OFF THE WIRE
nwitimes.com
ST. LOUIS |
A former Gary attorney was convicted of attempted murder and
conspiracy in connection with his role in what federal prosecutors called a
violent "outlaw biker" gang in a trial that netted the conviction of six others
Friday.
Jerry Peteet, 49, of Gary, who had the alias "Angel," was among the
defendants connected to the Wheels of Soul motorcycle club. Peteet, a former
club lawyer, was a trial lawyer for 22 years.
Authorities said Peteet tried to shoot and kill Robert Taylor on May 28,
2009, in a parking lot outside the former Bennigan's Grill and Tavern, 500 E.
Fifth Ave. in Gary.
The federal racketeering conspiracy trial, which began Oct. 18 before Chief
U.S. District Judge Catherine Perry in St. Louis, lasted more than 30 days. More
than 60 witnesses testified about the Wheels of Soul, a nationally prominent
mixed-race club boasting about 400 members.
After eight days of deliberations, jurors found all seven defendants -
including St. Louis chapter President Dominic Henley - guilty of conspiracy
through acts of racketeering. Several of the men also were convicted of other
charges, attempted murder and conspiracy to murder. One, Anthony Robinson, of
Chicago, was convicted of murder.
Prosecutors did not obtain convictions on seven of the 24 charges brought.
Most of those were related to the Aug. 15, 2009, shooting of a rival motorcycle
gang member in St. Louis. Lawyers for Henley and the other member involved,
Timothy Balle, of St. Louis, claimed self-defense.
Robinson's murder conviction requires a sentence of life in prison without
parole. No sentencing date was set. Others convicted Friday are James C. Smith,
66, of Philadelphia; Jerry Elkins, 49, of Aurora Colo.; and Marshall Fry, 34, of
Lewisville, Texas.
Most of the two dozen men charged in connection with the case already had
pleaded guilty of various charges.
In closing arguments Monday and Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sirena
Wissler painted a picture of a gang that was out to control every city in which
it operated, targeting rivals with violent acts ranging from drive-by shootings
to armed robberies of the leather jackets, vests and patches that mark a
motorcycle club member.
Their feuds spilled into restaurants, bars and private parties, where verbal
disputes or minor perceived slights would escalate to shootouts and nearly
everyone, it seemed, was armed with a handgun.
They collectively faced accusations that they were involved in fatal
shootings in St. Louis in 2009, Chicago that same year and Marion, Ohio, in
2011. They also were implicated in other violence, including an aborted plan to
attack a rival gang at a party in East St. Louis in January 2011.
Wissler said that despite the gang's concerns about a racketeering
investigation, some members and associates were caught on wiretaps - and a
confidential informer's hidden recording device - discussing plans to commit for
murder and other violent acts.
That informer, cooperating as part of an unrelated 2007 criminal case in
Missouri state court, joined Wheels with Henley and others when they formed the
St. Louis chapter in 2009. He taped Wheels meetings and private conversations in
St. Louis and on the regional and national levels.
During the trial, Wissler and the prosecuting team were flanked by stacks of
evidence in banker's boxes, including the black leather vests of Wheels members,
sinister-looking clubs, and guns and bullet-resistant vests.
They also were flanked by security officers, as hints of a "contract" to kill
them were received during the trial.
U.S. Attorney Richard Callahan said, "Threats to witnesses and informants
have been an undercurrent almost from the beginning and it has continued
throughout the trial." Aside from that, he said, "There were specific reports of
possible contracts being out on the prosecuting team. They were investigated as
thoroughly as you can run something down and in the end we didn't see the need
for any greater security than we had provided for in advance of the trial."
In closing arguments, defense attorneys told jurors their clients did not
have the requisite intent or advance knowledge to be guilty of conspiracy. Some
said their client were only interested in riding, not crime.
"Tell me what he did, not what he said," challenged Henley's lawyer, Donnell
Smith. Smith suggested that government recordings captured only bluster. "This
is a boys club," he said at one point. "Not a prayer meeting."
Henley testified he fired in self-defense during the 2009 fatal shooting and
denied other crimes. "I looked at it sort of like a fraternity," he said.
Times staff contributed to this report
