San Diego, CA - What Happened to Gipsy on The Devils Ride?

OFF THE WIRE
By Amber Harrison
The internet is all a-flutter with the question since the second-season premiere: What happened to Gipsy on The Devils Ride?

Tommy Quinn, aka “Gipsy” was the president and founder of the Laffing Devils MC, a San Diego-based motorcycle club founded in 2006.  Many viewers of the Discovery Channel’s “reality” television show have mused online about the actual reality of the Laffing Devils, but fans and haters alike are assured that the Laffing Devils MC was, in fact, a real motorcycle club.  They were part of the local Confederation of Clubs and were seen all over San Diego County supporting other local clubs.  That is, until Discovery Channel got hold of them.

Gipsy Can’t Finish What He Started

Tommy Quin, aka Gipsy, is glaringly absent from season two of The Devils Ride.
Photo courtesy of The Devils Ride Facebook Page IAW Fair Use.

About four years ago, give or take, the Laffing Devils were approached by a production company with an idea for the show.  It’s speculated that it was actually Gipsy (Tommy Quinn) who marketed the idea for the show to various production companies until one finally took the bait.  That aside, Mr. Quinn is said to have made all the deals with the production company once the idea was accepted – and without the general consensus of club members.  Or so it seems.
Members of the Laffing Devils, as they were, have publicly stated that Gipsy sold them out.  The Discovery Channel told club members that the MC would be portrayed as who and what they were, but once the trailers for the first season were displayed all over God’s Green Earth, it was apparent that would not be the case. Needless to say, the Laffing Devils knew they were screwed as a “real” motorcycle club – and they were right.
Viewers will remember that in the first season of The Devils Ride, the founder and “Prez” of the Laffing Devils (Gipsy) was booted out of the club under some sort of contrived premise. A determined Gipsy, still believing in the principles under which he founded the Laffing Devils, decided to start a new motorcycle club called “Sinister Mob Syndicate MC” or “Sin Mob.”  The story-boarded-but-not-”scripted” drama that ensued – and continues into season two – is the “bitter feud” between the two “clubs” for “turf.”  Gipsy recruited former Laffing Devils members for Sin Mob, and it appeared that quite the little vendetta was developing.  And the Discovery Channel, intelligently airing The Devils Ride just after The Deadliest Catch, garnered the top viewership for Tuesday nights among young-to-mid-age men. A Discovery Channel press release stated the show had over two million viewers every week.
(What’s up with Sandman?)

Gipsy Cancelled in More Ways Than One

Truth is, Gipsy really WAS booted out of the (at the time) real Laffing Devils MC prior to the airing of season one of The Devils Ride.  Tommy Quinn (Gipsy) is married to a local law enforcement officer, and law enforcement and motorcycle clubs aren’t bosom buddies.  To say the least.  One member publicly stated that Gipsy lied to his Laffing Devils membership, telling all the brothers he had “cleared” his marriage with all who might question it; however, no one actively involved in the MC community could really be so gullible as to believe that. Regardless, Gipsy was unceremoniously kicked out of the club he had founded in 2006 and had led ever since.
Though The Devils Ride portrayed Gipsy starting another “real” motorcycle club, Sinister Mob Syndicate was never “real” and was never meant to be “real.”  The trademark registration for Sinister Mob Syndicate MC is Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment Television, LLC.

Gipsy out, Bubba in.
Photo courtesy of The Devils Ride Facebook Page IAW Fair Use.

On or about May 12, 2012, a member of a San Diego 1% motorcycle club was arrested after a confrontation with two of the Laffing Devils and one supporter.  Deron Jaffe was exercising a time-honored protocol among the biker community, and property was voluntarily surrendered by the two Laffing Devils , but Mr. Jaffe was charged with robbery and assault (among other things, including gang enhancements).  Mr. Jaffe stated, “I was defending myself against three of them and since I’ve seen them committing felonies on television, with no backlash from the police, I felt threatened by this self-admitted outlaw motorcycle gang.”  Mr. Jaffe definitely had a point… but was arrested anyway. Neither of the Laffing Devils were arrested, which seemed quite disingenuous and was comprehensively speculated about on internet forums for months afterward.
And the Laffing Devils were then just as unceremoniously booted out of the local Confederation of Clubs. Now, Laffing Devils MC is disbanded, and state records indicate that the Laffing Devils MC filed as an Articles of Incorporation on July 31, 2012 and may exist only as a “TV personality now.

What Happened To Gipsy on The Devils Ride?

But back to The Devils Ride… Fans of the show were looking forward to Sin Mob, with the alleged bounty-hunter Gipsy at the club’s helm, to wage a respectable war with the Laffing Devils in season two of The Devils Ride.  Much to the chagrin of many female viewers, Gipsy was conspicuously absent from the season two premiere, and it was mentioned in the show that he was removed from Sin Mob for “conduct unbecoming.” Then Gipsy was never spoken of again.  Some season two viewers felt that continuity suffered, as Gipsy was the grand focus of the first season of The Devils Ride.
(…and who is this “Rockem” cat?)
The blink-and-you-miss-it mention of Gipsy’s glaring omission from the show might have something to do with the fact that Tommy “Gipsy” Quinn was arrested on August 29, 2012 regarding allegations of lewd acts on a minor child.  San Diego television news station and Fox affiliate KSWB-TV reported that Tommy Quinn was arrested on suspicion of having his minor step-daughter perform oral sex on him at least six times.  At the time, the Discovery Channel had already announced renewal of The Devils Ride for a second season, and production was scheduled to start soon.  With all of the second season renewal propaganda already out in the open, it seemed very strange that the Discovery Channel and Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment were so conspiciously silent with regard to the fast-appearing blemish that was Tommy Quinn’s legal situation.
As of today, the San Diego District Attorney’s Office has not filed a formal complaint against Tommy “Gipsy” Quinn in the matter of the alleged molestation(s) of his step-daughter.  A protected source has implied that the investigation into the allegations continues, though this is not confirmed.  Either way, it appears that the Discovery Channel and Bischoff-Hervey Entertainment Television LLC didn’t want to take the chance that the blemish of Gipsy would metastasize into a full-blown tumor, and chose to leave Tommy Quinn, his alter-ego Gipsy, and all of Quinn’s starry-eyed aspirations to whatever fate awaits them.
And those who still love to hate The Devils Ride can watch season two unfold every Monday night on the Discovery Channel.

What Happened To Gipsy on The Devils Ride?

Read more at http://americanlivewire.com/what-happened-to-gipsy-on-the-devils-ride/