Arizona bikers found not guilty of riot charges..........

OFF THE WIRE
KINGMAN - Four Hell's Angels and Desert Road Riders motorcycle club members were acquitted of riot charges stemming from a 2009 Bullhead City bar fight.
The jury delivered their verdict Thursday, about three weeks after opening statements were made, although the trial did not convene for several days during that period because of scheduling conflicts involving witnesses.
The four men, Gerald Roy Smith, 50, of Rimrock; Dale Leroy Hormuth, 51, of Kingman; Stephen Michael Helland, 63, of Golden Valley; and Rudolfo Jon Martinez, 47, of Rimrock, were also acquitted of charges accusing them of assisting a criminal street gang through their motorcycle club affiliation.
The four men, along with three others, were arrested six months after the June 11, 2009 bar fight at Lazy Harry's.
Prosecutor Robert Moon said the men approached two members of the rival Vagos motorcycle club, who were seated on the bar's patio before engaging them in a fight that he acknowledged only lasted several minutes.
Moon said the fight was over the clubs' territory disputes and the Hell's Angels claim to northern Arizona. The Desert Road Riders is considered a support club to the Hell's Angels.
No one was injured or arrested the night of the fight. The arrests weren't made until six months later, following a lengthy investigation and surveillance of local bike club events by the State Gang Task Force.
Two of the seven members not tried in this case - Desert Road Rider members Clifford Daniel Balentine, 56, of Bullhead City, and James Troy Snider, 47, of Kingman - were set for trial May 1. It's unclear if that trial will proceed in light of Thursday's verdict.
A call to the County Attorney's Office was not returned Thursday afternoon.
The seventh defendant, former Hell's Angels member George Edward Walters, 55, was sentenced last summer to 2-and-a-half years in prison after pleading guilty to the same charges the four men were acquitted of.
He had entered into a plea agreement that guaranteed him probation, but that deal was revoked after he fled the jurisdiction.
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