OFF THE WIRE
BY: Jeff Humphrey
kxly.com
A Spokane Hells Angel facing 10 years in prison may be a free man if all charges against him get dropped later this week.
An attorney for Ricky Jenks says an FBI raid at the Hells Angels club house on Sprague Avenue last March was illegal. The problem is the validity of two different search warrants executed at the club house during that raid.
While the bust did turn up evidence that the Hells Angels possessed drugs and nine different loaded guns, the seizure of that evidence may have been, technically, illegal.
While the guns were legal it was illegal for Ricky Jenks to be anywhere near them. Jenks, as a convicted felon, has to stay away from guns and court documents show that all of the firearms were found within 15 feet of Jenks' sergeant at arms jacket.
Attorney Tracy Collins has found a possible problem with the case that might set Collins' client free. The first search warrant the FBI used to enter the club was for evidence of either marijuana sales or manufacturing. When officers spotted the guns, they backed out and got an amended warrant to seize the firearms.
The magistrate authorized the second warrant at 3:45 p.m. however agents wrote they began collecting evidence at 2:55, nearly an hour before the amended warrant was authorized.
Collins says the search started prematurely, is illegal and wants the evidence against Ricky Jenks suppressed.
Without that evidence there is no case against Jenks.
A federal judge is expected to take up the matter before Jenks' trial gets underway in August.
Attorney: Evidence In Hells Angels Raid Illegally Seized
July 26, 2011
A Spokane Hells Angel facing 10 years in prison may be a free man if all charges against him get dropped later this week. KXLY4's Jeff Humphrey reports.» More KXLY.com Video