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/
