augusta heard Ahmat was struck on the head seven times with an iron bar by Kelleher after a day of heavy drinking by the pair at a birthday celebration.
Justice Ann Vanstone said Kelleher got angry after Ahmat started talking about the Rebels Motorcycle Club.
She said while the killing was provoked, she was satisfied the assault was not in self-defence.
Kelleher was sentenced to 13 years and nine months in jail, with a non-parole term of 11 years.
CHARLESTON, W.Va.Two former Pagans sentenced to probation on drug-related charges
OFF THE WIRE
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two former members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club who pleaded guilty to drug-related charges were sentenced to probation in federal court Friday.
Donnie Ray "Hoss" Workman, 36, of Red House, and William Dan "Danimal" Copen, 50, of Charleston, were among the 55 defendants named in a sweeping, 44-count racketeering indictment against members and associates of the Pagans.
Both men were charged in multiple counts.
In February, Copen pleaded guilty to participating in a drug conspiracy by joining other Pagans to buy and use cocaine in the bikers' St. Albans Clubhouse during 2008. Five months later, Workman admitted that he possessed a Smith & Wesson revolver while he was a regular user of cocaine.
Workman said that he handled the gun while taking a gun safety course after he was ordered by Pagans national vice president Floyd "Jesse" Moore to obtain a concealed gun permit so that Workman could carry a gun around Moore, who could not carry one because he was a convicted felon.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Loew asked U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston to give Workman a reduced sentence because of his cooperation with government investigators, including testifying before a grand jury and during another Pagan's trial in August.
Workman's attorney, James Atkins, said that Workman had a job waiting for him at the construction site of the new Buffalo High School as soon as he was released from custody.
"He just needs to start life over without any bad habits," he said.
Workman thanked his family in the gallery for supporting him during the past year.
"It was me who made the selfish decisions and put myself into trouble," he said. "I can sit here and say I'm sorry one hundred times, and it wouldn't change the [bad] decisions I've made."
Johnston noted that Workman faces state charges stemming from a hit-and-run incident in June, when Workman allegedly struck a woman while driving drunk.
Police charged Workman with DUI, DUI causing injury, leaving the scene of an accident causing injury and three other misdemeanors.
Atkins said those charges are still pending, and he is working on a plea deal with prosecutors.
Johnston said that he was not taking those charges into account as he decided Workman's sentence. He placed Workman on probation for four years, to begin after Workman is released from custody on the state charges.
The judge also fined Workman $1,000, and also ordered him not to drink any alcohol while he was on probation.
Copen, who earned multiple commendations when he served as a Green Beret during two stints in the U.S. Army, was visibly upset as he addressed the court in a separate hearing.
"I've always loved my country, Your Honor. I've served my country honorably and with dignity," he said. "I feel like I've [brought] disgrace [to] my country, and I feel like I've [brought] disgrace on my family, and for that I am truly sorry."
Copen's attorney, Mike Del Giudice, said that Copen had always been driven to be the best, not content to simply serve in the military but rising to serve in the Army's Special Forces.
When Copen was looking to join a motorcycle club, the Pagans told him that they were called a "1 percenter" club because they represented the elite of the biking world, he said. Instead, he quickly learned that the Pagans were involved in criminal activity, and voluntarily left the group after being a member for a little more than a year.
Copen did not join in when Pagans got into fights and scuffles, he said. Copen refused to assault a confidential informant in a hotel room in New Jersey in January 2009, even knowing he might face a beating himself, he said.
"Dan never threw a punch, never hit anybody. Dan would be the one breaking up the fight and getting the Pagans out of the bar," he said.
Loew said Copen was perhaps the most extreme example of a trend typical in many Pagans defendants: good work history and little or no criminal background, with their trouble with the law stemming from their involvement with the motorcycle club.
Loew also asked the judge to give Copen a reduced sentence because of his cooperation with the government.
"Frankly, he'll be looking over his shoulder for a long time because of his cooperation," he said.
"I am amazed, given your background, how you got involved in all of this," Johnston said. "It just boggles the mind how you ended up with the Pagans."
Johnston sentenced Copen to three years of probation and fined him $2,000.
http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/201010291063?page=1&build=cache
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two former members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club who pleaded guilty to drug-related charges were sentenced to probation in federal court Friday.
Donnie Ray "Hoss" Workman, 36, of Red House, and William Dan "Danimal" Copen, 50, of Charleston, were among the 55 defendants named in a sweeping, 44-count racketeering indictment against members and associates of the Pagans.
Both men were charged in multiple counts.
In February, Copen pleaded guilty to participating in a drug conspiracy by joining other Pagans to buy and use cocaine in the bikers' St. Albans Clubhouse during 2008. Five months later, Workman admitted that he possessed a Smith & Wesson revolver while he was a regular user of cocaine.
Workman said that he handled the gun while taking a gun safety course after he was ordered by Pagans national vice president Floyd "Jesse" Moore to obtain a concealed gun permit so that Workman could carry a gun around Moore, who could not carry one because he was a convicted felon.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Loew asked U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston to give Workman a reduced sentence because of his cooperation with government investigators, including testifying before a grand jury and during another Pagan's trial in August.
Workman's attorney, James Atkins, said that Workman had a job waiting for him at the construction site of the new Buffalo High School as soon as he was released from custody.
"He just needs to start life over without any bad habits," he said.
Workman thanked his family in the gallery for supporting him during the past year.
"It was me who made the selfish decisions and put myself into trouble," he said. "I can sit here and say I'm sorry one hundred times, and it wouldn't change the [bad] decisions I've made."
Johnston noted that Workman faces state charges stemming from a hit-and-run incident in June, when Workman allegedly struck a woman while driving drunk.
Police charged Workman with DUI, DUI causing injury, leaving the scene of an accident causing injury and three other misdemeanors.
Atkins said those charges are still pending, and he is working on a plea deal with prosecutors.
Johnston said that he was not taking those charges into account as he decided Workman's sentence. He placed Workman on probation for four years, to begin after Workman is released from custody on the state charges.
The judge also fined Workman $1,000, and also ordered him not to drink any alcohol while he was on probation.
Copen, who earned multiple commendations when he served as a Green Beret during two stints in the U.S. Army, was visibly upset as he addressed the court in a separate hearing.
"I've always loved my country, Your Honor. I've served my country honorably and with dignity," he said. "I feel like I've [brought] disgrace [to] my country, and I feel like I've [brought] disgrace on my family, and for that I am truly sorry."
Copen's attorney, Mike Del Giudice, said that Copen had always been driven to be the best, not content to simply serve in the military but rising to serve in the Army's Special Forces.
When Copen was looking to join a motorcycle club, the Pagans told him that they were called a "1 percenter" club because they represented the elite of the biking world, he said. Instead, he quickly learned that the Pagans were involved in criminal activity, and voluntarily left the group after being a member for a little more than a year.
Copen did not join in when Pagans got into fights and scuffles, he said. Copen refused to assault a confidential informant in a hotel room in New Jersey in January 2009, even knowing he might face a beating himself, he said.
"Dan never threw a punch, never hit anybody. Dan would be the one breaking up the fight and getting the Pagans out of the bar," he said.
Loew said Copen was perhaps the most extreme example of a trend typical in many Pagans defendants: good work history and little or no criminal background, with their trouble with the law stemming from their involvement with the motorcycle club.
Loew also asked the judge to give Copen a reduced sentence because of his cooperation with the government.
"Frankly, he'll be looking over his shoulder for a long time because of his cooperation," he said.
"I am amazed, given your background, how you got involved in all of this," Johnston said. "It just boggles the mind how you ended up with the Pagans."
Johnston sentenced Copen to three years of probation and fined him $2,000.
http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/201010291063?page=1&build=cache
Mob turncoat is sentenced in NYC to time served
OFF THE WIRE
By TOM HAYS
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Mobster Salvatore Vitale had a hand in at least 11 murders, including that of a fellow gangster in the fallout from the infamous Donnie Brasco case.
But he was spared a life term Friday, sentenced instead to time served after federal prosecutors said the admitted killer deserved a break for delivering a crippling blow to his brethren.
The evidence against the Bonanno organized crime family provided by the 63-year-old turncoat since his arrest in 2003 "has been devastating to the very Mafia to which he once swore allegiance, and particularly to the Bonanno family," prosecutors wrote in court papers.
Vitale admitted to 11 killings between 1976 and 1999. He pleaded guilty in April 2003 to racketeering conspiracy and murder-in-aid of racketeering, and has served nearly eight years behind bars.
At his sentencing, Vitale apologized to the families of his victims.
"I committed some really horrible crimes I'll always be ashamed of, and I pray for forgiveness," he said.
According to the government memo, Vitale has identified more than 500 mobsters and their associates across the United States and elsewhere. His cooperation, including testimony at six trials, has led to convictions of four Bonanno bosses — one a close friend and brother-in-law — and dozens of lower-ranking family members.
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.The memo says Vitale provided information on more than 30 gangland slayings. In three instances, the information helped investigators locate "the remains of at least three Mafia victims buried long ago."
The son of a Brooklyn dishwasher and baker, Vitale began his life of crime in the late 1960s after a stint in the Army. Over the next three decades, he was involved in a full menu of mayhem: murder, arson, extortion and hijacking.
He was rising through the Bonanno ranks when FBI agent Joe Pistone went undercover to infiltrate the group from 1976 to 1981, using the name "Donnie Brasco" — the basis of the Al Pacino-Johnny Depp movie. Once the family learned about the infiltration in 1981, Vitale and others were ordered to shoot and kill the family member who had sponsored the agent.
Vitale observed the oath of omerta — silence — until seven years ago, when he decided to plead guilty and cooperate. His lawyers say the decision put a target on his back.
By TOM HAYS
The Associated Press
NEW YORK — Mobster Salvatore Vitale had a hand in at least 11 murders, including that of a fellow gangster in the fallout from the infamous Donnie Brasco case.
But he was spared a life term Friday, sentenced instead to time served after federal prosecutors said the admitted killer deserved a break for delivering a crippling blow to his brethren.
The evidence against the Bonanno organized crime family provided by the 63-year-old turncoat since his arrest in 2003 "has been devastating to the very Mafia to which he once swore allegiance, and particularly to the Bonanno family," prosecutors wrote in court papers.
Vitale admitted to 11 killings between 1976 and 1999. He pleaded guilty in April 2003 to racketeering conspiracy and murder-in-aid of racketeering, and has served nearly eight years behind bars.
At his sentencing, Vitale apologized to the families of his victims.
"I committed some really horrible crimes I'll always be ashamed of, and I pray for forgiveness," he said.
According to the government memo, Vitale has identified more than 500 mobsters and their associates across the United States and elsewhere. His cooperation, including testimony at six trials, has led to convictions of four Bonanno bosses — one a close friend and brother-in-law — and dozens of lower-ranking family members.
advertisement | ad info
Advertisement | ad info
Advertisement | ad info
.The memo says Vitale provided information on more than 30 gangland slayings. In three instances, the information helped investigators locate "the remains of at least three Mafia victims buried long ago."
The son of a Brooklyn dishwasher and baker, Vitale began his life of crime in the late 1960s after a stint in the Army. Over the next three decades, he was involved in a full menu of mayhem: murder, arson, extortion and hijacking.
He was rising through the Bonanno ranks when FBI agent Joe Pistone went undercover to infiltrate the group from 1976 to 1981, using the name "Donnie Brasco" — the basis of the Al Pacino-Johnny Depp movie. Once the family learned about the infiltration in 1981, Vitale and others were ordered to shoot and kill the family member who had sponsored the agent.
Vitale observed the oath of omerta — silence — until seven years ago, when he decided to plead guilty and cooperate. His lawyers say the decision put a target on his back.
WASHINGTON DC, Motorcycle Group Supports Military Funerals
OFF THE WIRE
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=61457 Motorcycle Group Supports Military Funerals
Motorcycle Group Supports Military Funerals By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2010 - As the U.S. Supreme Court contemplates whether protestors at military funerals are protected under First Amendment free-speech rights, a motorcycle group that travels the country attending those funerals as a show of support and respect rides on, undeterred by the political fray.
Patriot Guard Riders members attend a military funeral to show support for the fallen servicemember and family members. Courtesy photo (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
About 200,000 members of the Patriot Guard Riders attend military funerals to honor those who died for or served their country and to support their grieving families, Bill Richart, national president of the group's board of directors, told American Forces Press Service. They also escort the bodies of fallen servicemembers as they arrive from Dover Air Force Base, Del., for burial in their hometowns across America.
The riders take part in these events only at the family's request, Richart said, and regardless of whether protestors are expected.
"What we do is never about the protestors," he said. "We are not a counterprotest group. We don't go anywhere because of them, and we don't not go anywhere because they are not there. ... It's about being there for the families, recognizing their loss and ensuring they know that people care."
Richart emphasized that the riders have no political agenda and take no official position on the pending Supreme Court decision.
In that case, Albert Snyder, father of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq in 2006, sued the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., for emotional distress after church members demonstrated and carried offensive signs at his son's funeral in Westminster, Md.
A lower court ruled in Snyder's favor. However, the church appealed the decision, arguing to the Supreme Court earlier this month that the protests are protected speech under the First Amendment.
As the issue plays out in the courts, the Patriot Guard Riders continue their missions around the country.
On Oct. 26, about 50 Patriot Guard Riders led a procession escorting Brenda Pallares as she returned home to Ontario, Calif., after the body of her son, Army Spc. Ronnie Pallares, arrived at Dover from Afghanistan.
Pallares, who would have turned 20 yesterday, was killed Oct. 23 in Ghazni, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 27th Engineer Battalion at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Earlier this week, about 100 riders gathered in Waynesboro, Miss., for the funeral of 30-year-old Army Sgt. Eric Newman. Newman, who served with the 1st Squadron, 38th Cavalry Regiment, 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade at Fort Bragg, died following an Oct. 14 IED attack in Akatzai Kalay, Afghanistan.
On Oct. 23, another Patriot Guard Riders group joined friends and family of 22-year-old Marine Corps Cpl. Justin J. Cain to carry Cain's casket from a funeral home in Manitowoc, Wis., to the local high school, where mourners bid their final goodbyes.
Cain, assigned to 1st Marine Division's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, at Camp Pendleton, Calif., was among four Marines killed Oct. 13 while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
The Patriot Guard Riders paid tribute last week to another Marine killed in that attack, 21-year-old Lance Cpl. Joseph Rodewald. The riders, with American flags streaming from their motorcycles, waited with friends and family members at the airport in Eugene, Oregon, as Rodewald's body arrived home for burial.
"There must have been 50 to 100 bikers, I don't know," John Rodewald, his father, told a reporter from ABC's KEZI News in Eugene. "It's overwhelming for us, and it's proper for Joe."
Observing the reception the Patriot Guard Riders, along with other veterans and community members, paid his nephew in Ontario yesterday, Ricky Pallares expressed the family's appreciation. "Ronnie deserves all this," he told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario. "He deserves the best."
The families of two fallen soldiers expressed their appreciation to the Patriot Guard Riders who supported their loved ones' funerals during an Oct. 21 tribute in Reinbeck, Iowa.
Lori Laborde, wife of Army Sgt. Command Maj. John Keith Laborde, and Kandie Vaughn, stepmother of Army Spc. Travis Vaughn, hosted a lunch for the riders at the local American Legion post. Vaughn, 26, was killed in a 2007 helicopter crash in southeastern Afghanistan, and Laborde, a 53-year-old Army reservist, died of a heart attack in April after physical training in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
"We were very honored they were there," Lori Laborde told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier of Waterloo, Iowa, of the Patriot Guard Rider's role in her husband's funeral. "It meant a lot to our family."
The Laborde family announced at the luncheon that it was donating part of Laborde's memorial fund to the Patriot Guard Riders to help defray their operational costs. When she and her children discussed the plan to make a donation in their husband's and father's memory, Lori told the reporter the decision was "unanimous."
Richart, an Air Force veteran who deployed to Dharan, Saudi Arabia, during Operation Desert Storm, said he and his fellow riders feel a special connection to the grieving families they support.
"If you go out there and you give a couple hours of your time and show families that people care and share their loss, it's very touching to them and to us," he said.
"We want them to know their son not only meant a lot to the family, he meant a lot to the nation," Candy Rodriguez, a Vietnam veteran, said during her Inland Valley Daily Bulletin interview while escorting the Pallares family yesterday.
Ron Emrich, a retired Coast Guardsman from Mobile, Ala., said he felt honored to play a role in Newman's funeral. "Even though I didn't know him, he's like a brother to me," Emrich told a Hattiesburg American reporter. "We all experience it."
At Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala., retired airman Dominick Gezzi said he's shared that connection since joining the Patriot Guard Ride
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=61457 Motorcycle Group Supports Military Funerals
Motorcycle Group Supports Military Funerals By Donna Miles American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Oct. 28, 2010 - As the U.S. Supreme Court contemplates whether protestors at military funerals are protected under First Amendment free-speech rights, a motorcycle group that travels the country attending those funerals as a show of support and respect rides on, undeterred by the political fray.
Patriot Guard Riders members attend a military funeral to show support for the fallen servicemember and family members. Courtesy photo (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available.
About 200,000 members of the Patriot Guard Riders attend military funerals to honor those who died for or served their country and to support their grieving families, Bill Richart, national president of the group's board of directors, told American Forces Press Service. They also escort the bodies of fallen servicemembers as they arrive from Dover Air Force Base, Del., for burial in their hometowns across America.
The riders take part in these events only at the family's request, Richart said, and regardless of whether protestors are expected.
"What we do is never about the protestors," he said. "We are not a counterprotest group. We don't go anywhere because of them, and we don't not go anywhere because they are not there. ... It's about being there for the families, recognizing their loss and ensuring they know that people care."
Richart emphasized that the riders have no political agenda and take no official position on the pending Supreme Court decision.
In that case, Albert Snyder, father of Marine Corps Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq in 2006, sued the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., for emotional distress after church members demonstrated and carried offensive signs at his son's funeral in Westminster, Md.
A lower court ruled in Snyder's favor. However, the church appealed the decision, arguing to the Supreme Court earlier this month that the protests are protected speech under the First Amendment.
As the issue plays out in the courts, the Patriot Guard Riders continue their missions around the country.
On Oct. 26, about 50 Patriot Guard Riders led a procession escorting Brenda Pallares as she returned home to Ontario, Calif., after the body of her son, Army Spc. Ronnie Pallares, arrived at Dover from Afghanistan.
Pallares, who would have turned 20 yesterday, was killed Oct. 23 in Ghazni, Afghanistan, when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 27th Engineer Battalion at Fort Bragg, N.C.
Earlier this week, about 100 riders gathered in Waynesboro, Miss., for the funeral of 30-year-old Army Sgt. Eric Newman. Newman, who served with the 1st Squadron, 38th Cavalry Regiment, 525th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade at Fort Bragg, died following an Oct. 14 IED attack in Akatzai Kalay, Afghanistan.
On Oct. 23, another Patriot Guard Riders group joined friends and family of 22-year-old Marine Corps Cpl. Justin J. Cain to carry Cain's casket from a funeral home in Manitowoc, Wis., to the local high school, where mourners bid their final goodbyes.
Cain, assigned to 1st Marine Division's 3rd Battalion, 5th Marines, at Camp Pendleton, Calif., was among four Marines killed Oct. 13 while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
The Patriot Guard Riders paid tribute last week to another Marine killed in that attack, 21-year-old Lance Cpl. Joseph Rodewald. The riders, with American flags streaming from their motorcycles, waited with friends and family members at the airport in Eugene, Oregon, as Rodewald's body arrived home for burial.
"There must have been 50 to 100 bikers, I don't know," John Rodewald, his father, told a reporter from ABC's KEZI News in Eugene. "It's overwhelming for us, and it's proper for Joe."
Observing the reception the Patriot Guard Riders, along with other veterans and community members, paid his nephew in Ontario yesterday, Ricky Pallares expressed the family's appreciation. "Ronnie deserves all this," he told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in Ontario. "He deserves the best."
The families of two fallen soldiers expressed their appreciation to the Patriot Guard Riders who supported their loved ones' funerals during an Oct. 21 tribute in Reinbeck, Iowa.
Lori Laborde, wife of Army Sgt. Command Maj. John Keith Laborde, and Kandie Vaughn, stepmother of Army Spc. Travis Vaughn, hosted a lunch for the riders at the local American Legion post. Vaughn, 26, was killed in a 2007 helicopter crash in southeastern Afghanistan, and Laborde, a 53-year-old Army reservist, died of a heart attack in April after physical training in Kandahar, Afghanistan.
"We were very honored they were there," Lori Laborde told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier of Waterloo, Iowa, of the Patriot Guard Rider's role in her husband's funeral. "It meant a lot to our family."
The Laborde family announced at the luncheon that it was donating part of Laborde's memorial fund to the Patriot Guard Riders to help defray their operational costs. When she and her children discussed the plan to make a donation in their husband's and father's memory, Lori told the reporter the decision was "unanimous."
Richart, an Air Force veteran who deployed to Dharan, Saudi Arabia, during Operation Desert Storm, said he and his fellow riders feel a special connection to the grieving families they support.
"If you go out there and you give a couple hours of your time and show families that people care and share their loss, it's very touching to them and to us," he said.
"We want them to know their son not only meant a lot to the family, he meant a lot to the nation," Candy Rodriguez, a Vietnam veteran, said during her Inland Valley Daily Bulletin interview while escorting the Pallares family yesterday.
Ron Emrich, a retired Coast Guardsman from Mobile, Ala., said he felt honored to play a role in Newman's funeral. "Even though I didn't know him, he's like a brother to me," Emrich told a Hattiesburg American reporter. "We all experience it."
At Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base in Montgomery, Ala., retired airman Dominick Gezzi said he's shared that connection since joining the Patriot Guard Ride
AUSTRALIA, Bikie gang threat can't be ignored
OFF THE WIRE
REPORTS of the predicted consolidation and growth of bikie gxxxs into super gxxxs is both frightening and worrying.
Frightening in that the potential for criminality of these outlaw gxxxs will be greatly multiplied.
Worrying in that it seems the police and the Government are doing nothing to prevent the phenomenon.
Last year the Government went to great lengths to show it was being proactive in the face of the danger represented by bikie gxxxs, forcing through legislation designed to facilitate cracking down on this cancer in society.
It hung tough in the face of opposition by biker groups, misguided civil libertarians and even the Opposition LNP.
Attorney-General Cameron Dick said the law was necessary to prevent Queensland becoming a safe haven for such gxxxs.
The law, passed almost a year ago, cleared the way for outlaw motorcycle gxxxs to be declared criminal organisations -- which they are -- and for members to have their movements restricted with control orders.
However since then police and government have sat on their hands and done nothing.
Consolidatio n is a well-documented first step in the process of super bikie gxxxs forming.
The phenomenon of proliferation, expansion and consolidation was first identified and studied in the US and Canada in the '70s and '80s.
The spread of Hells Angles in that era triggered other gangs to unite to fight them and soon dozens of gangs merged into four super gangs -- Hells Angels, Outlaws, Pagans and Bandidos.
Those super gangs spread their tentacles to control huge swathes of territory and in the process transformed themselves into efficient producers and distributors of drugs and have proved almost impervious to legal action to destroy them.
Police must act now to prevent this happening in Queensland.
If, as critics suggest, the anti-bikie law is flawed and will not survive being tested in court and this is why police are not using it, the time to find out is now, not when the gangs have had time to become stronger and more entrenched.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/10/30/267235_editorial-news.html
REPORTS of the predicted consolidation and growth of bikie gxxxs into super gxxxs is both frightening and worrying.
Frightening in that the potential for criminality of these outlaw gxxxs will be greatly multiplied.
Worrying in that it seems the police and the Government are doing nothing to prevent the phenomenon.
Last year the Government went to great lengths to show it was being proactive in the face of the danger represented by bikie gxxxs, forcing through legislation designed to facilitate cracking down on this cancer in society.
It hung tough in the face of opposition by biker groups, misguided civil libertarians and even the Opposition LNP.
Attorney-General Cameron Dick said the law was necessary to prevent Queensland becoming a safe haven for such gxxxs.
The law, passed almost a year ago, cleared the way for outlaw motorcycle gxxxs to be declared criminal organisations -- which they are -- and for members to have their movements restricted with control orders.
However since then police and government have sat on their hands and done nothing.
Consolidatio n is a well-documented first step in the process of super bikie gxxxs forming.
The phenomenon of proliferation, expansion and consolidation was first identified and studied in the US and Canada in the '70s and '80s.
The spread of Hells Angles in that era triggered other gangs to unite to fight them and soon dozens of gangs merged into four super gangs -- Hells Angels, Outlaws, Pagans and Bandidos.
Those super gangs spread their tentacles to control huge swathes of territory and in the process transformed themselves into efficient producers and distributors of drugs and have proved almost impervious to legal action to destroy them.
Police must act now to prevent this happening in Queensland.
If, as critics suggest, the anti-bikie law is flawed and will not survive being tested in court and this is why police are not using it, the time to find out is now, not when the gangs have had time to become stronger and more entrenched.
http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/10/30/267235_editorial-news.html
Hells Angels to sue McQueen
OFF THE WIRE
By WENN.COM
The heads of the notorious Hells Angels Motorcycle Club are suing bosses at late fashion designer Alexander McQueen's label, accusing them of copying their famous logos on a string of clothes and accessories.
Leading Hells Angels are furious their trademarked Winged Death features on new McQueen rings, bags, a scarf and a dress.
The biker gang's lawyer Fritz Clapp says, "I went on Alexander McQueen’s site and I find not only is the word 'Hells' used on those things, but 'Hells Angels', the whole phrase, on a pashmina scarf and a Jacquard dress."
By WENN.COM
The heads of the notorious Hells Angels Motorcycle Club are suing bosses at late fashion designer Alexander McQueen's label, accusing them of copying their famous logos on a string of clothes and accessories.
Leading Hells Angels are furious their trademarked Winged Death features on new McQueen rings, bags, a scarf and a dress.
The biker gang's lawyer Fritz Clapp says, "I went on Alexander McQueen’s site and I find not only is the word 'Hells' used on those things, but 'Hells Angels', the whole phrase, on a pashmina scarf and a Jacquard dress."
Johnston City, Ill. Deputies arrest Outlaws member at JC bar
OFF THE WIRE
By Staff Report
Daily Republican
Johnston City, Ill. — Williamson County Sheriff's deputies on Wednesday arrested Outlaws Motorcycle Club member Chance Townsend outside Hurley's Show Bar in Johnston City.
Townsend, 39 of Marion, was arrested after refusing to cooperate with deputies.
Bar staff had asked Townsend to leave for wearing gang colors inside. He cooperated with deputies when leaving, but he became uncooperative outside the establishment.
Townsend was arrested for obstructing a police officer. He posted bond at the county jail and was released.
Copyright 2010 The Daily Republican. Some rights reserved
By Staff Report
Daily Republican
Johnston City, Ill. — Williamson County Sheriff's deputies on Wednesday arrested Outlaws Motorcycle Club member Chance Townsend outside Hurley's Show Bar in Johnston City.
Townsend, 39 of Marion, was arrested after refusing to cooperate with deputies.
Bar staff had asked Townsend to leave for wearing gang colors inside. He cooperated with deputies when leaving, but he became uncooperative outside the establishment.
Townsend was arrested for obstructing a police officer. He posted bond at the county jail and was released.
Copyright 2010 The Daily Republican. Some rights reserved
NEW YORK:Bikers in Halloween Costumes Terrorize Upper Manhattan
OFF THE WIRE
http://www.dnainfo.com/20101026/washington-heights-inwood/bikers-halloween-costumes-terrorize-upper-manhattan
October 26, 2010 2:53pm A large group of motorcyclists rode on sidewalks, into oncoming traffic and threatened residents Sunday afternoon. The gang of bike riders on Seaman Avenue and 218th Street Sunday afternoon. (DNAinfo/Carla Zanoni)By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER MANHATTAN — What appeared to be a parade of Halloween-masked bikers out for a joy ride took an unpleasant turn over the weekend when the riders drove into oncoming traffic, crashed sidewalks and yelled threats at pedestrians.
Police said they were aware of the marauding crowd on expensive racing bikes, most without license plates, racing through the streets of Washington Heights and Inwood, but were unable to apprehend the riders.
"They had moved on by the time we got to where the call originated," said Officer Christian Perez.
Twitter and Facebook lit up with posts about the riders who were seen and heard all the way from the Allen Pavillion parking lot, at Broadway and 220th Street, to 181st Street in Washington Heights.
"Wonders why 200 costumed idiots decided 218th and Allen Pavillion were the ideal places to ride their motorcycles and 4-wheelers(!) on the sidewalk and generally break multiple laws. Also, the police were where?" wrote Inwood resident Jane Lowers on her Facebook page.
The group of 100 riders or more were spotted along Broadway from 220th Street to 181st Street in Washington Heights. (DNAinfo/Carla Zanoni)"What's with the motorcycle rally up and down Broadway??? #Inwood #wheresthcops," Twitter user Grimace2271 wrote.
Several residents have complained recently about bikes roaring through the neighborhoods, which have been documented by the police and community groups.
But Captain Jose Navarro of the 34th Precinct has said it's difficult for the police to stamp out the problem due to the dangers of chasing fast bikes and inexperienced riders.
Officer Perez echoed that sentiment.
"We really have our backs up against the wall, it’s a catch-22, Perez said, explaining that the force wants to catch the riders, but are worried about doing more harm.
Perez added that the police are making adjustments to their patrols this weekend in anticipation of the Halloween holiday.
"The Captain is making sure we have increased details on the street," he said.
http://www.dnainfo.com/20101026/washington-heights-inwood/bikers-halloween-costumes-terrorize-upper-manhattan
October 26, 2010 2:53pm A large group of motorcyclists rode on sidewalks, into oncoming traffic and threatened residents Sunday afternoon. The gang of bike riders on Seaman Avenue and 218th Street Sunday afternoon. (DNAinfo/Carla Zanoni)By Carla Zanoni
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER MANHATTAN — What appeared to be a parade of Halloween-masked bikers out for a joy ride took an unpleasant turn over the weekend when the riders drove into oncoming traffic, crashed sidewalks and yelled threats at pedestrians.
Police said they were aware of the marauding crowd on expensive racing bikes, most without license plates, racing through the streets of Washington Heights and Inwood, but were unable to apprehend the riders.
"They had moved on by the time we got to where the call originated," said Officer Christian Perez.
Twitter and Facebook lit up with posts about the riders who were seen and heard all the way from the Allen Pavillion parking lot, at Broadway and 220th Street, to 181st Street in Washington Heights.
"Wonders why 200 costumed idiots decided 218th and Allen Pavillion were the ideal places to ride their motorcycles and 4-wheelers(!) on the sidewalk and generally break multiple laws. Also, the police were where?" wrote Inwood resident Jane Lowers on her Facebook page.
The group of 100 riders or more were spotted along Broadway from 220th Street to 181st Street in Washington Heights. (DNAinfo/Carla Zanoni)"What's with the motorcycle rally up and down Broadway??? #Inwood #wheresthcops," Twitter user Grimace2271 wrote.
Several residents have complained recently about bikes roaring through the neighborhoods, which have been documented by the police and community groups.
But Captain Jose Navarro of the 34th Precinct has said it's difficult for the police to stamp out the problem due to the dangers of chasing fast bikes and inexperienced riders.
Officer Perez echoed that sentiment.
"We really have our backs up against the wall, it’s a catch-22, Perez said, explaining that the force wants to catch the riders, but are worried about doing more harm.
Perez added that the police are making adjustments to their patrols this weekend in anticipation of the Halloween holiday.
"The Captain is making sure we have increased details on the street," he said.
Hello San Diego Volunteers
Hello San Diego Volunteers
With Election Day less than one week away, we're almost down to the finish line. I'm delivering signs for Rick Powell to 10 addresses near Santee after work today.
A volunteer is needed for 8 more addresses: -- down around Lemon Grove and Bonita. Please see the attached map, and let me know if you can help. My cell is 202-250-0799
--
Douglas Findlay
RIDE2REPEAL.COM
If you are not a campaign volunteer THIS year ...
... you will lose more of your freedom NEXT year.
With Election Day less than one week away, we're almost down to the finish line. I'm delivering signs for Rick Powell to 10 addresses near Santee after work today.
A volunteer is needed for 8 more addresses: -- down around Lemon Grove and Bonita. Please see the attached map, and let me know if you can help. My cell is 202-250-0799
--
Douglas Findlay
RIDE2REPEAL.COM
If you are not a campaign volunteer THIS year ...
... you will lose more of your freedom NEXT year.
Richmond, Va.Jury to begin deliberations in Outlaw biker gxxx trial
OFF THE WIRE
Jury deliberations begin this morning in the trial of four members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang on federal racketeering-related charges.
A 50-page indictment last June alleged more than two dozen members of the Outlaws ran a criminal enterprise that engaged in attempted murder, kidnapping, assault, robbery, extortion, witness intimidation, drug distribution, illegal gambling and weapons offenses.
Thus far, 15 have pleaded guilty to charges and five others will be tried in December.
On trial now are Jack "Milwaukee Jack" Rosga, 53, the club's national president; William "Rebel" Davey, 46; Mark "Lytnin'" Spradling, 52; and Leslie Werth, 47. Each is charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to commit violence in the aid of racketeering.
Davey and Werth also are charged with using violence in the aid of racketeering and firearms offenses.
"This is an organization that uses violence, sometimes extreme violence, to promote its self-interests," Stephen W. Miller, an assistant U.S. attorney, told the jury yesterday, asking them to find all four guilty.
Miller recounted evidence presented in the trial -- which began Oct. 20 -- much of it from undercover agents of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and from gang members now testifying against their former "brothers" in hopes of lighter prison terms.
Surreptitiousl y made video and audio recordings also were played. The undercover agents were sent to Petersburg by another motorcycle gang to set up a clubhouse. Eventually, the Outlaws invited them to join their organization, and in the end the Outlaws' Petersburg club was opened and run by federal agents.
There was extensive testimony about a confrontation with members of the Desperados -- an allied Hells Angels' gang -- at the Cockades bar in Petersburg on March 14, 2009, that nearly led to a shootout.
A former enforcer for the gang, Michael Pedini, testified that Rosga ordered the shooting last year of a Hells Angel member in Maine, leaving him partially paralyzed. Pedini, a former professional wrestler also known as "Madman," shot the man along with another Outlaws member who was himself shot to death when authorities attempted to arrest him in June.
Pedini has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in the federal racketeering case and is facing drug-trafficking charges in Maine. A defense witness contradicted much of Pedini's testimony.
In her closing arguments, Claire G. Cardwell, one of Rosga's lawyers, told the jurors, "There's an old saying -- just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you." As president of the legal motorcycle club, Rosga had reason to fear authorities.
Gesturin g to the four defendants and their lawyers, she said, "This is why. This is why."
The government, she said, believes the Outlaws is a criminal gang. A great deal of money went into the investigation, including the establishment of the clubhouse in Petersburg. "If the Outlaws Motorcycle Club is such a dangerous, criminal gang, then why did the federal government form a clubhouse and facilitate them coming to Virginia?" she asked.
As for the evidence, Cardwell said, "It's just a couple of bar fights and a shooting that they can't credibly connect to Mr. Rosga . . . the cherry on the top."
"The people who dealt drugs, who went hunting [rival Hells Angels], who shot people, are the government's witnesses in this case," she said. Pedini, she said, shot a man and "got a walk," because "he played the Rosga card."
Cardwell and other defense lawyers pointed out that there were few instances of any kind of violence cited by the government. Horace Hunter, lawyer for Davey, said, "There always seems to be more talk than actual action."
But Peter S. Duffey, an assistant U.S. attorney said, "This is an organized and dangerous motorcycle gang. This trial was designed to bring it to the light of day and to make these defendants accountable."
http://www2.wsls.com/news/2010/oct/29/gang29-ar-614398/
Jury deliberations begin this morning in the trial of four members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang on federal racketeering-related charges.
A 50-page indictment last June alleged more than two dozen members of the Outlaws ran a criminal enterprise that engaged in attempted murder, kidnapping, assault, robbery, extortion, witness intimidation, drug distribution, illegal gambling and weapons offenses.
Thus far, 15 have pleaded guilty to charges and five others will be tried in December.
On trial now are Jack "Milwaukee Jack" Rosga, 53, the club's national president; William "Rebel" Davey, 46; Mark "Lytnin'" Spradling, 52; and Leslie Werth, 47. Each is charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to commit violence in the aid of racketeering.
Davey and Werth also are charged with using violence in the aid of racketeering and firearms offenses.
"This is an organization that uses violence, sometimes extreme violence, to promote its self-interests," Stephen W. Miller, an assistant U.S. attorney, told the jury yesterday, asking them to find all four guilty.
Miller recounted evidence presented in the trial -- which began Oct. 20 -- much of it from undercover agents of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and from gang members now testifying against their former "brothers" in hopes of lighter prison terms.
Surreptitiousl y made video and audio recordings also were played. The undercover agents were sent to Petersburg by another motorcycle gang to set up a clubhouse. Eventually, the Outlaws invited them to join their organization, and in the end the Outlaws' Petersburg club was opened and run by federal agents.
There was extensive testimony about a confrontation with members of the Desperados -- an allied Hells Angels' gang -- at the Cockades bar in Petersburg on March 14, 2009, that nearly led to a shootout.
A former enforcer for the gang, Michael Pedini, testified that Rosga ordered the shooting last year of a Hells Angel member in Maine, leaving him partially paralyzed. Pedini, a former professional wrestler also known as "Madman," shot the man along with another Outlaws member who was himself shot to death when authorities attempted to arrest him in June.
Pedini has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in the federal racketeering case and is facing drug-trafficking charges in Maine. A defense witness contradicted much of Pedini's testimony.
In her closing arguments, Claire G. Cardwell, one of Rosga's lawyers, told the jurors, "There's an old saying -- just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you." As president of the legal motorcycle club, Rosga had reason to fear authorities.
Gesturin g to the four defendants and their lawyers, she said, "This is why. This is why."
The government, she said, believes the Outlaws is a criminal gang. A great deal of money went into the investigation, including the establishment of the clubhouse in Petersburg. "If the Outlaws Motorcycle Club is such a dangerous, criminal gang, then why did the federal government form a clubhouse and facilitate them coming to Virginia?" she asked.
As for the evidence, Cardwell said, "It's just a couple of bar fights and a shooting that they can't credibly connect to Mr. Rosga . . . the cherry on the top."
"The people who dealt drugs, who went hunting [rival Hells Angels], who shot people, are the government's witnesses in this case," she said. Pedini, she said, shot a man and "got a walk," because "he played the Rosga card."
Cardwell and other defense lawyers pointed out that there were few instances of any kind of violence cited by the government. Horace Hunter, lawyer for Davey, said, "There always seems to be more talk than actual action."
But Peter S. Duffey, an assistant U.S. attorney said, "This is an organized and dangerous motorcycle gang. This trial was designed to bring it to the light of day and to make these defendants accountable."
http://www2.wsls.com/news/2010/oct/29/gang29-ar-614398/
Drug accusations fly in court
OFF THE WIRE
Witness says lawyer gave Viagra, advice
A lawyer whom Mayor Dave Bing tapped to help turn around Detroit hung out in strip clubs with drug-dealing motorcycle club members who turned to him for free legal advice and Viagra, according to testimony Thursday in federal court.
Two government witnesses testified in the trial of Tim Attalla, who was indicted two days after being named to a crisis management team by Bing last year. They said that Attalla attended private parties at strip clubs where cocaine and Viagra were freely available along with Aref (Scarface) Nagi, a former vice president of the Highwaymen Motorcycle Club who was convicted in June on racketeering charges.
The government's witnesses said that Attalla supplied Nagi with Viagra, and they rebutted defense claims that Attalla was never a club member. The witnesses said Attalla attended meetings and received a Highwaymen jacket and vest when he joined in 2005.
"I have, with my own eyes, seen him wearing a Highwaymen vest," testified a former club member turned undercover informant.
Attalla, 49, is on trial in U.S. District Court in Detroit on charges that he took part in a drug conspiracy by "advising arrested individuals to keep silent regarding Nagi's involvement in the drug conspiracy, by supplying Nagi with a variety of different pills and by acting as general counsel for the enterprise," the indictment states.
He is on administrative leave from Detroit's Miller Canfield law firm, which he joined in mid-2006 after the alleged crimes.
Attalla resigned from Bing's crisis management team after being charged. His lawyers say there is no evidence to support the charges.
"The simple and disturbing reality of this prosecution is that Mr. Attalla has done nothing to deserve being labeled as a lawyer-criminal. Rather, he has found himself in the crosshairs of the U.S. Attorney's Office only because he dared to serve as a criminal defense lawyer by giving legal advice to suspected gxxx members," Miller Canfield attorney Thomas Cranmer wrote in court documents.
Bing's office released this statement Thursday: "While Mr. Attalla was invited to volunteer for the Transition Team ... he did not actively participate or contribute."
The trial resumes today.
http://www.freep.com/article/20101029/NEWS01/10290366/1322/Drug-accusations-fly-in-court
Witness says lawyer gave Viagra, advice
A lawyer whom Mayor Dave Bing tapped to help turn around Detroit hung out in strip clubs with drug-dealing motorcycle club members who turned to him for free legal advice and Viagra, according to testimony Thursday in federal court.
Two government witnesses testified in the trial of Tim Attalla, who was indicted two days after being named to a crisis management team by Bing last year. They said that Attalla attended private parties at strip clubs where cocaine and Viagra were freely available along with Aref (Scarface) Nagi, a former vice president of the Highwaymen Motorcycle Club who was convicted in June on racketeering charges.
The government's witnesses said that Attalla supplied Nagi with Viagra, and they rebutted defense claims that Attalla was never a club member. The witnesses said Attalla attended meetings and received a Highwaymen jacket and vest when he joined in 2005.
"I have, with my own eyes, seen him wearing a Highwaymen vest," testified a former club member turned undercover informant.
Attalla, 49, is on trial in U.S. District Court in Detroit on charges that he took part in a drug conspiracy by "advising arrested individuals to keep silent regarding Nagi's involvement in the drug conspiracy, by supplying Nagi with a variety of different pills and by acting as general counsel for the enterprise," the indictment states.
He is on administrative leave from Detroit's Miller Canfield law firm, which he joined in mid-2006 after the alleged crimes.
Attalla resigned from Bing's crisis management team after being charged. His lawyers say there is no evidence to support the charges.
"The simple and disturbing reality of this prosecution is that Mr. Attalla has done nothing to deserve being labeled as a lawyer-criminal. Rather, he has found himself in the crosshairs of the U.S. Attorney's Office only because he dared to serve as a criminal defense lawyer by giving legal advice to suspected gxxx members," Miller Canfield attorney Thomas Cranmer wrote in court documents.
Bing's office released this statement Thursday: "While Mr. Attalla was invited to volunteer for the Transition Team ... he did not actively participate or contribute."
The trial resumes today.
http://www.freep.com/article/20101029/NEWS01/10290366/1322/Drug-accusations-fly-in-court
Pagans case: School bus driver who helped discard evidence gets 10 months
OFF THE WIRE
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A former member of the Pagans Motorcycle Club who admitted that he helped remove evidence from the group's St. Albans clubhouse was sentenced Thursday to five months in jail.
Corey Charles "Mohawk" Hinkle, 30, of Charleston, pleaded guilty on July 8 to aiding and abetting obstruction of justice. He admitted that, in February 2009, under orders from Pagans national vice president Floyd B. "Jesse" Moore, he removed a tote full of clothing and patches commandeered from members of another motorcycle club so that it could be destroyed.
"He was convinced it could be used as evidence against us," Hinkle told U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Loew said the Pagans knew they were under federal investigation, because of several searches conducted by federal agents and several Pagans who had testified before a grand jury.
Hinkle said he had voluntarily left the Pagans not long after the clubhouse incident because he was constantly being pulled between the club and his job as a Kanawha County school bus driver.
His job frequently made him late to Pagans meetings and events, and his employers weren't happy with his involvement with the club, he said.
"I left the club in 2009 so I could better myself and get away from it," he said.
Hinkle's attorney, Herb Hively, noted that after Hinkle was indicted, he was asked to resign from his job as a bus driver, and he did. Hinkle has been changed by the roughly two months he has spent in jail, he said.
"He is quieter, and I think he has [a greater] appreciation of liberty," Hively said.
Johnston said that, other than his association with the Pagans, Hinkle seemed to be a hard-working, law-abiding citizen. He added, though, that his crime required some form of punishment.
"Mr. Hinkle, obstructive behavior like this is an affront to the criminal justice system itself," he said.
Johnston imposed a 10-month sentence, with the first five months to be spent in jail, followed by five more spent on home confinement with electronic monitoring. He also ordered Hinkle to spend three years on supervised release.
Hinkle will receive credit for the time he has spent in custody since his bail was revoked after he was found at a bar past his court-imposed curfew.
Hinkle is the sixth defendant convicted of felony charges to be sentenced in the racketeering case, unsealed in October 2009, against 55 members and associates of the Pagans. The indictment included charges against defendants from Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
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.
Earlier this month, Johnston rejected a plea deal in the Pagans case, saying that the facts agreed to by the parties did not prove the elements of the crime charged. That case is scheduled for trial next month.
http://wvgazette.com/News/201010281281
[Submitted by WV Fritz]
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- A former member of the Pagans Motorcycle Club who admitted that he helped remove evidence from the group's St. Albans clubhouse was sentenced Thursday to five months in jail.
Corey Charles "Mohawk" Hinkle, 30, of Charleston, pleaded guilty on July 8 to aiding and abetting obstruction of justice. He admitted that, in February 2009, under orders from Pagans national vice president Floyd B. "Jesse" Moore, he removed a tote full of clothing and patches commandeered from members of another motorcycle club so that it could be destroyed.
"He was convinced it could be used as evidence against us," Hinkle told U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Loew said the Pagans knew they were under federal investigation, because of several searches conducted by federal agents and several Pagans who had testified before a grand jury.
Hinkle said he had voluntarily left the Pagans not long after the clubhouse incident because he was constantly being pulled between the club and his job as a Kanawha County school bus driver.
His job frequently made him late to Pagans meetings and events, and his employers weren't happy with his involvement with the club, he said.
"I left the club in 2009 so I could better myself and get away from it," he said.
Hinkle's attorney, Herb Hively, noted that after Hinkle was indicted, he was asked to resign from his job as a bus driver, and he did. Hinkle has been changed by the roughly two months he has spent in jail, he said.
"He is quieter, and I think he has [a greater] appreciation of liberty," Hively said.
Johnston said that, other than his association with the Pagans, Hinkle seemed to be a hard-working, law-abiding citizen. He added, though, that his crime required some form of punishment.
"Mr. Hinkle, obstructive behavior like this is an affront to the criminal justice system itself," he said.
Johnston imposed a 10-month sentence, with the first five months to be spent in jail, followed by five more spent on home confinement with electronic monitoring. He also ordered Hinkle to spend three years on supervised release.
Hinkle will receive credit for the time he has spent in custody since his bail was revoked after he was found at a bar past his court-imposed curfew.
Hinkle is the sixth defendant convicted of felony charges to be sentenced in the racketeering case, unsealed in October 2009, against 55 members and associates of the Pagans. The indictment included charges against defendants from Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia.
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.
Earlier this month, Johnston rejected a plea deal in the Pagans case, saying that the facts agreed to by the parties did not prove the elements of the crime charged. That case is scheduled for trial next month.
http://wvgazette.com/News/201010281281
[Submitted by WV Fritz]
A BIKER, brawl in the heart of Bondi has left one man in hospital with a broken leg.
OFF THE WIRE
Australia
Crime scene ... Police at the site of today's attack. Pic: Nic Gibson Source: The Daily Telegraph
The fight broke out in front of the busy lunch crowd at Vue Bar and Tapas about 12.30pm.
Police received multiple calls from the public after four men started brawling on Campbell Parade.
The original police call-out listed the men as being members of outlaw motorcycle gangs. The police would not confirm which gangs they belonged to.
The Daily Telegraph contacted businesses in the area but they would not discuss the brawl.
A police spokeswoman said two men were walking along the footpath when a blue Ford Falcon pulled-up alongside them.
Two men jumped out of the car and attacked one of the men, while his friend ran-off.
"The two men then re-entered the Ford Falcon and drove from the scene, but were stopped a short time later by police and were arrested,'' she said.
"The man who was assaulted was taken to hospital by ambulance."
"They are being taken to Waverly police station to assist with inquiries.''
The victim, who is in his 30s is being treated for a broken leg
A witness who asked not to be named said he had seen the fight, The Wentworth Courier reports.
“I just saw all these guys just bashing the hell out of each other, about four of them. I have no idea (whether they were bikies),” he said.
“I just saw all these guys coming, I thought at first they were joking around because they were making these sounds like pretending to bash each other and then all of a sudden I saw this guy on the floor with blood all over his face.”
“No weapons… It probably lasted 10 minutes or something. I think they all ran, except for the dude that was hurt. He looked pretty bad, there was just all blood that’s all I saw.”
Read on and seem more pictures at The Wentworth Courier
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw-act/leg-broken-in-bondi-street-bashing/story-e6freuzi-1225944761725
Australia
Crime scene ... Police at the site of today's attack. Pic: Nic Gibson Source: The Daily Telegraph
The fight broke out in front of the busy lunch crowd at Vue Bar and Tapas about 12.30pm.
Police received multiple calls from the public after four men started brawling on Campbell Parade.
The original police call-out listed the men as being members of outlaw motorcycle gangs. The police would not confirm which gangs they belonged to.
The Daily Telegraph contacted businesses in the area but they would not discuss the brawl.
A police spokeswoman said two men were walking along the footpath when a blue Ford Falcon pulled-up alongside them.
Two men jumped out of the car and attacked one of the men, while his friend ran-off.
"The two men then re-entered the Ford Falcon and drove from the scene, but were stopped a short time later by police and were arrested,'' she said.
"The man who was assaulted was taken to hospital by ambulance."
"They are being taken to Waverly police station to assist with inquiries.''
The victim, who is in his 30s is being treated for a broken leg
A witness who asked not to be named said he had seen the fight, The Wentworth Courier reports.
“I just saw all these guys just bashing the hell out of each other, about four of them. I have no idea (whether they were bikies),” he said.
“I just saw all these guys coming, I thought at first they were joking around because they were making these sounds like pretending to bash each other and then all of a sudden I saw this guy on the floor with blood all over his face.”
“No weapons… It probably lasted 10 minutes or something. I think they all ran, except for the dude that was hurt. He looked pretty bad, there was just all blood that’s all I saw.”
Read on and seem more pictures at The Wentworth Courier
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw-act/leg-broken-in-bondi-street-bashing/story-e6freuzi-1225944761725
Poker run benefits Hillsborough Vietnam memorial
OFF THE WIRE
BRANDON - The Rolling Thunder motorcycle club is hosting a poker run Nov. 14 to benefit the Vietnam memorial that will be built at Veteran's Memorial Park off U.S. 301 in East Tampa.
The cost is $15 per rider and $10 for passengers, including a poker hand. Extra hands and cards are available at the last stop. The best hand will receive $100. The second place gets $75 and the worst hand gets $25.
There will also be a 50-50 drawing, Code Blues Band will play and food will be offered by Sandy's Home-style Cooking. The after party will be hosted by Party Patti.
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park, just north of the Tampa Bypass Canal off U.S. 301. Kickstands are up at 11 a.m.
Other stops include the AMVETS Post 148 Riverview, VFW Post 6287 in Ruskin and CJ's Saloon in Riverview.
Sponsorship opportunities are still available or people can donate by credit card through Pay Pal on the Rolling Thunder web site at www.rollingthunderfl11.com.
Rolling Thunder's main purpose is to publicize the POW/MIA issue and ensure that American prisoners of war and those missing in action are never again left behind.
BRANDON - The Rolling Thunder motorcycle club is hosting a poker run Nov. 14 to benefit the Vietnam memorial that will be built at Veteran's Memorial Park off U.S. 301 in East Tampa.
The cost is $15 per rider and $10 for passengers, including a poker hand. Extra hands and cards are available at the last stop. The best hand will receive $100. The second place gets $75 and the worst hand gets $25.
There will also be a 50-50 drawing, Code Blues Band will play and food will be offered by Sandy's Home-style Cooking. The after party will be hosted by Party Patti.
Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. at Veterans Memorial Park, just north of the Tampa Bypass Canal off U.S. 301. Kickstands are up at 11 a.m.
Other stops include the AMVETS Post 148 Riverview, VFW Post 6287 in Ruskin and CJ's Saloon in Riverview.
Sponsorship opportunities are still available or people can donate by credit card through Pay Pal on the Rolling Thunder web site at www.rollingthunderfl11.com.
Rolling Thunder's main purpose is to publicize the POW/MIA issue and ensure that American prisoners of war and those missing in action are never again left behind.
Outlaws gang trial to resume Friday
OFF THE WIRE
A six-man, six-woman jury will begin deliberations tomorrow morning in the trial of four member of the Outlaws motorcycle gang on federal racketeering-related charges. ¶
The panel was allowed to go home around 4:40 p.m. by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson after spending much of the day listening to instructions on the law and to closing arguments from government prosecutors and the defense lawyers.
Closing arguments are underway in the trial of four member of the Outlaws motorcycle gang on federal racketeering-related charges.
"This is an organization that uses violence, sometimes extreme violence, to promote its self interests," Stephen W. Miller, an assistant U.S. Attorney told the jury today, asking them to find all four guilty on all charges.
On trial are Jack "Milwaukee Jack" Rosga, 53, the national president; William "Rebel" Davey, 46; Mark "Lytnin'" Spradling, 52; and Leslie Werth, 47. Each is charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to commit violence in aid of racketeering.
Davey and Werth also are charged with using violence in the aid of racketeering and firearms offenses.
A 50-page indictment alleges the Outlaws ran a criminal enterprise that engaged in attempted murder, kidnapping, assault, robbery, extortion, witness intimidation, drug distribution, illegal gambling and weapons offenses.
Not so, said Claire G. Cardwell, one of Rosga's lawyers.
"There's an old saying," she told the jurors in her closing remarks: "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you."
The federal government, she said, is convinced the Outlaws are a criminal gang. A great deal of money and time went into the investigation, including the establishment of an Outlaws clubhouse in Petersburg by undercover agents of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.
"If the Outlaws Motorcycle Club is such a dangerous, criminal gang, then why did the federal government (set up) a clubhouse and facilitate them coming to Virginia?" she asked.
The evidence, said Cardwell -- "it's just a couple of bar fights and a shooting that they can't credibly connect to Mr. Rosga . . . the cherry on the top."
"The people who dealt drugs, who went hunting (rival hells Angels), who shot people are the government's witnesses in this case," she said of gang members who cooperated with authorities with hopes of lesser prisons senences.
The lawyers for the other three defendants will have their closing arguments this afternoon.
http://www2.madison-news.com/news/mce-news/2010/oct/28/bikegat28-ar-613296/
A six-man, six-woman jury will begin deliberations tomorrow morning in the trial of four member of the Outlaws motorcycle gang on federal racketeering-related charges. ¶
The panel was allowed to go home around 4:40 p.m. by U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson after spending much of the day listening to instructions on the law and to closing arguments from government prosecutors and the defense lawyers.
Closing arguments are underway in the trial of four member of the Outlaws motorcycle gang on federal racketeering-related charges.
"This is an organization that uses violence, sometimes extreme violence, to promote its self interests," Stephen W. Miller, an assistant U.S. Attorney told the jury today, asking them to find all four guilty on all charges.
On trial are Jack "Milwaukee Jack" Rosga, 53, the national president; William "Rebel" Davey, 46; Mark "Lytnin'" Spradling, 52; and Leslie Werth, 47. Each is charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to commit violence in aid of racketeering.
Davey and Werth also are charged with using violence in the aid of racketeering and firearms offenses.
A 50-page indictment alleges the Outlaws ran a criminal enterprise that engaged in attempted murder, kidnapping, assault, robbery, extortion, witness intimidation, drug distribution, illegal gambling and weapons offenses.
Not so, said Claire G. Cardwell, one of Rosga's lawyers.
"There's an old saying," she told the jurors in her closing remarks: "Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you."
The federal government, she said, is convinced the Outlaws are a criminal gang. A great deal of money and time went into the investigation, including the establishment of an Outlaws clubhouse in Petersburg by undercover agents of the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.
"If the Outlaws Motorcycle Club is such a dangerous, criminal gang, then why did the federal government (set up) a clubhouse and facilitate them coming to Virginia?" she asked.
The evidence, said Cardwell -- "it's just a couple of bar fights and a shooting that they can't credibly connect to Mr. Rosga . . . the cherry on the top."
"The people who dealt drugs, who went hunting (rival hells Angels), who shot people are the government's witnesses in this case," she said of gang members who cooperated with authorities with hopes of lesser prisons senences.
The lawyers for the other three defendants will have their closing arguments this afternoon.
http://www2.madison-news.com/news/mce-news/2010/oct/28/bikegat28-ar-613296/
Court documents: Santa Clara cop did favors for Hell's Angel since November
OFF THE WIRE
When investigators searched Clay Rojas' home, they discovered a sign that said "Support your Local Hells Angels."
That's precisely what investigators say the Santa Clara police officer was doing.
Rojas, a 36-year-old former Marine sergeant who served in Iraq and former San Jose police officer, faces three years in prison if convicted. He is accused of feeding a biker with "three strikes" confidential information, including DMV and criminal records.
William "Billy" Bettencourt, a member of the motorcycle gang with convictions for witness intimidation and other violent crimes, is facing life.
The potentially criminal relationship between the cop and the outlaw biker, outlined in court documents unsealed this week, is a tale told largely in BlackBerry texts. And it continues to be investigated to carefully plumb how much information the cop may have leaked -- and exactly how the biker and his gang may have used the information.
In one text message exchange, court records show, Bettencourt asks Rojas to obtain information on someone.
"Want me to check her record?" the cop texted back. "Yes," the biker texted. "Just lookn 4 dirt I guess."
A week later, court records show, the biker is asking for money. "And jeez...$$$$$?????? LOL."
When officers brought in Rojas on Oct. 14, he admitted he had done favors for Bettencourt since Nov. 9, 2009, because he owed the biker money, court records say. He knew Bettencourt was a Hells Angel, but he didn't think he had done anything wrong. He said he had borrowed money other times in the past "a thousand here, a hundred there." Bettencourt never charged him interest
The officer said he felt pressure to do what Bettencourt asked because of the debt. The investigator asked him what would happen if he didn't do what was asked of him. The officer replied he didn't know but felt he had no choice, according to court documents. Rojas agreed that the information he gave the biker could be thought of as interest on his late payments.
The investigator noted before he arrested the officer: "Rojas equated his release of information to Bettencourt as if he was releasing information to a friend, not a Hells Angel."
"This is a significant breach of the public trust," prosecutor Chuck Gillingham said. "This officer was entrusted to use this information for law enforcement purposes only. He didn't do that."
The case was launched by a discovery soon after Bettencourt was busted in September by Campbell police on gang-related charges. Police raided the stout, heavily tattooed biker's Live Oak home and seized a loaded gun, steroids, $40,000 in cash and a trove of biker gang paraphernalia. On Bettencourt's BlackBerry, investigators found more than 10,000 texts, court records said. And they found some that passed between the biker and a strangely familiar contact labeled "Clay's Cell."
At least two of the investigating officers recognized the number. It was for Rojas, who had been an officer in Santa Clara for five years and helped run a police officer equipment business in Santa Clara called 10-8 Police Supply.
It was soon clear that the two had texted back and forth numerous times, according to court records, swapping jokey and familiar "OMGs" and "LOLs."
In another text exchange, court records show, Bettencourt seemed to be asking if the officer would check on the biker's own criminal status, to see whether he had any pending warrants. Later that day, Rojas texted him back: "Clear."
In another exchange, court records show, Bettencourt forwarded a license plate number to Rojas. The next day, Rojas sent back the car's make, the name of its owner and the city he lives in. He texted that he would send the address later.
Police later checked the department's computer systems and discovered that someone had inputted that license plate from a Santa Clara Police Department computer.
There were other similar text exchanges, court records show, including one police traced from the biker to a 31-year-old San Jose woman named Vivian Rodriguez. She seemed to be asking for information about a child custody case that authorities say Rojas later gave to Bettencourt. Rodriguez is also charged with conspiracy in the case.
Terry Bowman, Rojas' lawyer in the case, said the officer made some mistakes.
"He has made significant contributions to his country and community, but personally, he got in over his head," Bowman said. "But he is a gang expert, not a gang member."
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16461489
When investigators searched Clay Rojas' home, they discovered a sign that said "Support your Local Hells Angels."
That's precisely what investigators say the Santa Clara police officer was doing.
Rojas, a 36-year-old former Marine sergeant who served in Iraq and former San Jose police officer, faces three years in prison if convicted. He is accused of feeding a biker with "three strikes" confidential information, including DMV and criminal records.
William "Billy" Bettencourt, a member of the motorcycle gang with convictions for witness intimidation and other violent crimes, is facing life.
The potentially criminal relationship between the cop and the outlaw biker, outlined in court documents unsealed this week, is a tale told largely in BlackBerry texts. And it continues to be investigated to carefully plumb how much information the cop may have leaked -- and exactly how the biker and his gang may have used the information.
In one text message exchange, court records show, Bettencourt asks Rojas to obtain information on someone.
"Want me to check her record?" the cop texted back. "Yes," the biker texted. "Just lookn 4 dirt I guess."
A week later, court records show, the biker is asking for money. "And jeez...$$$$$?????? LOL."
When officers brought in Rojas on Oct. 14, he admitted he had done favors for Bettencourt since Nov. 9, 2009, because he owed the biker money, court records say. He knew Bettencourt was a Hells Angel, but he didn't think he had done anything wrong. He said he had borrowed money other times in the past "a thousand here, a hundred there." Bettencourt never charged him interest
The officer said he felt pressure to do what Bettencourt asked because of the debt. The investigator asked him what would happen if he didn't do what was asked of him. The officer replied he didn't know but felt he had no choice, according to court documents. Rojas agreed that the information he gave the biker could be thought of as interest on his late payments.
The investigator noted before he arrested the officer: "Rojas equated his release of information to Bettencourt as if he was releasing information to a friend, not a Hells Angel."
"This is a significant breach of the public trust," prosecutor Chuck Gillingham said. "This officer was entrusted to use this information for law enforcement purposes only. He didn't do that."
The case was launched by a discovery soon after Bettencourt was busted in September by Campbell police on gang-related charges. Police raided the stout, heavily tattooed biker's Live Oak home and seized a loaded gun, steroids, $40,000 in cash and a trove of biker gang paraphernalia. On Bettencourt's BlackBerry, investigators found more than 10,000 texts, court records said. And they found some that passed between the biker and a strangely familiar contact labeled "Clay's Cell."
At least two of the investigating officers recognized the number. It was for Rojas, who had been an officer in Santa Clara for five years and helped run a police officer equipment business in Santa Clara called 10-8 Police Supply.
It was soon clear that the two had texted back and forth numerous times, according to court records, swapping jokey and familiar "OMGs" and "LOLs."
In another text exchange, court records show, Bettencourt seemed to be asking if the officer would check on the biker's own criminal status, to see whether he had any pending warrants. Later that day, Rojas texted him back: "Clear."
In another exchange, court records show, Bettencourt forwarded a license plate number to Rojas. The next day, Rojas sent back the car's make, the name of its owner and the city he lives in. He texted that he would send the address later.
Police later checked the department's computer systems and discovered that someone had inputted that license plate from a Santa Clara Police Department computer.
There were other similar text exchanges, court records show, including one police traced from the biker to a 31-year-old San Jose woman named Vivian Rodriguez. She seemed to be asking for information about a child custody case that authorities say Rojas later gave to Bettencourt. Rodriguez is also charged with conspiracy in the case.
Terry Bowman, Rojas' lawyer in the case, said the officer made some mistakes.
"He has made significant contributions to his country and community, but personally, he got in over his head," Bowman said. "But he is a gang expert, not a gang member."
http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_16461489
OMCG member charged over two shootings – Petersham
OFF THE WIRE
AUSTRALIA,
An alleged member of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang has been charged with attempted murder following investigations into two shootings in 2007 and 2008.
About 11am today, Marrickville Detectives attended an address in Silverwater, where they arrested a 30-year-old man, who they will allege is a member of the Hells Angels Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.
The man was charged with 16 offences including two counts of attempted murder, shoot with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, possess unauthorised firearm, use unauthorised firearm and fire firearm in or near public place.
He was refused bail to appear at the Downing Centre Local Court on Friday 12 November 2010.
Police will allege the charges relate to the shooting of a then 36-year-old man at West Street, Petersham about 9pm on Tuesday 18 December 2007.
In July this year investigations led police to the Cooks River at Campsie where police divers allegedly located a handgun allegedly used in the shooting.
Today’s charges also relate to the alleged drive-by shooting of a club on Queen Street, Petersham in 2008.
During the drive-by shooting, which occurred about 1:10am on Sunday 9 March 2008, the man allegedly fired seven shots into the building, striking the brickwork surrounding the door.
On Thursday 3 April 2009, police found the 30-year-old man allegedly in possession of a .45 Colt pistol. Subsequent ballistic examinations of the firearm have confirmed it was used during the drive-by shooting.
http://www.police.nsw.gov.au
AUSTRALIA,
An alleged member of an Outlaw Motorcycle Gang has been charged with attempted murder following investigations into two shootings in 2007 and 2008.
About 11am today, Marrickville Detectives attended an address in Silverwater, where they arrested a 30-year-old man, who they will allege is a member of the Hells Angels Outlaw Motorcycle Gang.
The man was charged with 16 offences including two counts of attempted murder, shoot with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, possess unauthorised firearm, use unauthorised firearm and fire firearm in or near public place.
He was refused bail to appear at the Downing Centre Local Court on Friday 12 November 2010.
Police will allege the charges relate to the shooting of a then 36-year-old man at West Street, Petersham about 9pm on Tuesday 18 December 2007.
In July this year investigations led police to the Cooks River at Campsie where police divers allegedly located a handgun allegedly used in the shooting.
Today’s charges also relate to the alleged drive-by shooting of a club on Queen Street, Petersham in 2008.
During the drive-by shooting, which occurred about 1:10am on Sunday 9 March 2008, the man allegedly fired seven shots into the building, striking the brickwork surrounding the door.
On Thursday 3 April 2009, police found the 30-year-old man allegedly in possession of a .45 Colt pistol. Subsequent ballistic examinations of the firearm have confirmed it was used during the drive-by shooting.
http://www.police.nsw.gov.au
Massachusetts, Settlement gives bikers refunds
By GEORGE GRAHAM
ggraham@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - More than 5,400 motorcycle owners in Hampshire and Hampden counties have a little extra riding-around money thanks to a settlement with six insurance companies made by the state Attorney General's office.
The average refund is a little over $263 and it tallies to over $1.4 million in the two counties, according to a press released issued by Attorney General Martha M. Coakley.
Some of that money will go a long way. In the two counties, 257 riders are slated to get checks in the mail ranging from $1,000 to $6,554, Coakley said.
The settlements are part of an industrywide investigation that the attorney general's office began in the fall of 2008 after receiving a complaint from the owner of a Harley-Davidson.
To date, that investigation has required twelve insurance companies to agree to return more than $33.8 million to Massachusetts motorcycle riders.
According to Coakley, the six insurance companies just completed the process of sending more than $17.5 million to motorcycle owners across the state who are eligible for payments under settlements that the Attorney General's Office reached with the insurers earlier this year.
The companies are: Arbellla Mutual, Metropolitan P&C, Plymouth Rock Assurance, Pilgrim Insurance, Hanover Insurance and Norfolk & Dedham.
The settlements relate to allegations that the insurers overcharged tens of thousands of Massachusetts motorcyclists by using inflated motorcycle values to calculate insurance premiums
ggraham@repub.com
SPRINGFIELD - More than 5,400 motorcycle owners in Hampshire and Hampden counties have a little extra riding-around money thanks to a settlement with six insurance companies made by the state Attorney General's office.
The average refund is a little over $263 and it tallies to over $1.4 million in the two counties, according to a press released issued by Attorney General Martha M. Coakley.
Some of that money will go a long way. In the two counties, 257 riders are slated to get checks in the mail ranging from $1,000 to $6,554, Coakley said.
The settlements are part of an industrywide investigation that the attorney general's office began in the fall of 2008 after receiving a complaint from the owner of a Harley-Davidson.
To date, that investigation has required twelve insurance companies to agree to return more than $33.8 million to Massachusetts motorcycle riders.
According to Coakley, the six insurance companies just completed the process of sending more than $17.5 million to motorcycle owners across the state who are eligible for payments under settlements that the Attorney General's Office reached with the insurers earlier this year.
The companies are: Arbellla Mutual, Metropolitan P&C, Plymouth Rock Assurance, Pilgrim Insurance, Hanover Insurance and Norfolk & Dedham.
The settlements relate to allegations that the insurers overcharged tens of thousands of Massachusetts motorcyclists by using inflated motorcycle values to calculate insurance premiums
THE top two leaders of bikie gang Notorious will remain in custody following a bloody brawl at Bondi yesterday.
OFF THE WIRE
Notorious boss Allan Sarkis and his second-in-charge Sofe Levi appeared in Waverley Local Court this morning charged with affray after the fight on Campbell Parade.
The two were both given a suspended sentence earlier this month following a brawl outside a Kings Cross nightclub in September 2009.
Mr Sarkis's solicitor Stephen Alexander made a detailed application for strict conditional bail on behalf of his client, which was to include a night-time curfew, surrendering his passport and daily reporting to police.
Mr Alexander said the actions of his client during the brawl with another man linked to the Comanchero gang were "in self-defence''.
It will be alleged by police that Mr Sarkis and Mr Levi set upon the man yesterday afternoon and that "a number of kicks and punches were thrown.'
The pair were arrested a short time later on nearby Oxford Street and charged at Waverley police station
The 32-year-old Comanchero member suffered a broken ankle in the fight and is recovering at St Vincent's Hospital.
A 26-year-old man who was with him at the time of the brawl was not injured and fled before police arrived on scene.
Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge refused bail for "the welfare of the community'', taking into the account the fact Mr Sarkis had been on a suspended sentence for less than a month.
In light of her decision on Mr Sarkis, Mr Levi did not make a formal application for bail and both men will remain in custody before they face Central Local Court on November 4.
The wives and young children of both men were inside court for the matter.
There was a strong police presence at Waverley Court, including members of the riot squad, with all court-goers required to undergo body scans and bag searches.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw-act/bikie-leader-charged-over-ankle-breaking-street-brawl/story-e6freuzi-1225945173183
Notorious boss Allan Sarkis and his second-in-charge Sofe Levi appeared in Waverley Local Court this morning charged with affray after the fight on Campbell Parade.
The two were both given a suspended sentence earlier this month following a brawl outside a Kings Cross nightclub in September 2009.
Mr Sarkis's solicitor Stephen Alexander made a detailed application for strict conditional bail on behalf of his client, which was to include a night-time curfew, surrendering his passport and daily reporting to police.
Mr Alexander said the actions of his client during the brawl with another man linked to the Comanchero gang were "in self-defence''.
It will be alleged by police that Mr Sarkis and Mr Levi set upon the man yesterday afternoon and that "a number of kicks and punches were thrown.'
The pair were arrested a short time later on nearby Oxford Street and charged at Waverley police station
The 32-year-old Comanchero member suffered a broken ankle in the fight and is recovering at St Vincent's Hospital.
A 26-year-old man who was with him at the time of the brawl was not injured and fled before police arrived on scene.
Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge refused bail for "the welfare of the community'', taking into the account the fact Mr Sarkis had been on a suspended sentence for less than a month.
In light of her decision on Mr Sarkis, Mr Levi did not make a formal application for bail and both men will remain in custody before they face Central Local Court on November 4.
The wives and young children of both men were inside court for the matter.
There was a strong police presence at Waverley Court, including members of the riot squad, with all court-goers required to undergo body scans and bag searches.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw-act/bikie-leader-charged-over-ankle-breaking-street-brawl/story-e6freuzi-1225945173183
Two former Pagans sentenced to probation on drug-related charges
OFF THE WIRE
BY: Andrew Clevenger
Source: sundaygazettemail.com
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two former members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club who pleaded guilty to drug-related charges were sentenced to probation in federal court Friday.
Donnie Ray "Hoss" Workman, 36, of Red House, and William Dan "Danimal" Copen, 50, of Charleston, were among the 55 defendants named in a sweeping, 44-count racketeering indictment against members and associates of the Pagans.
Both men were charged in multiple counts.
In February, Copen pleaded guilty to participating in a drug conspiracy by joining other Pagans to buy and use cocaine in the bikers' St. Albans Clubhouse during 2008. Five months later, Workman admitted that he possessed a Smith & Wesson revolver while he was a regular user of cocaine.
Workman said that he handled the gun while taking a gun safety course after he was ordered by Pagans national vice president Floyd "Jesse" Moore to obtain a concealed gun permit so that Workman could carry a gun around Moore, who could not carry one because he was a convicted felon.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Loew asked U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston to give Workman a reduced sentence because of his cooperation with government investigators, including testifying before a grand jury and during another Pagan's trial in August.
Workman's attorney, James Atkins, said that Workman had a job waiting for him at the construction site of the new Buffalo High School as soon as he was released from custody.
"He just needs to start life over without any bad habits," he said.
Workman thanked his family in the gallery for supporting him during the past year.
"It was me who made the selfish decisions and put myself into trouble," he said. "I can sit here and say I'm sorry one hundred times, and it wouldn't change the [bad] decisions I've made."
Johnston noted that Workman faces state charges stemming from a hit-and-run incident in June, when Workman allegedly struck a woman while driving drunk.
Police charged Workman with DUI, DUI causing injury, leaving the scene of an accident causing injury and three other misdemeanors.
Atkins said those charges are still pending, and he is working on a plea deal with prosecutors.
Johnston said that he was not taking those charges into account as he decided Workman's sentence. He placed Workman on probation for four years, to begin after Workman is released from custody on the state charges.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two former members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club who pleaded guilty to drug-related charges were sentenced to probation in federal court Friday.
Donnie Ray "Hoss" Workman, 36, of Red House, and William Dan "Danimal" Copen, 50, of Charleston, were among the 55 defendants named in a sweeping, 44-count racketeering indictment against members and associates of the Pagans.
Both men were charged in multiple counts.
In February, Copen pleaded guilty to participating in a drug conspiracy by joining other Pagans to buy and use cocaine in the bikers' St. Albans Clubhouse during 2008. Five months later, Workman admitted that he possessed a Smith & Wesson revolver while he was a regular user of cocaine.
Workman said that he handled the gun while taking a gun safety course after he was ordered by Pagans national vice president Floyd "Jesse" Moore to obtain a concealed gun permit so that Workman could carry a gun around Moore, who could not carry one because he was a convicted felon.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Loew asked U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston to give Workman a reduced sentence because of his cooperation with government investigators, including testifying before a grand jury and during another Pagan's trial in August.
Workman's attorney, James Atkins, said that Workman had a job waiting for him at the construction site of the new Buffalo High School as soon as he was released from custody.
"He just needs to start life over without any bad habits," he said.
Workman thanked his family in the gallery for supporting him during the past year.
"It was me who made the selfish decisions and put myself into trouble," he said. "I can sit here and say I'm sorry one hundred times, and it wouldn't change the [bad] decisions I've made."
Johnston noted that Workman faces state charges stemming from a hit-and-run incident in June, when Workman allegedly struck a woman while driving drunk.
Police charged Workman with DUI, DUI causing injury, leaving the scene of an accident causing injury and three other misdemeanors.
Atkins said those charges are still pending, and he is working on a plea deal with prosecutors.
Johnston said that he was not taking those charges into account as he decided Workman's sentence. He placed Workman on probation for four years, to begin after Workman is released from custody on the state charges.
The judge also fined Workman $1,000, and also ordered him not to drink any alcohol while he was on probation.
Copen, who earned multiple commendations when he served as a Green Beret during two stints in the U.S. Army, was visibly upset as he addressed the court in a separate hearing.
"I've always loved my country, Your Honor. I've served my country honorably and with dignity," he said. "I feel like I've [brought] disgrace [to] my country, and I feel like I've [brought] disgrace on my family, and for that I am truly sorry."
Copen's attorney, Mike Del Giudice, said that Copen had always been driven to be the best, not content to simply serve in the military but rising to serve in the Army's Special Forces.
When Copen was looking to join a motorcycle club, the Pagans told him that they were called a "1 percenter" club because they represented the elite of the biking world, he said. Instead, he quickly learned that the Pagans were involved in criminal activity, and voluntarily left the group after being a member for a little more than a year.
Copen did not join in when Pagans got into fights and scuffles, he said. Copen refused to assault a confidential informant in a hotel room in New Jersey in January 2009, even knowing he might face a beating himself, he said.
"Dan never threw a punch, never hit anybody. Dan would be the one breaking up the fight and getting the Pagans out of the bar," he said.
Loew said Copen was perhaps the most extreme example of a trend typical in many Pagans defendants: good work history and little or no criminal background, with their trouble with the law stemming from their involvement with the motorcycle club.
Loew also asked the judge to give Copen a reduced sentence because of his cooperation with the government.
"Frankly, he'll be looking over his shoulder for a long time because of his cooperation," he said.
"I am amazed, given your background, how you got involved in all of this," Johnston said. "It just boggles the mind how you ended up with the Pagans."
Johnston sentenced Copen to three years of probation and fined him $2,000.
The judge also fined Workman $1,000, and also ordered him not to drink any alcohol while he was on probation.
Copen, who earned multiple commendations when he served as a Green Beret during two stints in the U.S. Army, was visibly upset as he addressed the court in a separate hearing.
"I've always loved my country, Your Honor. I've served my country honorably and with dignity," he said. "I feel like I've [brought] disgrace [to] my country, and I feel like I've [brought] disgrace on my family, and for that I am truly sorry."
Copen's attorney, Mike Del Giudice, said that Copen had always been driven to be the best, not content to simply serve in the military but rising to serve in the Army's Special Forces.
When Copen was looking to join a motorcycle club, the Pagans told him that they were called a "1 percenter" club because they represented the elite of the biking world, he said. Instead, he quickly learned that the Pagans were involved in criminal activity, and voluntarily left the group after being a member for a little more than a year.
Copen did not join in when Pagans got into fights and scuffles, he said. Copen refused to assault a confidential informant in a hotel room in New Jersey in January 2009, even knowing he might face a beating himself, he said.
"Dan never threw a punch, never hit anybody. Dan would be the one breaking up the fight and getting the Pagans out of the bar," he said.
Loew said Copen was perhaps the most extreme example of a trend typical in many Pagans defendants: good work history and little or no criminal background, with their trouble with the law stemming from their involvement with the motorcycle club.
Loew also asked the judge to give Copen a reduced sentence because of his cooperation with the government.
"Frankly, he'll be looking over his shoulder for a long time because of his cooperation," he said.
"I am amazed, given your background, how you got involved in all of this," Johnston said. "It just boggles the mind how you ended up with the Pagans."
Johnston sentenced Copen to three years of probation and fined him $2,000.
Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.
BY: Andrew Clevenger
Source: sundaygazettemail.com
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two former members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club who pleaded guilty to drug-related charges were sentenced to probation in federal court Friday.
Donnie Ray "Hoss" Workman, 36, of Red House, and William Dan "Danimal" Copen, 50, of Charleston, were among the 55 defendants named in a sweeping, 44-count racketeering indictment against members and associates of the Pagans.
Both men were charged in multiple counts.
In February, Copen pleaded guilty to participating in a drug conspiracy by joining other Pagans to buy and use cocaine in the bikers' St. Albans Clubhouse during 2008. Five months later, Workman admitted that he possessed a Smith & Wesson revolver while he was a regular user of cocaine.
Workman said that he handled the gun while taking a gun safety course after he was ordered by Pagans national vice president Floyd "Jesse" Moore to obtain a concealed gun permit so that Workman could carry a gun around Moore, who could not carry one because he was a convicted felon.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Loew asked U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston to give Workman a reduced sentence because of his cooperation with government investigators, including testifying before a grand jury and during another Pagan's trial in August.
Workman's attorney, James Atkins, said that Workman had a job waiting for him at the construction site of the new Buffalo High School as soon as he was released from custody.
"He just needs to start life over without any bad habits," he said.
Workman thanked his family in the gallery for supporting him during the past year.
"It was me who made the selfish decisions and put myself into trouble," he said. "I can sit here and say I'm sorry one hundred times, and it wouldn't change the [bad] decisions I've made."
Johnston noted that Workman faces state charges stemming from a hit-and-run incident in June, when Workman allegedly struck a woman while driving drunk.
Police charged Workman with DUI, DUI causing injury, leaving the scene of an accident causing injury and three other misdemeanors.
Atkins said those charges are still pending, and he is working on a plea deal with prosecutors.
Johnston said that he was not taking those charges into account as he decided Workman's sentence. He placed Workman on probation for four years, to begin after Workman is released from custody on the state charges.
CHARLESTON, W.Va. -- Two former members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club who pleaded guilty to drug-related charges were sentenced to probation in federal court Friday.
Donnie Ray "Hoss" Workman, 36, of Red House, and William Dan "Danimal" Copen, 50, of Charleston, were among the 55 defendants named in a sweeping, 44-count racketeering indictment against members and associates of the Pagans.
Both men were charged in multiple counts.
In February, Copen pleaded guilty to participating in a drug conspiracy by joining other Pagans to buy and use cocaine in the bikers' St. Albans Clubhouse during 2008. Five months later, Workman admitted that he possessed a Smith & Wesson revolver while he was a regular user of cocaine.
Workman said that he handled the gun while taking a gun safety course after he was ordered by Pagans national vice president Floyd "Jesse" Moore to obtain a concealed gun permit so that Workman could carry a gun around Moore, who could not carry one because he was a convicted felon.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven Loew asked U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston to give Workman a reduced sentence because of his cooperation with government investigators, including testifying before a grand jury and during another Pagan's trial in August.
Workman's attorney, James Atkins, said that Workman had a job waiting for him at the construction site of the new Buffalo High School as soon as he was released from custody.
"He just needs to start life over without any bad habits," he said.
Workman thanked his family in the gallery for supporting him during the past year.
"It was me who made the selfish decisions and put myself into trouble," he said. "I can sit here and say I'm sorry one hundred times, and it wouldn't change the [bad] decisions I've made."
Johnston noted that Workman faces state charges stemming from a hit-and-run incident in June, when Workman allegedly struck a woman while driving drunk.
Police charged Workman with DUI, DUI causing injury, leaving the scene of an accident causing injury and three other misdemeanors.
Atkins said those charges are still pending, and he is working on a plea deal with prosecutors.
Johnston said that he was not taking those charges into account as he decided Workman's sentence. He placed Workman on probation for four years, to begin after Workman is released from custody on the state charges.
The judge also fined Workman $1,000, and also ordered him not to drink any alcohol while he was on probation.
Copen, who earned multiple commendations when he served as a Green Beret during two stints in the U.S. Army, was visibly upset as he addressed the court in a separate hearing.
"I've always loved my country, Your Honor. I've served my country honorably and with dignity," he said. "I feel like I've [brought] disgrace [to] my country, and I feel like I've [brought] disgrace on my family, and for that I am truly sorry."
Copen's attorney, Mike Del Giudice, said that Copen had always been driven to be the best, not content to simply serve in the military but rising to serve in the Army's Special Forces.
When Copen was looking to join a motorcycle club, the Pagans told him that they were called a "1 percenter" club because they represented the elite of the biking world, he said. Instead, he quickly learned that the Pagans were involved in criminal activity, and voluntarily left the group after being a member for a little more than a year.
Copen did not join in when Pagans got into fights and scuffles, he said. Copen refused to assault a confidential informant in a hotel room in New Jersey in January 2009, even knowing he might face a beating himself, he said.
"Dan never threw a punch, never hit anybody. Dan would be the one breaking up the fight and getting the Pagans out of the bar," he said.
Loew said Copen was perhaps the most extreme example of a trend typical in many Pagans defendants: good work history and little or no criminal background, with their trouble with the law stemming from their involvement with the motorcycle club.
Loew also asked the judge to give Copen a reduced sentence because of his cooperation with the government.
"Frankly, he'll be looking over his shoulder for a long time because of his cooperation," he said.
"I am amazed, given your background, how you got involved in all of this," Johnston said. "It just boggles the mind how you ended up with the Pagans."
Johnston sentenced Copen to three years of probation and fined him $2,000.
The judge also fined Workman $1,000, and also ordered him not to drink any alcohol while he was on probation.
Copen, who earned multiple commendations when he served as a Green Beret during two stints in the U.S. Army, was visibly upset as he addressed the court in a separate hearing.
"I've always loved my country, Your Honor. I've served my country honorably and with dignity," he said. "I feel like I've [brought] disgrace [to] my country, and I feel like I've [brought] disgrace on my family, and for that I am truly sorry."
Copen's attorney, Mike Del Giudice, said that Copen had always been driven to be the best, not content to simply serve in the military but rising to serve in the Army's Special Forces.
When Copen was looking to join a motorcycle club, the Pagans told him that they were called a "1 percenter" club because they represented the elite of the biking world, he said. Instead, he quickly learned that the Pagans were involved in criminal activity, and voluntarily left the group after being a member for a little more than a year.
Copen did not join in when Pagans got into fights and scuffles, he said. Copen refused to assault a confidential informant in a hotel room in New Jersey in January 2009, even knowing he might face a beating himself, he said.
"Dan never threw a punch, never hit anybody. Dan would be the one breaking up the fight and getting the Pagans out of the bar," he said.
Loew said Copen was perhaps the most extreme example of a trend typical in many Pagans defendants: good work history and little or no criminal background, with their trouble with the law stemming from their involvement with the motorcycle club.
Loew also asked the judge to give Copen a reduced sentence because of his cooperation with the government.
"Frankly, he'll be looking over his shoulder for a long time because of his cooperation," he said.
"I am amazed, given your background, how you got involved in all of this," Johnston said. "It just boggles the mind how you ended up with the Pagans."
Johnston sentenced Copen to three years of probation and fined him $2,000.
Reach Andrew Clevenger at acleven...@wvgazette.com or 304-348-1723.
Can ATK Cruisers Help Harley-Davidson?
OFF THE WIRE
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/321/8282/Motorcycle-Article/Can-ATK-Cruisers-Help-Harley-Davidson-.aspx Can ATK Cruisers Help Harley-Davidson? Bryan HarleyCruiser Editor |Articles |Articles RSS |Blog |Blog RSS Yes, Harley is my real name. And no, there’s no relationship. But I do enjoy riding Harley-Davidsons, which comes in handy as the Cruiser & Custom Editor of Motorcycle USA.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
ATK Motorcycles recently entered into an arrangement with S&T Motors and wants to offer its line of cruiser and street motorcycles, like the ATK 700 Cruiser, in Harley-Davidson dealerships to help them fill the entry-level niche and to bring people into their shops. It’s no secret that Harley-Davidson has been struggling. Sales are sagging, down 13.4% through three quarters this year alone while 2009 was even worse with a 21.4% decline. The Motor Company had to rely on a $300 million lifeline at a 15% interest rate from Warren Buffet last year to help stay afloat. Workers’ wages have been frozen, jobs have been cut, and threats of factory closings have taken a toll on its popularity, as has the closing of its subsidiary, Buell Motorcycles. Its demographic is getting older, with a buyer’s average age at 49 years old according to a report by The New York Times (Harley, You’re Not Getting any Younger). The need to attract a younger demographic is immediate. Could a lifeline for The Motor Company be an entry-level motorcycle made in Korea and sold under the badge of American manufacturer ATK?
ATK Motorcycles out of Centerville, Utah, a co-member of the United States Motorcycle Manufacturers Association along with Harley-Davidson, recently signed a multi-year contract with S&T Motors of Korea to bring 33,000 units to the American market with displacements ranging from 250cc to 680cc over the next four years. This is a big departure from the norm for ATK, which forged its reputation in the off-road realm. But according to ATK’s President and CEO Frank White, dirt bike sales are off over 80%, so it too is seeking new avenues to generate revenue. Now it is prepared to enter the street market with a lineup consisting of four small displacement carry-over Hyosung motorcycles in addition to a 700cc V-Twin cruiser it recently unveiled on the Bonneville Salt during the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials. ATK’s new partner, S&T Motors, is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Korea who has been producing Hyosung motorcycles since acquiring the brand in 2007. The catch is, ATK wants to sell its bikes in select Harley-Davidson dealerships.
“We want to be the second American brand in a Harley shop. We don’t want to compete with anything Harley does, we just want to go for new and younger customers. There’s a real need there,” White said in a recent interview.
ATK brought its lineup of cruiser and street motorcycles to the Salt for the 2010 BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials. Through friends like the former head of the Harley Dealer Association and ATK partner, Malcolm Zanca, and via relationships established with some of the heavyweight Harley-Davidson dealers, ATK is looking to distribute its motorcycles in about 20% of Harley-Davidson dealerships. ATK realizes this business model will not work for all Harley dealers but wants to focus its efforts on the “best of the best.” Currently H-D has approximately 795 U.S. dealerships.
“We don’t want to be in every one. It wouldn’t work for them and it wouldn’t work for us,” White stated.
ATK insists it is not looking to compete directly with Harley-Davidson but is trying to provide “a staircase of entry level motorcycles to cultivate future Harley riders” and to do what’s best for the dealer and consumer. As of August 2010, ATK has shipped its brand of street motorcycles to seven Harley dealerships as demo models across the USA with many more claimed to be ready to take products once it receives EPA and CARB approval. ATK says it has been transparent with The Motor Company in respect to their interactions with its dealers, but Harley-Davidson in no way endorses the plan.
“We know they can’t endorse us. One, their legal department would be all over it if we did anything different and the second thing is, if they endorsed us, they’d have other issues to deal with,” White said.
But Harley-Davidson can’t prevent its dealers from selling more than one line of motorcycles.
Respected motojournalist Alan Cathcart talks shop with S&T's Jimmy Park and ATK CEO Frank White at Bonneville. Later on, Park would test out the Salt himself before gearing up for a 100-plus mph run on the ATK 700 Cruiser. “Harley dealers can sell any brand they want. I was told by one of Harley’s former VPs that’s involved with us that Harley can’t limit the dealerships to just Harleys, because that would be against some free trade laws, but I’m no lawyer,” White continued.
ATK’s CEO points out what Toyota did with the Scion brand as an analogy to what he’s trying to accomplish. Scion is a marque of Toyota that spawned from a project to attract younger buyers to Toyota in the U.S. market. The intended target of ATK is the “echo boomers,” or children of the baby boomers looking to get a start in motorcycling.
In regards to that market, White said it was announced at the recent Harley-Davidson dealer meeting in Las Vegas that The Motor Company is going to come out with an entry-level bike in three years and since then reported rumors place that price tag at $60 million dollars. Motorcycle USA wonders though, in three years, how many H-D dealers potentially will be belly-up?
The ATK motorcycles for sale in 2011 are rebadged Hyosungs, but in 2012, updates will be made and they will begin to be assembled in Utah. S&T will still be supplying components but American-made parts will be incorporated into the motorcycles. ATK intends to keep making the brand better, starting with basics like revised instrument clusters, exhausts, brakes, and wheels as every year ATK wants the motorcycles to become more of their own. After the street bikes start selling, ATK intends to branch off into other products like an electric bike. In the future, ATK would like to combine resources with an electric vehicle(EV) manufacturer to design, engineer and manufacture an EV motorcycle.
ATK Motorcycles recently headed to the Salt Flats of Bonneville in its home state of Utah to unveil its 700cc V-Twin Cruiser at the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials. S&T’s Chief Operating ATK has been in the business of making off-road motorcycles since 1984. Frank White, above, is much more than a CEO. He is also an accomplished rider, winning races like the National AMA ISDE 6-Day Open Expert Class aboard a 500 ATK Enduro. Officer, Jimmy Park, got an opportunity to ride the liquid-cooled ATK 700 Cruiser on the Salt, surpassing 100 mph on both passes. Other models ATK will be marketing in 2011 include a Honda Rebel-like 250 V-Twin Cruiser with an air/oil cooled 75-degree V-Twin with DOHC and a constant mesh five-speed transmission. The 2011 250 V-Twin Street will be powered by the same V-Twin engine but is a more sport-oriented standard. ATK will also be selling a 2011 650 V-Twin Cruiser, which is styled similar to an old V-Rod and will source a liquid-cooled, 90-degree V-Twin with DOHC. The same powerplant will also be used in the 2011 650 V-Twin Sport equipped with sportbike fairings, a constant mesh six-speed transmission and a claimed wet weight of 474 pounds. ATK’s 2011 250s will cost $3,995 while the 650s are listed at $6,995.
Despite ATK’s stated intentions to attract new and younger riders into H-D dealerships, White made it clear that “Neither the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, or its affiliates, either endorse or support ATK in any way.”
Harley-Davidson’s Product Communications/ Project ATK's 2011 650 V-Twin Sport, foreground, sources a 90-degree V-Twin with DOHC mated to a constant mesh six-speed transmission. Manager, Jen Gruber, had this to say about the proposal.
“As for ATK, we do not comment on our competitors' motorcycles or their marketing plans. But I will say we continue to believe that the best Harley-Davidson customer experience is provided by focused, single-line Harley-Davidson dealers. You should also know that according to U.S. R.L. Polk registrations, Harley-Davidson took over as the top-selling brand in the U.S. in sales of new street motorcycles (all cc engines) to young adults 18-34 in 2008. And in 2009, we extended that lead over the next nearest competitor.”
http://www.motorcycle-usa.com/321/8282/Motorcycle-Article/Can-ATK-Cruisers-Help-Harley-Davidson-.aspx Can ATK Cruisers Help Harley-Davidson? Bryan HarleyCruiser Editor |Articles |Articles RSS |Blog |Blog RSS Yes, Harley is my real name. And no, there’s no relationship. But I do enjoy riding Harley-Davidsons, which comes in handy as the Cruiser & Custom Editor of Motorcycle USA.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
ATK Motorcycles recently entered into an arrangement with S&T Motors and wants to offer its line of cruiser and street motorcycles, like the ATK 700 Cruiser, in Harley-Davidson dealerships to help them fill the entry-level niche and to bring people into their shops. It’s no secret that Harley-Davidson has been struggling. Sales are sagging, down 13.4% through three quarters this year alone while 2009 was even worse with a 21.4% decline. The Motor Company had to rely on a $300 million lifeline at a 15% interest rate from Warren Buffet last year to help stay afloat. Workers’ wages have been frozen, jobs have been cut, and threats of factory closings have taken a toll on its popularity, as has the closing of its subsidiary, Buell Motorcycles. Its demographic is getting older, with a buyer’s average age at 49 years old according to a report by The New York Times (Harley, You’re Not Getting any Younger). The need to attract a younger demographic is immediate. Could a lifeline for The Motor Company be an entry-level motorcycle made in Korea and sold under the badge of American manufacturer ATK?
ATK Motorcycles out of Centerville, Utah, a co-member of the United States Motorcycle Manufacturers Association along with Harley-Davidson, recently signed a multi-year contract with S&T Motors of Korea to bring 33,000 units to the American market with displacements ranging from 250cc to 680cc over the next four years. This is a big departure from the norm for ATK, which forged its reputation in the off-road realm. But according to ATK’s President and CEO Frank White, dirt bike sales are off over 80%, so it too is seeking new avenues to generate revenue. Now it is prepared to enter the street market with a lineup consisting of four small displacement carry-over Hyosung motorcycles in addition to a 700cc V-Twin cruiser it recently unveiled on the Bonneville Salt during the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials. ATK’s new partner, S&T Motors, is the largest motorcycle manufacturer in Korea who has been producing Hyosung motorcycles since acquiring the brand in 2007. The catch is, ATK wants to sell its bikes in select Harley-Davidson dealerships.
“We want to be the second American brand in a Harley shop. We don’t want to compete with anything Harley does, we just want to go for new and younger customers. There’s a real need there,” White said in a recent interview.
ATK brought its lineup of cruiser and street motorcycles to the Salt for the 2010 BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials. Through friends like the former head of the Harley Dealer Association and ATK partner, Malcolm Zanca, and via relationships established with some of the heavyweight Harley-Davidson dealers, ATK is looking to distribute its motorcycles in about 20% of Harley-Davidson dealerships. ATK realizes this business model will not work for all Harley dealers but wants to focus its efforts on the “best of the best.” Currently H-D has approximately 795 U.S. dealerships.
“We don’t want to be in every one. It wouldn’t work for them and it wouldn’t work for us,” White stated.
ATK insists it is not looking to compete directly with Harley-Davidson but is trying to provide “a staircase of entry level motorcycles to cultivate future Harley riders” and to do what’s best for the dealer and consumer. As of August 2010, ATK has shipped its brand of street motorcycles to seven Harley dealerships as demo models across the USA with many more claimed to be ready to take products once it receives EPA and CARB approval. ATK says it has been transparent with The Motor Company in respect to their interactions with its dealers, but Harley-Davidson in no way endorses the plan.
“We know they can’t endorse us. One, their legal department would be all over it if we did anything different and the second thing is, if they endorsed us, they’d have other issues to deal with,” White said.
But Harley-Davidson can’t prevent its dealers from selling more than one line of motorcycles.
Respected motojournalist Alan Cathcart talks shop with S&T's Jimmy Park and ATK CEO Frank White at Bonneville. Later on, Park would test out the Salt himself before gearing up for a 100-plus mph run on the ATK 700 Cruiser. “Harley dealers can sell any brand they want. I was told by one of Harley’s former VPs that’s involved with us that Harley can’t limit the dealerships to just Harleys, because that would be against some free trade laws, but I’m no lawyer,” White continued.
ATK’s CEO points out what Toyota did with the Scion brand as an analogy to what he’s trying to accomplish. Scion is a marque of Toyota that spawned from a project to attract younger buyers to Toyota in the U.S. market. The intended target of ATK is the “echo boomers,” or children of the baby boomers looking to get a start in motorcycling.
In regards to that market, White said it was announced at the recent Harley-Davidson dealer meeting in Las Vegas that The Motor Company is going to come out with an entry-level bike in three years and since then reported rumors place that price tag at $60 million dollars. Motorcycle USA wonders though, in three years, how many H-D dealers potentially will be belly-up?
The ATK motorcycles for sale in 2011 are rebadged Hyosungs, but in 2012, updates will be made and they will begin to be assembled in Utah. S&T will still be supplying components but American-made parts will be incorporated into the motorcycles. ATK intends to keep making the brand better, starting with basics like revised instrument clusters, exhausts, brakes, and wheels as every year ATK wants the motorcycles to become more of their own. After the street bikes start selling, ATK intends to branch off into other products like an electric bike. In the future, ATK would like to combine resources with an electric vehicle(EV) manufacturer to design, engineer and manufacture an EV motorcycle.
ATK Motorcycles recently headed to the Salt Flats of Bonneville in its home state of Utah to unveil its 700cc V-Twin Cruiser at the BUB Motorcycle Speed Trials. S&T’s Chief Operating ATK has been in the business of making off-road motorcycles since 1984. Frank White, above, is much more than a CEO. He is also an accomplished rider, winning races like the National AMA ISDE 6-Day Open Expert Class aboard a 500 ATK Enduro. Officer, Jimmy Park, got an opportunity to ride the liquid-cooled ATK 700 Cruiser on the Salt, surpassing 100 mph on both passes. Other models ATK will be marketing in 2011 include a Honda Rebel-like 250 V-Twin Cruiser with an air/oil cooled 75-degree V-Twin with DOHC and a constant mesh five-speed transmission. The 2011 250 V-Twin Street will be powered by the same V-Twin engine but is a more sport-oriented standard. ATK will also be selling a 2011 650 V-Twin Cruiser, which is styled similar to an old V-Rod and will source a liquid-cooled, 90-degree V-Twin with DOHC. The same powerplant will also be used in the 2011 650 V-Twin Sport equipped with sportbike fairings, a constant mesh six-speed transmission and a claimed wet weight of 474 pounds. ATK’s 2011 250s will cost $3,995 while the 650s are listed at $6,995.
Despite ATK’s stated intentions to attract new and younger riders into H-D dealerships, White made it clear that “Neither the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, or its affiliates, either endorse or support ATK in any way.”
Harley-Davidson’s Product Communications/ Project ATK's 2011 650 V-Twin Sport, foreground, sources a 90-degree V-Twin with DOHC mated to a constant mesh six-speed transmission. Manager, Jen Gruber, had this to say about the proposal.
“As for ATK, we do not comment on our competitors' motorcycles or their marketing plans. But I will say we continue to believe that the best Harley-Davidson customer experience is provided by focused, single-line Harley-Davidson dealers. You should also know that according to U.S. R.L. Polk registrations, Harley-Davidson took over as the top-selling brand in the U.S. in sales of new street motorcycles (all cc engines) to young adults 18-34 in 2008. And in 2009, we extended that lead over the next nearest competitor.”
It’s A Club! Not A Gang!
OFF THE WIRE, F.Y.I.
If you are a biker, especially if you are a patch holder, you only have to read the next paragraph.
When your club gets hit with a RICO charge the first thing you should do is call an attorney is West Virginia named Deirdre H. Purdy. Her phone number is 304-655-7232. You may also find yourself in need of an expert witness to rebut the ridiculous things the ATF and the DOJ is saying about you. Your expert’s name is William L. Dulaney. And his phone number is 828-227-2329. You already know almost everything else in this article, whether you have ever actually bothered to say it out loud or not. Have a beer.
If you are a loyal reader who happens to be an FBI or an ATF Agent or a prosecuting attorney keep reading. No beer for you. Consider this is your final warning. Defense attorneys, do your damn job.
Everybody else. Your call.
The Pagans Case
Last fall, 55 members and associates of the Pagans Motorcycle Club were hit with a 44 count indictment that called the club a “racket.” A fistful of defendants, including former Pagans National Vice President Floyd B. “Jesse” Moore have already been bullied into “confessing” that the Pagans is a racket.
Specifically, the indictment (and a superseding indictment filed three weeks ago) describe the motorcycle club as “a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in kidnapping, robbery, extortion and conspiracy to commit murder.” The indictments also state that “the purposes of the enterprise included…enriching the members and associates of the enterprise through, among other things, extortion, robbery and the operation of an illegal gambling business.”
A similar indictment with similar results was filed against the Mongols Motorcycle Club 17 months ago.
Earlier this month Purdy, who is one of the defense attorneys in the Pagans case, wrote a motion that attacked extensive passages in the indictment itself as “both irrelevant to the (actual) charges and prejudicial to the defendant(s).” Purdy characterized portions of the indictment as “surplusage” which is a legal way to pronounce bullshit.
Loew Strikes Back
Two weeks ago, on February 10th, Assistant United States Attorney Steven I. Loew, the author of the indictment, defended his choice of words.
Loew justified his colorful descriptions of the Pagans by arguing that, “The defendants are indicted for crimes they committed that were related to their membership in, and their association with, the Pagan Motorcycle Club, its support clubs and associates. The indictment charges that the defendants are a part of a criminal enterprise, and that those members, as individuals, committed crimes.”
Loew then went on to tell the judge in the case, Thomas Johnston, that “since all the defendants were members of the Pagans or one of its support clubs, it is obvious that describing the criminal enterprise is material and relevant to the charged offenses.”
Among the accusations in the indictment that Loew thinks are perfectly reasonable to throw around are:
Pagans Are Criminals
“The Pagans Motorcycle Club (PMC) was a national criminal organization located primarily in the eastern half of the United States.”
“The Pagans was territorial and protected its territory from rival motorcycle gangs through the use of violence and intimidation. Two of the Pagans’ main rival motorcycle gangs were the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. When members of rival motorcycles gangs, members of motorcycle clubs who associated with the rival motorcycle gangs, or people who wore clothing such as shirts or jackets with the names or logos of rival motorcycle gangs ventured into what the PMC considered to be its territory, PMC members and associates intimidated, threatened, attacked, beat, robbed, and sometimes killed them.”
“Once a week, usually on Saturday or Sunday evenings, these local chapters held weekly meetings referred to as ‘church.’ A full member of the Pagans MC could be identified by his ‘colors’ or ‘cut,’ which was a sleeveless denim jacket bearing several patches affixed at specific places. These patches included, but were not limited to, a patch containing the word ‘Pagans’ and a ‘1%’ patch. Members of the Mother Club wore a ‘13′ patch on their cut, signifying the traditional number of members in the Mother Club, and a 1% patch on the bottom back of their cut. Chapter presidents wore the 1% patch at the top back of their cut. The 1% patch signified the Pagans’ ‘outlaw’ status. ‘Outlaw’ motorcycle clubs took pride in themselves as the 1% of motorcycle riders who were not law abiding. Pagans members also owned various items of personal property bearing the word ‘Pagan’ or ‘Pagans’ and various logos, insignia, emblems, and slogans signifying their membership and status in the Pagans.”
Everybody Knows Pagans Are Criminals
“The Pagans made money from its support clubs,” the indictment continues, “and the Pagans Motorcycle Club increased its power and influence by having more support club members. Accordingly, the Pagans and its existing support clubs unlawfully threatened and intimidated people who wanted to start a motorcycle club in Pagans territory and attempted to get the people to support the PMC and to not support any of the Pagans’ rivals. Pagans and support club members would confront and intimidate law abiding citizens and force them to get ‘permission’ from the Pagans before starting even a lawful motorcycle club, and made them get ‘approval’ from the Pagans for the club’s name, logo, and the type of patches the lawful club could wear.”
Loew also thinks it is perfectly reasonable to state in an indictment that “The purposes of the enterprise included the following: a) Enriching the members and associates of the enterprise through, among other things, extortion, robbery, and operation of an illegal gambling business. b) Preserving and protecting the power and territory of the enterprise through the use of intimidation, violence, threats of violence, assaults, and other violent crimes. c) Keeping victims and rivals in fear of the enterprise
and in fear of the enterprise’s members and associates through threats of violence and through violence.”
Or Maybe Not
Purdy filed her reply a week later and she summarized the government’s argument as: “1) the Club is a criminal organization, 2) all defendants are members or quasi-members of the Club, and 3) therefore, all defendants are criminals. According to the Government, because the club is a ‘criminal enterprise’ and its members are all criminals, any and all descriptions of the club and its members, however prejudicial, are relevant and material to charges in the indictment. The street term for this argument is ‘guilt by association.’”
“Both the original and superseding indictments contain many highly prejudicial and irrelevant characterizations and descriptions of the Club and its members, their dress, customs, philosophy and beliefs, and curious symbols and insignia” which Purdy characterized as “scurrilous” and “unnecessary.”
Then she argues an obvious point that seems to have alluded each and every one of the attorneys in the Mongols case.
“RICO violations may be proved against individuals who do criminal acts within any legal organization or any association-in-fact. For example, pedophile Catholic priests performed criminal acts while associated with the Catholic church. Further, those pedophile priests were sheltered and protected from the law by church officials, who knew of the criminal acts but obstructed justice by hiding and not reporting them, while seeking to keep the church itself from stigma and reprehension. The acts of the church officials were done to maintain, enhance or protect the officials’ status within the Catholic church. Such activities, if proven, are RICO crimes, but a RICO conviction for those individuals would not make the Catholic church itself a criminal organization, much less an international criminal organization.”
Astoundingly Obvious Except To Police
Purdy raises another point that never seems to be said out loud in biker cases. “The Club is first and foremost a motorcycle club. Its members join to associate with others who love to ride motorcycles, particularly large Harley-Davidson motorcycles. They enjoy riding in groups, partying together, and admiring one and others’ motorcycles, motorcycle after-market paraphernalia, and motorcycle paint jobs. They often dress in leather pants and jackets which, despite the now-ancient association with biker movies and Marlon Brando, are actually extremely safe riding gear because leather provides excellent protection from road burn in an accident. Members attend motorcycle expos or conventions where dealers set up booths to sell bikes, clothes, seats, saddlebags, after-market parts, books and offer the myriad kinds of merchandise associated with motorcycle ownership, riding, and club membership. These are the purposes for which members join this club. It is not criminal to be a Pagan Motorcycle Club member.”
“No count of this indictment alleges any criminal activity by the Club itself because the club itself is not a defendant. For example, it is not alleged that the Club was involved in illegal drug sales or distribution. Instead, some club members used illegal drugs, which were not supplied by club members but by outsiders, including a government informant. Similarly, some club members were prohibited from owning guns, but owned them. All the violence and threats of violence in the indictment are charged against some club members. Knowing association with criminals for noncriminal purposes is not criminal.”
What Racketeering
Purdy also challenges the whole motorcycle club as racket theory.
“The indictment charges the Club is nothing but a criminal enterprise and that its first criminal purpose is to ‘enrich the members and associates,’ she observes. But, “There is only one crime-for-money charged in this many-count indictment. It is charged that local clubs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Florida held motorcycle raffles and that sixteen defendants rode across various state lines to West Virginia with the raffle proceeds. According to the indictment, the raffle money was ‘proceeds of unlawful activity’ because the raffles were, for example, not registered with the appropriate secretaries of state. Even assuming, arguendo, that the raffle money actually was unlawful proceeds, all of that money was allegedly delivered only to two defendants: Defendants David Keith Barbeito and Floyd Moore. Assuming that the remaining 54 defendants purchased tickets, these defendants were not enriched, but impoverished by these transactions.”
The defense attorney contests the allegation that, “The second and third purported criminal purposes are preserving the power and territory of the enterprise while keeping victims and rivals in fear through threats of violence and through violence. The indictment sets these out as distinct criminal purposes, but actually they are simply two variant statements of the same idea, the Club’s purpose to preserve power and territory. Preserving power and territory are not criminal purposes per se. Almost every human organization shares these goals in some degree.”
Purdy also objects to the description of club members as “gang members” and calls that a violation of “each defendant’s First Amendment right to association for non-criminal purposes and each defendant’s Fifth Amendment due process right to the presumption of innocence.”
And finally she compares the virtually boiler plate language government attorneys have used to describe motorcycle clubs as, “…a good description of the Catholic church, the Boy Scouts, Home Depot and Federal Express….”
Wait It Gets Better
Finally, at long last, a defense attorney in a biker case actually says out loud.
“The surplusage portions of the indictment read like the promo for a new television series: Biker Gangs, Outlaw Rivals,” Purdy writes. “Defendants’ Fifth Amendment presumption of innocence is offended by the government’s press release approach to this case. The Government should try this case in the courtroom, not by calling names in the court of public opinion.”
Finally, Purdy challenges a greater giant than even she probably realizes. If the government insists on calling the Pagans a racket, she warns, the government better be able to prove it.
“The charges that the Club is a national criminal organization, a criminal enterprise, and a gang of outlaws are unnecessary, irrelevant, untrue, unsupported by the remainder of the indictment, and highly prejudicial,” Purdy writes. “If the Court does not strike this language as surplusage, Defendants move the Court to hold a hearing under Federal Rule of Evidence 104, concerning preliminary matters, and require the Government to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the club is a national criminal organization and that all of its members are ipso facto criminals.”
And, then to back that up, Purdy tells the court she is ready to call an expert witness.
The Expert
The expert is Dulaney. In most of these cases the “expert” is either an ATF Agent who has made a career of harassing bikers, someone like John Ciccone, Darrin Koslowski or Jay Dobyns, or an out and out fruit cake like Chuck Schoville from International Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association. Dulaney is a professor at Western Carolina University.
His doctoral dissertation was titled, Over the Edge and into the Abyss: The Communication of Organizational Identity in an Outlaw Motorcycle Club. And the chances are good that you have seen him on television.
Dulaney has been interviewed on camera for three biker exposes on The National Geographic Channel: Inside the Outlaws, Bandido Nation and Women in the Outlaw Biker World. A fourth program for the same network called The Biker’s Rub is in production. Dulaney also appeared on the Gangland episode The Outlaws and in a Biography Channel episode titled The Hells Angels. Dulaney is also the author of a reasonably informed history of motorcycle clubs that appeared in the International Journal of Motorcycles Studies.
He introduces himself to the court by explaining, “My research agenda includes comparing government, law enforcement, and media claims about motorcycle clubs with socially valid evidence. The result of this inquiry overwhelmingly shows that media and law enforcement paint an inaccurate picture of motorcycle clubs, one that is stuck in the past and does not represent the contemporary reality of motorcycling organizations.”
What Dulaney Will Testify
Dulaney has already summarized, “testimony that I would be prepared to offer and further support at a trial or hearing on this matter, if the Court qualifies me as an expert.”
Among the highlights of what he is prepared to testify are:
“The Pagans Motorcycle Club (PMC) is not a criminal organization or a national criminal organization. Instead, the PMC is best described as a series of motorcycle organizations predominately scattered across the Eastern United States whose members are overwhelmingly not criminals. The PMC is a relatively small motorcycle club with chapters coming into and out of existence over time in locations limited to Florida, West Virginia, Eastern Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware, New York, and Kentucky.”
“Beginning in the 1970s, throughout the 1980s, and ending in the mid-1990s, some individuals who rose to prominence and leadership positions in motorcycle clubs were involved in organized crime; however, federal prosecutions at the time largely eliminated such activities.”
Motorcycles, Raffles And Territory
“Many PMC members’ lives revolve almost entirely around the sport of motorcycling…. Members also experience great satisfaction working on their motorcycles to enhance the appearance and performance of their machines, which in turn enhances the status a member enjoys in motorcycle culture in general. Criminal activity does not enhance one’s status in the organization. This is a myth associated with ‘biker gang’ stories.”
“Raffling off motorcycles is a common fund-raising activity within the PMC and other motorcycle clubs. It is not understood by members as a ‘scheme,’ in the sense of being an illegal activity. (I do not personally know whether each raffle charged herein was managed according to the particular laws of each state where it was held.) My point is that presumptively legal raffles are commonplace in motorcycle culture generally. Funds raised from these events are almost always used for charity causes, ranging from internationally-recognized organizations, such as United Way, to local motorcyclists’ or club members’ family with serious illnesses. Motorcycle raffles and other fund raising events, such as annual Christmas Toy Runs and Blood Runs for the Red Cross are one of the reasons members join motorcycle clubs like the PMC.”
“Motorcycle clubs do establish themselves in certain areas or territories, but the extent of ‘territories’ serves mainly to limit or negate interaction with other motorcycle clubs. Most of this territoriality expresses itself symbolically, through the wearing of patches or other symbols associated one club rather than another. The PMC’s colors appear more like a mechanic’s uniform than “outlaw” club colors, and the PMC does not include a territory patch (e.g., bottom rocker) in their club colors. Such territoriality is also associated with volunteer fire departments, 4-H clubs and Moose, Elk and Rotary Clubs, Masonic Lodges, and other civic organizations.”
Keeping Peace
“There is a hierarchy that defines general motorcycle club culture. It is taught to and known by all as “motorcycle club etiquette.” Motorcycle club etiquette is simply one form of rules that all unique cultures or sub-cultures create in order to preserve peaceful coexistence. The one-percent clubs represent the pinnacle of the culture and so are responsible for keeping order in their territories. Established clubs may warn newcomers about the symbolic meaning of certain colors or patches to protect them from making errors from ignorance.”
“The Indictment states that the ‘PMC had clearly established ties to other motorcycle clubs . . . used to facilitate illegal activity.’ In fact, the opposite is true, in that the most dominant club in an area has a duty of keeping the peace among clubs in the area. Motorcycle club etiquette, mentioned above, can be described as a form of speech code that members of a culture or sub-culture must understand in order to belong to that culture. This is true of many well-known organizations, some considered ‘secret societies,’ such as Masonic Lodges and university fraternities and sororities. The PMC must enforce the rules of the culture – rules they did not create – in order for all other motorcycle clubs subordinate to them to operate without disturbance or disagreements within a given territory.”
“My purpose (in testifying)” Dulaney concludes, would be “to provide an accurate portrayal of the Pagan Motorcycle Club and to point out that images from popular culture appear to have colored the creation of the descriptions of the PMC in the indictment.”
If you are a biker, especially if you are a patch holder, you only have to read the next paragraph.
When your club gets hit with a RICO charge the first thing you should do is call an attorney is West Virginia named Deirdre H. Purdy. Her phone number is 304-655-7232. You may also find yourself in need of an expert witness to rebut the ridiculous things the ATF and the DOJ is saying about you. Your expert’s name is William L. Dulaney. And his phone number is 828-227-2329. You already know almost everything else in this article, whether you have ever actually bothered to say it out loud or not. Have a beer.
If you are a loyal reader who happens to be an FBI or an ATF Agent or a prosecuting attorney keep reading. No beer for you. Consider this is your final warning. Defense attorneys, do your damn job.
Everybody else. Your call.
The Pagans Case
Last fall, 55 members and associates of the Pagans Motorcycle Club were hit with a 44 count indictment that called the club a “racket.” A fistful of defendants, including former Pagans National Vice President Floyd B. “Jesse” Moore have already been bullied into “confessing” that the Pagans is a racket.
Specifically, the indictment (and a superseding indictment filed three weeks ago) describe the motorcycle club as “a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in kidnapping, robbery, extortion and conspiracy to commit murder.” The indictments also state that “the purposes of the enterprise included…enriching the members and associates of the enterprise through, among other things, extortion, robbery and the operation of an illegal gambling business.”
A similar indictment with similar results was filed against the Mongols Motorcycle Club 17 months ago.
Earlier this month Purdy, who is one of the defense attorneys in the Pagans case, wrote a motion that attacked extensive passages in the indictment itself as “both irrelevant to the (actual) charges and prejudicial to the defendant(s).” Purdy characterized portions of the indictment as “surplusage” which is a legal way to pronounce bullshit.
Loew Strikes Back
Two weeks ago, on February 10th, Assistant United States Attorney Steven I. Loew, the author of the indictment, defended his choice of words.
Loew justified his colorful descriptions of the Pagans by arguing that, “The defendants are indicted for crimes they committed that were related to their membership in, and their association with, the Pagan Motorcycle Club, its support clubs and associates. The indictment charges that the defendants are a part of a criminal enterprise, and that those members, as individuals, committed crimes.”
Loew then went on to tell the judge in the case, Thomas Johnston, that “since all the defendants were members of the Pagans or one of its support clubs, it is obvious that describing the criminal enterprise is material and relevant to the charged offenses.”
Among the accusations in the indictment that Loew thinks are perfectly reasonable to throw around are:
Pagans Are Criminals
“The Pagans Motorcycle Club (PMC) was a national criminal organization located primarily in the eastern half of the United States.”
“The Pagans was territorial and protected its territory from rival motorcycle gangs through the use of violence and intimidation. Two of the Pagans’ main rival motorcycle gangs were the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club and the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. When members of rival motorcycles gangs, members of motorcycle clubs who associated with the rival motorcycle gangs, or people who wore clothing such as shirts or jackets with the names or logos of rival motorcycle gangs ventured into what the PMC considered to be its territory, PMC members and associates intimidated, threatened, attacked, beat, robbed, and sometimes killed them.”
“Once a week, usually on Saturday or Sunday evenings, these local chapters held weekly meetings referred to as ‘church.’ A full member of the Pagans MC could be identified by his ‘colors’ or ‘cut,’ which was a sleeveless denim jacket bearing several patches affixed at specific places. These patches included, but were not limited to, a patch containing the word ‘Pagans’ and a ‘1%’ patch. Members of the Mother Club wore a ‘13′ patch on their cut, signifying the traditional number of members in the Mother Club, and a 1% patch on the bottom back of their cut. Chapter presidents wore the 1% patch at the top back of their cut. The 1% patch signified the Pagans’ ‘outlaw’ status. ‘Outlaw’ motorcycle clubs took pride in themselves as the 1% of motorcycle riders who were not law abiding. Pagans members also owned various items of personal property bearing the word ‘Pagan’ or ‘Pagans’ and various logos, insignia, emblems, and slogans signifying their membership and status in the Pagans.”
Everybody Knows Pagans Are Criminals
“The Pagans made money from its support clubs,” the indictment continues, “and the Pagans Motorcycle Club increased its power and influence by having more support club members. Accordingly, the Pagans and its existing support clubs unlawfully threatened and intimidated people who wanted to start a motorcycle club in Pagans territory and attempted to get the people to support the PMC and to not support any of the Pagans’ rivals. Pagans and support club members would confront and intimidate law abiding citizens and force them to get ‘permission’ from the Pagans before starting even a lawful motorcycle club, and made them get ‘approval’ from the Pagans for the club’s name, logo, and the type of patches the lawful club could wear.”
Loew also thinks it is perfectly reasonable to state in an indictment that “The purposes of the enterprise included the following: a) Enriching the members and associates of the enterprise through, among other things, extortion, robbery, and operation of an illegal gambling business. b) Preserving and protecting the power and territory of the enterprise through the use of intimidation, violence, threats of violence, assaults, and other violent crimes. c) Keeping victims and rivals in fear of the enterprise
and in fear of the enterprise’s members and associates through threats of violence and through violence.”
Or Maybe Not
Purdy filed her reply a week later and she summarized the government’s argument as: “1) the Club is a criminal organization, 2) all defendants are members or quasi-members of the Club, and 3) therefore, all defendants are criminals. According to the Government, because the club is a ‘criminal enterprise’ and its members are all criminals, any and all descriptions of the club and its members, however prejudicial, are relevant and material to charges in the indictment. The street term for this argument is ‘guilt by association.’”
“Both the original and superseding indictments contain many highly prejudicial and irrelevant characterizations and descriptions of the Club and its members, their dress, customs, philosophy and beliefs, and curious symbols and insignia” which Purdy characterized as “scurrilous” and “unnecessary.”
Then she argues an obvious point that seems to have alluded each and every one of the attorneys in the Mongols case.
“RICO violations may be proved against individuals who do criminal acts within any legal organization or any association-in-fact. For example, pedophile Catholic priests performed criminal acts while associated with the Catholic church. Further, those pedophile priests were sheltered and protected from the law by church officials, who knew of the criminal acts but obstructed justice by hiding and not reporting them, while seeking to keep the church itself from stigma and reprehension. The acts of the church officials were done to maintain, enhance or protect the officials’ status within the Catholic church. Such activities, if proven, are RICO crimes, but a RICO conviction for those individuals would not make the Catholic church itself a criminal organization, much less an international criminal organization.”
Astoundingly Obvious Except To Police
Purdy raises another point that never seems to be said out loud in biker cases. “The Club is first and foremost a motorcycle club. Its members join to associate with others who love to ride motorcycles, particularly large Harley-Davidson motorcycles. They enjoy riding in groups, partying together, and admiring one and others’ motorcycles, motorcycle after-market paraphernalia, and motorcycle paint jobs. They often dress in leather pants and jackets which, despite the now-ancient association with biker movies and Marlon Brando, are actually extremely safe riding gear because leather provides excellent protection from road burn in an accident. Members attend motorcycle expos or conventions where dealers set up booths to sell bikes, clothes, seats, saddlebags, after-market parts, books and offer the myriad kinds of merchandise associated with motorcycle ownership, riding, and club membership. These are the purposes for which members join this club. It is not criminal to be a Pagan Motorcycle Club member.”
“No count of this indictment alleges any criminal activity by the Club itself because the club itself is not a defendant. For example, it is not alleged that the Club was involved in illegal drug sales or distribution. Instead, some club members used illegal drugs, which were not supplied by club members but by outsiders, including a government informant. Similarly, some club members were prohibited from owning guns, but owned them. All the violence and threats of violence in the indictment are charged against some club members. Knowing association with criminals for noncriminal purposes is not criminal.”
What Racketeering
Purdy also challenges the whole motorcycle club as racket theory.
“The indictment charges the Club is nothing but a criminal enterprise and that its first criminal purpose is to ‘enrich the members and associates,’ she observes. But, “There is only one crime-for-money charged in this many-count indictment. It is charged that local clubs in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Florida held motorcycle raffles and that sixteen defendants rode across various state lines to West Virginia with the raffle proceeds. According to the indictment, the raffle money was ‘proceeds of unlawful activity’ because the raffles were, for example, not registered with the appropriate secretaries of state. Even assuming, arguendo, that the raffle money actually was unlawful proceeds, all of that money was allegedly delivered only to two defendants: Defendants David Keith Barbeito and Floyd Moore. Assuming that the remaining 54 defendants purchased tickets, these defendants were not enriched, but impoverished by these transactions.”
The defense attorney contests the allegation that, “The second and third purported criminal purposes are preserving the power and territory of the enterprise while keeping victims and rivals in fear through threats of violence and through violence. The indictment sets these out as distinct criminal purposes, but actually they are simply two variant statements of the same idea, the Club’s purpose to preserve power and territory. Preserving power and territory are not criminal purposes per se. Almost every human organization shares these goals in some degree.”
Purdy also objects to the description of club members as “gang members” and calls that a violation of “each defendant’s First Amendment right to association for non-criminal purposes and each defendant’s Fifth Amendment due process right to the presumption of innocence.”
And finally she compares the virtually boiler plate language government attorneys have used to describe motorcycle clubs as, “…a good description of the Catholic church, the Boy Scouts, Home Depot and Federal Express….”
Wait It Gets Better
Finally, at long last, a defense attorney in a biker case actually says out loud.
“The surplusage portions of the indictment read like the promo for a new television series: Biker Gangs, Outlaw Rivals,” Purdy writes. “Defendants’ Fifth Amendment presumption of innocence is offended by the government’s press release approach to this case. The Government should try this case in the courtroom, not by calling names in the court of public opinion.”
Finally, Purdy challenges a greater giant than even she probably realizes. If the government insists on calling the Pagans a racket, she warns, the government better be able to prove it.
“The charges that the Club is a national criminal organization, a criminal enterprise, and a gang of outlaws are unnecessary, irrelevant, untrue, unsupported by the remainder of the indictment, and highly prejudicial,” Purdy writes. “If the Court does not strike this language as surplusage, Defendants move the Court to hold a hearing under Federal Rule of Evidence 104, concerning preliminary matters, and require the Government to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the club is a national criminal organization and that all of its members are ipso facto criminals.”
And, then to back that up, Purdy tells the court she is ready to call an expert witness.
The Expert
The expert is Dulaney. In most of these cases the “expert” is either an ATF Agent who has made a career of harassing bikers, someone like John Ciccone, Darrin Koslowski or Jay Dobyns, or an out and out fruit cake like Chuck Schoville from International Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigators Association. Dulaney is a professor at Western Carolina University.
His doctoral dissertation was titled, Over the Edge and into the Abyss: The Communication of Organizational Identity in an Outlaw Motorcycle Club. And the chances are good that you have seen him on television.
Dulaney has been interviewed on camera for three biker exposes on The National Geographic Channel: Inside the Outlaws, Bandido Nation and Women in the Outlaw Biker World. A fourth program for the same network called The Biker’s Rub is in production. Dulaney also appeared on the Gangland episode The Outlaws and in a Biography Channel episode titled The Hells Angels. Dulaney is also the author of a reasonably informed history of motorcycle clubs that appeared in the International Journal of Motorcycles Studies.
He introduces himself to the court by explaining, “My research agenda includes comparing government, law enforcement, and media claims about motorcycle clubs with socially valid evidence. The result of this inquiry overwhelmingly shows that media and law enforcement paint an inaccurate picture of motorcycle clubs, one that is stuck in the past and does not represent the contemporary reality of motorcycling organizations.”
What Dulaney Will Testify
Dulaney has already summarized, “testimony that I would be prepared to offer and further support at a trial or hearing on this matter, if the Court qualifies me as an expert.”
Among the highlights of what he is prepared to testify are:
“The Pagans Motorcycle Club (PMC) is not a criminal organization or a national criminal organization. Instead, the PMC is best described as a series of motorcycle organizations predominately scattered across the Eastern United States whose members are overwhelmingly not criminals. The PMC is a relatively small motorcycle club with chapters coming into and out of existence over time in locations limited to Florida, West Virginia, Eastern Pennsylvania, Ohio, Maryland, Delaware, New York, and Kentucky.”
“Beginning in the 1970s, throughout the 1980s, and ending in the mid-1990s, some individuals who rose to prominence and leadership positions in motorcycle clubs were involved in organized crime; however, federal prosecutions at the time largely eliminated such activities.”
Motorcycles, Raffles And Territory
“Many PMC members’ lives revolve almost entirely around the sport of motorcycling…. Members also experience great satisfaction working on their motorcycles to enhance the appearance and performance of their machines, which in turn enhances the status a member enjoys in motorcycle culture in general. Criminal activity does not enhance one’s status in the organization. This is a myth associated with ‘biker gang’ stories.”
“Raffling off motorcycles is a common fund-raising activity within the PMC and other motorcycle clubs. It is not understood by members as a ‘scheme,’ in the sense of being an illegal activity. (I do not personally know whether each raffle charged herein was managed according to the particular laws of each state where it was held.) My point is that presumptively legal raffles are commonplace in motorcycle culture generally. Funds raised from these events are almost always used for charity causes, ranging from internationally-recognized organizations, such as United Way, to local motorcyclists’ or club members’ family with serious illnesses. Motorcycle raffles and other fund raising events, such as annual Christmas Toy Runs and Blood Runs for the Red Cross are one of the reasons members join motorcycle clubs like the PMC.”
“Motorcycle clubs do establish themselves in certain areas or territories, but the extent of ‘territories’ serves mainly to limit or negate interaction with other motorcycle clubs. Most of this territoriality expresses itself symbolically, through the wearing of patches or other symbols associated one club rather than another. The PMC’s colors appear more like a mechanic’s uniform than “outlaw” club colors, and the PMC does not include a territory patch (e.g., bottom rocker) in their club colors. Such territoriality is also associated with volunteer fire departments, 4-H clubs and Moose, Elk and Rotary Clubs, Masonic Lodges, and other civic organizations.”
Keeping Peace
“There is a hierarchy that defines general motorcycle club culture. It is taught to and known by all as “motorcycle club etiquette.” Motorcycle club etiquette is simply one form of rules that all unique cultures or sub-cultures create in order to preserve peaceful coexistence. The one-percent clubs represent the pinnacle of the culture and so are responsible for keeping order in their territories. Established clubs may warn newcomers about the symbolic meaning of certain colors or patches to protect them from making errors from ignorance.”
“The Indictment states that the ‘PMC had clearly established ties to other motorcycle clubs . . . used to facilitate illegal activity.’ In fact, the opposite is true, in that the most dominant club in an area has a duty of keeping the peace among clubs in the area. Motorcycle club etiquette, mentioned above, can be described as a form of speech code that members of a culture or sub-culture must understand in order to belong to that culture. This is true of many well-known organizations, some considered ‘secret societies,’ such as Masonic Lodges and university fraternities and sororities. The PMC must enforce the rules of the culture – rules they did not create – in order for all other motorcycle clubs subordinate to them to operate without disturbance or disagreements within a given territory.”
“My purpose (in testifying)” Dulaney concludes, would be “to provide an accurate portrayal of the Pagan Motorcycle Club and to point out that images from popular culture appear to have colored the creation of the descriptions of the PMC in the indictment.”
November 4th - 7th 10th Annual Rocky Point Rally.
OFF THE WIRE
November 4th - 7th 10th Annual Rocky Point Rally. Yes, it is on and Mogollon is going to be the featured musical entertainment on Saturday night at Las Palomas on Sandy Beach. This should be a great concert. It is hard to believe, but this is the 10th anniversary of the Rally. I know that some are hesitant to go to Mexico right now with all of the bad press down there, but Rocky Point has seemed to avoid most of the issues that you hear about in the press. Do your own research about issues in Rocky Point, don't let the broad brush of the press decide for you. Then see if you want to go or not. One thing we do know, this is always a good time. Here is the Agenda. If you are looking to make a reservation for lodging, Click Here. If you want a good snapshot of the Rocky Point Rally, check out this video from a couple of years ago. Take advantage of the Pirate Boat Ride special. The first 100 persons with their $10 donation wristband will be allowed to ride for FREE. Click Here for flyer and other Activities going on for the weekend.
Las Palomas Condo Special for the Rocky Point Rally. Need a place to stay for the Rocky Point Rally? Las Palomas has a condo special that has a lot of extras. Stay on Sandy Beach in one of the newest condo's at the site of the Mogollon concert that will take place on Saturday, November 6th. Here is what you can get: Choose from 1-4 Bedroom condos for $45 per person per night. Minimum 4 people in 2 br condo. This includes: 2 Continental Breakfasts - 2 Welcome Drinks - $25 Welcome Bucks - $20 credit in food & beverage - 2 for 1 domestic drinks from 5-7pm. Rates are good from Nov. 4th - 7th. For more details see The Flyer, email reservations@lppmc.com or call 866-360-2324. www.laspalomasresort.net
November 4th - 7th 10th Annual Rocky Point Rally. Yes, it is on and Mogollon is going to be the featured musical entertainment on Saturday night at Las Palomas on Sandy Beach. This should be a great concert. It is hard to believe, but this is the 10th anniversary of the Rally. I know that some are hesitant to go to Mexico right now with all of the bad press down there, but Rocky Point has seemed to avoid most of the issues that you hear about in the press. Do your own research about issues in Rocky Point, don't let the broad brush of the press decide for you. Then see if you want to go or not. One thing we do know, this is always a good time. Here is the Agenda. If you are looking to make a reservation for lodging, Click Here. If you want a good snapshot of the Rocky Point Rally, check out this video from a couple of years ago. Take advantage of the Pirate Boat Ride special. The first 100 persons with their $10 donation wristband will be allowed to ride for FREE. Click Here for flyer and other Activities going on for the weekend.
Las Palomas Condo Special for the Rocky Point Rally. Need a place to stay for the Rocky Point Rally? Las Palomas has a condo special that has a lot of extras. Stay on Sandy Beach in one of the newest condo's at the site of the Mogollon concert that will take place on Saturday, November 6th. Here is what you can get: Choose from 1-4 Bedroom condos for $45 per person per night. Minimum 4 people in 2 br condo. This includes: 2 Continental Breakfasts - 2 Welcome Drinks - $25 Welcome Bucks - $20 credit in food & beverage - 2 for 1 domestic drinks from 5-7pm. Rates are good from Nov. 4th - 7th. For more details see The Flyer, email reservations@lppmc.com or call 866-360-2324. www.laspalomasresort.net
What is Compromise?
OFF THE WIRE
In April, 1998, Ed Youngblood did a good job of summarizing the insurance compromise in an article, "The Wrong Side of Rights".
http://usff.us/hldl/articles/0398YngBld.html
Ed is correct in saying there is little likelihood of getting rid of an insurance compromise. Once insurance companies get a toehold to get more money, they are not going to let it go away easily, and they will use some of that money on "the best legislation money can buy".
In the hallways of the legislative building in Raleigh, minority house member Bonner tried saying we'd do well to put insurance into a repeal bill, because, politically, there are not enough votes for a clean helmet repeal bill, and we won't find anyone willing to introduce it. (NC is different from some states in that citizens are not allowed to file a legislative bill.)
I immediately said no, never! Mandating minimum health Insurance is something I'll never agree to as it's trading one discrimination for another. Then, as other motorcyclists gathered, he tried joking about the brutal nature of some recent motorcycle accidents and bikers crashing through windshields and reminding the dozen bikers from his district who had gathered, that he is a lawyer with an injury practice in their district. His smiles and laughter about motorcycle crashes really pissed me off. I went toe to toe with him, nose to nose, finger in his face, telling him that due to his co-sponsorship of the bill that put FMVSS 218 into the helmet law, I personally will do my damnedest to see to it that he is not re-elected. As the bikers all walked away, he ended up screaming down the hallway at me that he is a lawyer. I told him to stuff it. We didn't get the repeal that year, but that bastard is no longer there either. Some of the ABATE people who were there were probably cussing me over my hotheadedness, but for crying out loud, these are the people who are taking our rights away. There is absolutely no need to kiss their arses as they do it. That joking about the motorcycle accidents lit my fuse.
Of course "lawyer legislators" want large insurance policies to be mandated. Insurance companies give to their reelection campaigns, and that is all the more money lawyers can get in civil suits. It's all about money.
Mark Infield was there. He can verify it was not a pretty sight. It was uncomfortable for everyone. He can also tell you house member Earl Jones, Guilford County, from the majority party and the black caucus, (not to be confused with Senator Ed Jones, retired trooper, also black caucus, who we need to get rid of), with an office directly across the hall from Bonner, has been coming around to being supportive and is willing to speak on our behalf. I think his secretaries heard Bonner screaming down the hall like a mad man and told Jones! (Unfortunately, Earl Jones will be gone in 2010, so even though he was coming around it won't help us in the future.)
Some folks are so sick of having to wear helmets that they'll go along with mandated health insurance coverage. I understand, it is tempting. Being forced to wear a helmet really sucks. No doubt. Being forced to spend your money on a specified level of health insurance coverage whether you want to or not,... well, that really sucks too, especially when there is no similar requirement for cagers. If your only choices are one discrimination or the other, it's a bad situation in which you lose either way. Even if the legislators create a law in which people who buy the increased insurance can go lidless, it isn't good. It leaves it up to the individual what discrimination they will go along with, but there is something wrong when they have to agree to one or the other. Automobile drivers don't have to carry proof of health insurance with them. We have a fundamental right to travel using an acceptable mode of personal transportation, and this is countered by the government authority to regulate.
In terms of age discrimination, as a military veteran I have always been of the mindset that 18 year olders are old enough to die in the service of their country and should be subject to adult laws. They are not given extra leeway as kids when their bills are due, when they pay taxes, or when the country needs young men and women for the military. Those who grew up when the draft was in effect are more likely to respect young adults as adults.
You are in the precarious position of being legislative director for a group that is not yet wholly committed to no compromise principles. Although you are working to educate them all, they are not wholly committed yet. There will be those who will want you to agree with a compromise. You could even find yourself surprised that some of your supporters who love your no compromise approach will be sorely tempted by a compromise and turn against you. Although you have a no compromise track record, and understand your personal principles, when all is said and done, you're going to have to figure it out for yourself. Loyalty to supporting what you perceive to be the wishes of the constituents you speak for might "also" be part of your principles. From knowing you, my suggestion is that you promise yourself that, regardless of politics, you do not sell out your own principles, and don't try to second guess what your constituents will think about you if you stay true to your principles. Getting a position as a board member in an organization that is willing to compromise is an easy thing to do. Staying true to ones' own personal principles when there are are temptations to compromise - that is extremely difficult, and it is very likely that you are going to have to make some personal difficult decisions about politics or principles.
In April, 1998, Ed Youngblood did a good job of summarizing the insurance compromise in an article, "The Wrong Side of Rights".
http://usff.us/hldl/articles/0398YngBld.html
Ed is correct in saying there is little likelihood of getting rid of an insurance compromise. Once insurance companies get a toehold to get more money, they are not going to let it go away easily, and they will use some of that money on "the best legislation money can buy".
In the hallways of the legislative building in Raleigh, minority house member Bonner tried saying we'd do well to put insurance into a repeal bill, because, politically, there are not enough votes for a clean helmet repeal bill, and we won't find anyone willing to introduce it. (NC is different from some states in that citizens are not allowed to file a legislative bill.)
I immediately said no, never! Mandating minimum health Insurance is something I'll never agree to as it's trading one discrimination for another. Then, as other motorcyclists gathered, he tried joking about the brutal nature of some recent motorcycle accidents and bikers crashing through windshields and reminding the dozen bikers from his district who had gathered, that he is a lawyer with an injury practice in their district. His smiles and laughter about motorcycle crashes really pissed me off. I went toe to toe with him, nose to nose, finger in his face, telling him that due to his co-sponsorship of the bill that put FMVSS 218 into the helmet law, I personally will do my damnedest to see to it that he is not re-elected. As the bikers all walked away, he ended up screaming down the hallway at me that he is a lawyer. I told him to stuff it. We didn't get the repeal that year, but that bastard is no longer there either. Some of the ABATE people who were there were probably cussing me over my hotheadedness, but for crying out loud, these are the people who are taking our rights away. There is absolutely no need to kiss their arses as they do it. That joking about the motorcycle accidents lit my fuse.
Of course "lawyer legislators" want large insurance policies to be mandated. Insurance companies give to their reelection campaigns, and that is all the more money lawyers can get in civil suits. It's all about money.
Mark Infield was there. He can verify it was not a pretty sight. It was uncomfortable for everyone. He can also tell you house member Earl Jones, Guilford County, from the majority party and the black caucus, (not to be confused with Senator Ed Jones, retired trooper, also black caucus, who we need to get rid of), with an office directly across the hall from Bonner, has been coming around to being supportive and is willing to speak on our behalf. I think his secretaries heard Bonner screaming down the hall like a mad man and told Jones! (Unfortunately, Earl Jones will be gone in 2010, so even though he was coming around it won't help us in the future.)
Some folks are so sick of having to wear helmets that they'll go along with mandated health insurance coverage. I understand, it is tempting. Being forced to wear a helmet really sucks. No doubt. Being forced to spend your money on a specified level of health insurance coverage whether you want to or not,... well, that really sucks too, especially when there is no similar requirement for cagers. If your only choices are one discrimination or the other, it's a bad situation in which you lose either way. Even if the legislators create a law in which people who buy the increased insurance can go lidless, it isn't good. It leaves it up to the individual what discrimination they will go along with, but there is something wrong when they have to agree to one or the other. Automobile drivers don't have to carry proof of health insurance with them. We have a fundamental right to travel using an acceptable mode of personal transportation, and this is countered by the government authority to regulate.
In terms of age discrimination, as a military veteran I have always been of the mindset that 18 year olders are old enough to die in the service of their country and should be subject to adult laws. They are not given extra leeway as kids when their bills are due, when they pay taxes, or when the country needs young men and women for the military. Those who grew up when the draft was in effect are more likely to respect young adults as adults.
You are in the precarious position of being legislative director for a group that is not yet wholly committed to no compromise principles. Although you are working to educate them all, they are not wholly committed yet. There will be those who will want you to agree with a compromise. You could even find yourself surprised that some of your supporters who love your no compromise approach will be sorely tempted by a compromise and turn against you. Although you have a no compromise track record, and understand your personal principles, when all is said and done, you're going to have to figure it out for yourself. Loyalty to supporting what you perceive to be the wishes of the constituents you speak for might "also" be part of your principles. From knowing you, my suggestion is that you promise yourself that, regardless of politics, you do not sell out your own principles, and don't try to second guess what your constituents will think about you if you stay true to your principles. Getting a position as a board member in an organization that is willing to compromise is an easy thing to do. Staying true to ones' own personal principles when there are are temptations to compromise - that is extremely difficult, and it is very likely that you are going to have to make some personal difficult decisions about politics or principles.
Barry & Carol Sandberg Murders,PRESS RELEASE
OFF THE WIRE,
for John,
Subject: Fw: Barry & Carol Sandberg Murders
$51,000.00 should bring out a rat or two.
We need to keep the heat on!
It has been 18 months since our friends were taken away and we all need to see that justice is served.
Like a lot of you, they were my brother and sister and I miss them every day!
JD
Governor Schwarzenegger Offers Rewards for Information in Two Unsolved Cases
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction in a California court of the person or persons responsible for two unsolved cases in California.
The following is a brief description of each crime and the reward amount offered:
On May 7, 2009, 62-year-old Barry Sandberg and his wife, 60-year-old Carol Sandberg, were found murdered in their San Diego home. The $50,000 reward was requested by San Diego Police Chief William M. Lansdowne.
On December 4, 2009, 28-year-old Harinder Sanghera was murdered during the course of a robbery at the Gas and Shop in Modesto. The $50,000 reward was requested by Stanislaus Sheriff Adam Christianson.
Under the Governor's Reward program, 289 rewards have been offered since 1967, and 20 have been paid. The reward process is initiated when the Governor receives a written request from the chief of the law enforcement agency with investigatory jurisdiction over the matter. This request informs the Governor that (1) those responsible for the investigation have pursued all leads and believe, in their independent judgment, that a reward will help them in their efforts, (2) the crime is one for which a reward may be offered under California law and (3) the victims' families support the reward. The Governor's legal affairs unit processes the request and ensures statutory compliance. The Governor makes the final determination regarding the request.
Rewards may be offered for specified crimes under the California Penal Code and subject to statutory maximums. Rewards do not expire and are only paid if the information leads to the arrest and conviction in a California court of the individual or individuals charged with the crime.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
for John,
Subject: Fw: Barry & Carol Sandberg Murders
$51,000.00 should bring out a rat or two.
We need to keep the heat on!
It has been 18 months since our friends were taken away and we all need to see that justice is served.
Like a lot of you, they were my brother and sister and I miss them every day!
JD
Governor Schwarzenegger Offers Rewards for Information in Two Unsolved Cases
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today announced rewards for information leading to the arrest and conviction in a California court of the person or persons responsible for two unsolved cases in California.
The following is a brief description of each crime and the reward amount offered:
On May 7, 2009, 62-year-old Barry Sandberg and his wife, 60-year-old Carol Sandberg, were found murdered in their San Diego home. The $50,000 reward was requested by San Diego Police Chief William M. Lansdowne.
On December 4, 2009, 28-year-old Harinder Sanghera was murdered during the course of a robbery at the Gas and Shop in Modesto. The $50,000 reward was requested by Stanislaus Sheriff Adam Christianson.
Under the Governor's Reward program, 289 rewards have been offered since 1967, and 20 have been paid. The reward process is initiated when the Governor receives a written request from the chief of the law enforcement agency with investigatory jurisdiction over the matter. This request informs the Governor that (1) those responsible for the investigation have pursued all leads and believe, in their independent judgment, that a reward will help them in their efforts, (2) the crime is one for which a reward may be offered under California law and (3) the victims' families support the reward. The Governor's legal affairs unit processes the request and ensures statutory compliance. The Governor makes the final determination regarding the request.
Rewards may be offered for specified crimes under the California Penal Code and subject to statutory maximums. Rewards do not expire and are only paid if the information leads to the arrest and conviction in a California court of the individual or individuals charged with the crime.
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Oregon,Charitable Biker Event Incites 'Criminal Profiling' from Police
OFF THE WIRE
BY: Brad Betz
Source: salem-news.com
Profiling can happen in any community and is based upon the biases of local law enforcement. Such is the situation that occurred in our little town on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Images from the event to raise funds for Mario Pastega House in Corvallis, Oregon courtesy: Brad Bentz
(CORVALLIS, Ore.) - Some would say that profiling is not common in our little neck of the woods, but others would suggest that it occurs every day. Some would argue that it is an effective crime fighting tool, while others would protest that it is a violation of civil liberties.
The reality is that profiling has evolved over the course of American history. During World War II, profiling was used as an excuse to detain Japanese Americans and to seize their hard-earned property.
The emergence of a strong Latino American community has seen Hispanics profiled as illegal immigrants and potential drug dealers. In a post 9-11 America, profiling has become an acceptable deterrent to “preventing” terrorist activity, but in truth serves to legitimize discrimination of people who appear to be Middle Eastern. It is well documented that police have historically detained black drivers due only to the color of their skin. But potential victims of profiling are not solely limited by racial or ethnic backgrounds.
Profiling can happen in any community and is based upon the biases of local law enforcement. Such is the situation that occurred in our little town on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Advertisements had gone out weeks in advance to announce a fundraiser to support a local non-profit, the Mario Pastega House. The intentions were admirable, the cause not uncommon, but the hosts were quickly labeled as social deviants because they wore leather jackets and rode motorcycles.
A local club, known as the Linn County Raiders, arranged the event in an attempt to “give back” to the community. As a result of their efforts, the Albany City Police Department dispatched a photographer and undercover detectives to record all of the people who attended and supported this charity fundraiser.
License plates were documented and reported, faces were photographed; all in the name of fighting crime. There was only one problem - no criminals were identified, no outstanding warrants were issued, and no DUIs were written.
Tax payer money was used to thwart the enemy at the gate, but none arrived. This misguided justification of singling out certain groups for police attention is narrow minded and ineffective. If local police continue to limit their definition of what a criminal “looks like”, they will overlook the obvious results. Their unjust profiling, and the ensuing tension between officers and community, will eventually manifest as an irreparable broken trust.
Police profiling is a reminder of an ugly historical bias in America. There is no excuse why any law-abiding American citizen should feel they are being singled out and falsely accused by those who should exemplify trust and fairness. Profiling in America promotes discrimination, strips individuals of their security, and continues to scar the face of Lady Liberty.
Note: The Mario Pastega House, on the campus of Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis, is a comfortable “home away from home” for out-of-area patients and families traveling to Corvallis for specialized medical care. Learn more: Mario Pastega House - Samaritan Health Services
BY: Brad Betz
Source: salem-news.com
Profiling can happen in any community and is based upon the biases of local law enforcement. Such is the situation that occurred in our little town on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Images from the event to raise funds for Mario Pastega House in Corvallis, Oregon courtesy: Brad Bentz
(CORVALLIS, Ore.) - Some would say that profiling is not common in our little neck of the woods, but others would suggest that it occurs every day. Some would argue that it is an effective crime fighting tool, while others would protest that it is a violation of civil liberties.
The reality is that profiling has evolved over the course of American history. During World War II, profiling was used as an excuse to detain Japanese Americans and to seize their hard-earned property.
The emergence of a strong Latino American community has seen Hispanics profiled as illegal immigrants and potential drug dealers. In a post 9-11 America, profiling has become an acceptable deterrent to “preventing” terrorist activity, but in truth serves to legitimize discrimination of people who appear to be Middle Eastern. It is well documented that police have historically detained black drivers due only to the color of their skin. But potential victims of profiling are not solely limited by racial or ethnic backgrounds.
Profiling can happen in any community and is based upon the biases of local law enforcement. Such is the situation that occurred in our little town on Saturday, Oct. 23.
Advertisements had gone out weeks in advance to announce a fundraiser to support a local non-profit, the Mario Pastega House. The intentions were admirable, the cause not uncommon, but the hosts were quickly labeled as social deviants because they wore leather jackets and rode motorcycles.
A local club, known as the Linn County Raiders, arranged the event in an attempt to “give back” to the community. As a result of their efforts, the Albany City Police Department dispatched a photographer and undercover detectives to record all of the people who attended and supported this charity fundraiser.
License plates were documented and reported, faces were photographed; all in the name of fighting crime. There was only one problem - no criminals were identified, no outstanding warrants were issued, and no DUIs were written.
Tax payer money was used to thwart the enemy at the gate, but none arrived. This misguided justification of singling out certain groups for police attention is narrow minded and ineffective. If local police continue to limit their definition of what a criminal “looks like”, they will overlook the obvious results. Their unjust profiling, and the ensuing tension between officers and community, will eventually manifest as an irreparable broken trust.
Police profiling is a reminder of an ugly historical bias in America. There is no excuse why any law-abiding American citizen should feel they are being singled out and falsely accused by those who should exemplify trust and fairness. Profiling in America promotes discrimination, strips individuals of their security, and continues to scar the face of Lady Liberty.
Note: The Mario Pastega House, on the campus of Good Samaritan Regional Medical Center in Corvallis, is a comfortable “home away from home” for out-of-area patients and families traveling to Corvallis for specialized medical care. Learn more: Mario Pastega House - Samaritan Health Services
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