OFF THE WIRE
Outlaws MC
BY: REED WILLIAMS AND FRANK GREEN
Source: Richmond Times Dispatch
Richmond, Va. --
An order by the national president of the Outlaws led members of the motorcycle gang to ambush and open fire on a Hells Angels member, leaving him partially paralyzed, one of the shooters testified yesterday in federal court.
Michael Pedini, a former "enforcer" for the Outlaws' chapter in northern Maine, testified that Jack "Milwaukee Jack" Rosga told him in 2009 to seek revenge on rival Hells Angels members for an assault of two Outlaws in Connecticut.
Rosga, one of four Outlaws now on trial in federal court in Richmond, told Pedini either to attack Hells Angels and strip them of their biker vests, a flagrant insult in the biker world, or to kill them, Pedini testified.
Pedini testified that Rosga's order meant that Pedini must "get two vests however you have to get them, or kill a Hells Angel." Pedini said the conversation was between only him and Rosga and that it took place outside a clubhouse in Arkansas.
Pedini, a former professional wrestler also known as "Madman," has pleaded guilty to conspiracy charges in the federal racketeering case.
Under cross-examination by one of Rosga's attorneys, Claire G. Cardwell, Pedini acknowledged that he also faces multiple cocaine-trafficking charges in Maine and that he hopes his cooperation with the government will earn him leniency in the federal and state cases.
Cardwell also asked Pedini if he felt "let down" when no Outlaws visited him after he was locked up on drug charges in Maine. "Maybe a little," the witness replied.
The Outlaws on trial are Rosga, 53; William "Rebel" Davey, 46; Mark "Lytnin'" Spradling, 52; and Leslie Werth, 47. In addition to charges of conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to commit violence in aid of racketeering, Davey and Werth are charged with using violence in the aid of racketeering and firearms offenses.
Prosecutors rested their case yesterday afternoon, and the defense is expected to begin calling witnesses this morning. U.S. District Judge Henry E. Hudson turned down requests by defense lawyers that their clients be acquitted because the government's evidence was insufficient.
Craig Mastantuono, one of Rosga's lawyers, conceded that one witness -- apparently Pedini -- had direct testimony against Rosga. But the rest of the case against Rosga, he said, was "a patchwork of evidence that consists of a lot of what other people say Mr. Rosga said or did."
Hudson did say he thought the evidence on the violence in the aid of racketeering charge was "thin," and that in the event Davey and Werth are convicted by the jury he would hear further argument. "It's very, very close," Hudson said.
Rosga's alleged order telling Pedini to exact revenge against their rivals came after Hells Angels members assaulted two Florida Outlaws at a gas station on Sept. 10, 2009, in New Haven, Conn.
The Hells Angels also took the Outlaws' patches. The two victims were treated at a hospital.
Pedini said that after he spoke with Rosga in Arkansas, Pedini and another Outlaw, the late Thomas "Tomcat" Mayne, met on Oct. 8, 2009, in Maine, and planned to look for Hells Angels to attack.
They stopped for coffee near a Hells Angels clubhouse in Canaan, Maine, and spotted Gary Watson, a Hells Angel, driving by on the way to his clubhouse. Pedini previously had been a member of the Exiles, a motorcycle club that supported the Hells Angels, and he knew Watson.
"We were friends," Pedini said.
Pedini and Mayne followed Watson to a gate outside the Hells Angels clubhouse, parked on the edge of the road and fired their weapons, with bullets striking Watson's pickup and Watson, whose right side is still paralyzed, according to a doctor's testimony.
Pedini said his gun jammed after he fired a single shot that he said sailed over the pickup. But Pedini said that Mayne emptied his weapon, striking the truck and shattering glass. "Tom wanted to go out, he wanted to finish him off," Pedini testified, adding that Pedini said no to the idea.
Pedini testified that he was hoping his gun would jam and told agents he had pulled lightly on the trigger hoping it would do so. He referred to Mayne as a "loose cannon."
Pedini and Mayne left after the shooting, and Pedini said he wiped down both weapons and threw them into a river as they drove over a bridge.
Cardwell, during cross-examination, brought up that Pedini initially failed to tell authorities he had participated in the shooting.
Mayne, a former regional treasurer for the Outlaws, was shot to death June 15 in Maine when authorities returned gunfire as they were trying to arrest him on federal warrants.
Pedini also testified yesterday that Rosga gave members the green light to sell drugs if they needed to do so, telling them at a meeting that "times are tough and brothers need to do what they need to do to get by."
Pedini added, though, that he never saw Rosga sell drugs. Another witness testified Monday that Rosga doesn't use drugs.
