Maryland, Sentencing postponed for local Pagan club leader

OFF THE WIRE
-- Kate Leckie
Source: fredericknewspost.com
Sentencing has been postponed for David Keith "Bart" Barbeito, a Myersville man who served as the longtime national president of the Pagans Motorcycle Club and was ensnared in a federal racketeering investigation.
During a June 30 plea hearing, Barbeito, 50, pleaded guilty to four felonies: two counts of interstate travel and aid of racketeering in a gambling operation, and two firearms charges, officials said.
He pleaded guilty two weeks before he was to go on trial in July.
According to court documents filed this week, U.S. District Judge Thomas E. Johnston rescheduled Barbeito's sentencing for 11 a.m. Dec. 20 in Charleston, W.Va.
Barbeito had been set for sentencing Nov. 19. Johnston did not specify a reason for the delay, the second postponement of Barbeito's sentencing.
Barbeito could be ordered to serve as much as 25 years in federal prison.
The guilty pleas of Barbeito and others eliminated the need for dozens of federal court trials for 55 Pagans members arrested in an eight-state sweep last fall.
The firearms charges included in Barbeito's plea agreement originated in Maryland, but were transferred to West Virginia.
During an Oct. 6, 2009, search of Barbeito's Frederick County home, one firearm seized was a handgun with an obliterated serial number. A second firearm was an illegal firearm known as a "street sweeper," a semi-automatic shotgun with a large-capacity magazine used for military purposes.
-- Kate Leckie