OFF THE WIRE
Buffalo, N.Y. - When the government announced its case against the Chosen Few Motorcycle Club two and a half years ago, the charges sounded like something out of a crime movie.
It said the Chosen Few were in a "War against the Lonely Ones Motorcycle Club..."
That "there were three attempted murders and two attempted arsons...including firebombings in an attempt to kill an occupant of the Lonely Ones Clubhouse..."
All told, 19 current and former members were arrested.
The government had a former member of the Chosen Few as its informant, someone who was wearing a wire.
But on Friday, the government dropped all of the charges against the Chosen Few.
It put out a one sentence statement on Saturday, which is typically a day to used to hide bad news from the media.
It said: "Our office moved to dismiss the presently pending indictment in light of information that recently came to light."
That information apparently was that the government's informant had major credibility problems.
And that's something that attorneys representing Chosen Few members had been hammering away at.
Defense Attorney Paul Cambria: "Well I think if anything is established as a result of this process, it's that informants or so called informants or cooperators, have to be thoroughly vetted. They're not always the most credible and reliable, and sometimes it takes a process to expose that."
Scott Brown: "Do you expect any of these charges to be re-filed?"
Paul Cambria: "I think under the circumstances it would be extremely difficult to resurrect the case based on what I believe and what I've learned, and of course I hope that doesn't happen and this whole thing is put behind us."
Two members of the Chosen Few, including its President had been in jail since the arrests were made two and a half years ago, they were released from prison Friday night.
2 On Your Side asked to interview U.S. Attorney William Hochul about why the charges were dropped, but we were told that Hochul was out of town and that the only comment from his office would be the short statement that was put out on Saturday.
http://www.wgrz.com/news/article/144932/37/Why-Did-The-Feds-Drop-All-Charges-Against-Motorcycle-Gang
