OFF THE WIRE
Michael 'Madman' Pedini sentenced in 2009 biker shooting
By Erin Rhoda erhoda@mainetoday.com
PORTLAND -- A former Outlaws motorcycle club enforcer was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison for shooting a rival Hell's Angels club member in 2009 in Canaan.
In his second court appearance of the day, Michael "Madman" Pedini pleaded guilty to state charges of elevated aggravated assault, four counts of aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, conspiracy to commit trafficking, and criminal forfeiture.
Judge Nancy Mills then sentenced Pedini, 40, of Madison, to 15 years in prison.
"Every now and then the good guys win one, and today was such a day," said Evert Fowle, district attorney for Somerset and Kennebec counties.
Before appearing at Cumberland County Superior Court, however, Pedini was sentenced in the U.S. District Court next door. There, Judge George Singal ordered Pedini to spend 63 months -- more than five years -- in prison for two federal racketeering-related charges. Pedini pleaded guilty last fall.
The sentences will run concurrently, meaning he will spend 15 years in prison.
Pedini and fellow Outlaws member Thomas "Tomcat" Mayne shot a Hell's Angels member in his pickup truck outside a Hell's Angels clubhouse, on Route 23 in Canaan, on Oct. 8, 2009, according to prosecutors.
The victim, Gary Watson, then 63, was flown to a Bangor hospital to undergo surgery, police said at the time. A woman who found Watson said it appeared he'd been shot in the neck from behind.
Mayne, the other Outlaws member, died in a shootout with federal authorities in June 2010. He and Pedini were among 27 people across the United States indicted on charges relating to racketeering conspiracy, which encompasses organized crime.
Pedini was charged with racketeering conspiracy and conspiracy to commit violence in aid of racketeering.
At the time the federal charges were brought, Pedini was being held in Somerset County Jail on cocaine-trafficking charges stemming from an investigation that involved patrons and an employee of Waterville's Bob-In. Seven people were arrested in that case in Nov. 2009.
Pedini pleaded guilty to those state cocaine-related charges Tuesday, Fowle said. Prosecutors also brought a new state charge against Pedini Tuesday, elevated aggravated assault, to which he pleaded guilty.
"I wanted 15 years for him. I really wasn't prepared to settle for any less," Fowle said. "Today we won, and the citizens of Maine won. Three cheers for Judge Mills and (Assistant District Attorney) James Mitchell and Bryant Jacques from the state police. He did a hell of a job on this."
It was widely known that Pedini would be sentenced in federal court Tuesday, but the new state charge, Pedini's plea on all the state charges and the subsequent state sentencing were not publicized.
"I think we were kind of flying under the radar," Fowle said. The district attorney's office worked with federal authorities to bring the elevated aggravated assault charge against Pedini, which came with a maximum sentence of 30 years.
The federal charges would have brought a maximum 20 years.
Fowle said he does not know Watson's current condition, "but I think he's certainly made progress since he was shot."
Erin Rhoda -- 474-9534
erhoda@centralmaine.com
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