agingrebel.com
The racketeering indictment against members and associates of the Rock Hell City Nomad charter of the Hells Angels suggests that most of the case was made by one ATF or FBI undercover agent and one confidential informant under “the direction of and approval of a federal official.” The indictment refers to criminal acts that were committed as early as 2008 when members of the God’s Few Motorcycle Club became Hells Angels but most of the “racketeering acts” described in the surplusage filled document began in July 2011.
The crimes fall into four familiar categories: Drug sales, firearms sales, money laundering and attempts to corner the local market on contraband sales. The indictment alleges one arson on March 8, 2012 in which the lead defendant in the case., Daniel Eugene “Diamond Dan” Bifield, “willfully and maliciously did set a fire to, burn, and cause to be burned a building and property, which resulted, directly and indirectly, in damage to the building and property.” The charge does not specify what the building did to Bifield.
Although the indictment alleges that the charter was “a criminal enterprise whose members and associates engaged in criminal activity, including narcotics distribution, arson, trafficking in stolen property, money laundering, extortion, prostitution, firearms violations, and conspiracy to do the same it does not contain a single predicate charge related to prostitution. Most news accounts have accused the charter of that crime.
Money Laundering
The indictment alleges 18 separate incidents of money laundering. Each of those counts are related to firearms or drugs sales. A typical example is Racketeering Act 34 which alleges that:“On or about November 29,2011 through December 5, 2011, in the District of South
Carolina and elsewhere, the Defendants, Daniel Eugene Bifield and Lisa Ellen Bifield a/k/a Lisa Ellen Meyers, a/k/a Lisa Ellen Stockton, with the intent to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership and control of property believed to be the proceeds of specified unlawful activity, knowingly did conduct and attempt to conduct a financial transaction affecting interstate and foreign commerce involving property represented by a law enforcement officer and a person at the direction of and approval of a federal official to be proceeds of specified unlawful activity, to wit: selling and otherwise dealing in narcotic controlled substances.”
These charges all seem to be intended to facilitate the seizure of individual defendants’ bank accounts which, as both prosecutors and defense attorneys know, complicates the task of defending oneself in federal court.
Narcotics Distribution
There are 30 alleged acts of Narcotics Distribution or Attempted Narcotics Distribution. The drugs involved include cocaine, methamphetamine, a couple of flavors of hillbilly heroin (oxycodone and hydrocodone), and a muscle relaxant called clonazepam. All these sales seem to be for small amounts of these drugs except for cocaine. The undercover agent was either buying or selling significant amounts of cocaine.All of these charges are for “possession with intent to distribute” drugs which seems to indicate that the defendants were buying drugs from one of the two federal spies. A typical racketeering act looks like this:
“On or about July 20, 2011, in the District of South Carolina, the Defendant, James Frederick Keach, Jr., a/k/a Big Fred, knowingly, intentionally, and unlawfully did possess with intent to distribute and did distribute a mixture and substance containing clonazepam, a controlled substance sold under the brand name Klonopin, a Schedule IV controlled substance, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Sections 841(a)(I) and 841 (b)(2).”
Guns
The indictment also betrays that either the federal undercover agent or the confidential informant told his victims that he was a convicted felon. Whoever he was he seems to have been the most enthusiastic gun collector since ATF Special Agent Jay Dobyns. Since the gun sales were so numerous and since the “F” in ATF stands for guns, it seems at least possible that the undercover works for the ATF.Forty-three counts are for the illegal sale or possession of firearms. The indictment alleges the illegal transfer of 70 different firearms including pistols, shotguns and rifles. The indictment does not specify serial numbers for those weapons but it appears that most of those weapons are listed in this bloated indictment twice and seem to be for gun transfers among club brothers. Although “fully functioning machine guns” have been mentioned in news reports none are listed in the indictment.
Forfeiture
The last six pages of the indictment address the government seizure of “property or contractual rights of any kind affording a source of influence over the Enterprise” and “Any property constituting or derived from proceeds obtained directly and indirectly from racketeering activity.”In addition to personal bank accounts the government wants more than $443,000 in cash, nine motorcycles belonging to the accused, a brand new Ford F250 and the old God’s Few MC clubhouse on Doby Bridge Road in Fort Mill, South Carolina.
The government is not seeking the forfeiture of any Hells Angels membership marks.
