Harry Joseph Bowman (July 17, 1949 – March 3, 2019), also known as "Taco", was an American outlaw biker and gang leader who served as the international president of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club between 1984 and 1999. During his tenure as president, the club had chapters in more than 30 cities in the United States and some 20 chapters in at least four other countries.
Considered one the most notorious motorcycle gang leaders in U.S. history, Bowman escalated a biker war between the Outlaws and the Hells Angels in the Midwest by ordering a series of audacious acts of violence against rivals during the early-to-mid-1990s.Royal Farewell Planned For “Taco” Bowman, Historic Outlaws Pres. Will Be Laid To Rest In Front Of Thousands Scott Burnstein, The Gangster Report (March 15, 2019) He became the 453rd fugitive listed on the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list after he was indicted on federal racketeering and murder charges in August 1997. After 15 months as a fugitive, Bowman was apprehended by the FBI in a Detroit suburb in June 1999.The Legend of Taco Bowman: Beloved Outlaws MC Leader’s Biker Empire Began Crumbling In Summer Of ’97 Scott Burnstein, The Gangster Report (August 4, 2017) He was convicted in Tampa, Florida in April 2001 of the murders of gang members, bombings of rival gangs' clubhouses and businesses, racketeering, conspiracy and various drug and firearm offenses. Bowman was sentenced to serve two life prison sentences plus 83 years. He died of cancer at the Federal Medical Center, Butner at the age of 69 on March 3, 2019.'Taco' Bowman, ex-head of Outlaws biker gang, dies at 69 George Hunter, The Detroit News (March 6, 2019)
Early life One of five children of Geraldine (née Kramp; 1922–2012)Geraldine Bowman obituary The Times Herald (September 21, 2012) and Hiram Joseph Bowman (1912–1970),Geraldine C. Bowman obituary pollockrandall.com he was born in Marysville, Michigan on July 17, 1949.Harry Joseph "Taco" Bowman obituary Legacy.com (March 12, 2019) His mother worked as an accountant for the United States government. Bowman was raised on a farm on Range Road in St. Clair Township and graduated from Port Huron Catholic High School. Captain James Carmody of the Port Huron Police, who also attended Port Huron Catholic High, said of Bowman and his brothers: "They had a tough upbringing and they had a reputation as being tough guys".Marysville native joins FBI's top 10 John Wisely, The Times Herald (March 18, 1998) Another former schoolmate remembered Bowman as being "quite friendly".Captured leader of Outlaws biker gang ordered taken to Florida Alexandra R. Moses, The Ledger (June 9, 1999) St. Clair County Sheriff Dan Lane described "Harry Joe" as "an all-right kid".Ackerman, Bowman share biker backgrounds (Continued from Page 1B) Mike Connell, The Times Herald (June 20, 1999) Bowman was arrested twice by Port Huron police for disorderly conduct in the 1960s. He received the nickname "Taco" because of his dark complexion and resemblance to a person of Hispanic descent.
Outlaws Bowman was affiliated with the Devils Diciples before joining the Outlaws. He became the president of the Detroit chapter of the Outlaws in 1970. A protégé of the Outlaws' Dayton, Ohio-based national president Harold "Stairway Harry" Henderson, Bowman also served as leader of the club's "North" region and became the national vice president in the late 1970s. By that time, the Outlaws had become one of the largest motorcycle gangs in the United States and were involved in various illegal activities, although members often also ran legitimate businesses. The Outlaws cornered the market for amphetamines and topless dancers in the cities they operated in.Toledo's killer biker turns on his Outlaws `brothers' Michael D. Sallah, The Blade (June 3, 2001) Under Bowman's leadership, the Detroit Outlaws were the most senior of the approximately 35 biker gangs in the city, specializing in drug trafficking, prostitution, extortion, gambling and bombings. The Detroit Partnership also began outsourcing enforcement work to the club, with Francesco "Frankie the Bomb" Bommarito acting as the Mafia's emissary to the outlaw biker milieu in Southeast Michigan.Former Outlaws MC President Taco Bowman & The Detroit Mob Squared Off In ’90s Dice Game Dispute Scott Burnstein, The Gangster Report (August 5, 2017)
In June 1975, an alliance was formed between the Outlaws and Satan's Choice, the largest biker gang in Canada. Under the terms of the agreement, the Outlaws were the exclusive distributors in the United States of the PCP and methamphetamine manufactured by Satan's Choice members in Northern Ontario. In turn, firearms from the U.S. were trafficked into Canada.Inside the Rise of the Hells Angels, the World’s Most Powerful Biker Gang Vice (June 6, 2024) Another advantage of the alliance was a "fugitive exchange program", in which Outlaws members fleeing American law enforcement could be harbored by Satan's Choice in Canada, and fugitive Choice bikers could take refuge with the Outlaws in the U.S. Bowman spent time hiding out with the Kitchener Satan's Choice chapter under the mutual aid pact. He was present at the Kitchener chapter clubhouse when Satan's Choice member Lorne Campbell almost got into a fight with an Outlaws biker from Nashville in a dispute over a mutual girlfriend. Campbell threatened to throw the Outlaw down a staircase but, following biker protocol, sent for Bowman before doing so. Bowman was able to mollify Campbell and save the Outlaw from harm. Campbell later characterized Bowman as "a nice guy".
As the liaison between the Outlaws and Satan's Choice, the Detroit chapter became an important and powerful faction in the Outlaws organization. Bowman was instrumental in the Outlaws' development into an international club by "patching over" several Satan's Choice chapters. He courted Garnet "Mother" McEwen, the St. Catharines Satan's Choice chapter president who advocated for "Yankeeization" of his club, during several visits by McEwen to the U.S. Members of the Detroit Outlaws were invited by McEwen to provide intimidation at a meeting in Crystal Beach, Ontario on July 1, 1977, at which eight of the thirteen Satan's Choice chapters defected to join the Outlaws.
According to Philip Reich of the Detroit Police Department motorcycle gang unit, who first encountered Bowman in 1980: "At the time, he lived in the Outlaws clubhouse [on the east side of Detroit], but he hung out in a topless bar called the Please Station, a little hole in the wall on Seven Mile, just west of Van Dyke. Taco went there quite a bit; in those days, a lot of the bikers were agents to the strippers." Reich described Bowman as "a very interesting, bright guy" and said of him: "I can't say I admired what he did for a living, but I admired his leadership abilities." In addition to illegal enterprises, Bowman and the Detroit Outlaws also ran a motorcycle repair facility and a T-shirt shop in the Eastern Market. One popular T-shirt design that Bowman sold featured two pistols pointing at the Renaissance Center with the caption: "Visit Detroit, Murder City." Another design worn and distributed by Bowman proclaimed: "Snitches are a dying breed", an Outlaws motto.Prosecutors try to depose the "top Outlaw' Graham Brink, Tampa Bay Times (March 21, 2001) United States of America v. Harry Bowman FindLaw (August 20, 2002)
On March 3, 1982, Bowman allegedly killed 38-year-old Arthur Allen "Good Old Speed" Vincent, a probationary member of the Dayton Outlaws, for "running his mouth" at an Outlaws party during Daytona Beach Bike Week in Daytona Beach, Florida.Former motorcycle club president appears in court Tampa Bay Times (June 7, 1999) FBI nabs alleged killer on Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list CNN (June 8, 1999) Vincent was last seen entering a car with Bowman, Raymond "Roach" Ravalee and another Outlaw after bragging about crimes.Attorneys for Outlaws leader present case for blaming others The Tampa Tribune (April 11, 2001) He was then shot execution-style in the back of the head.Orlando's Outlaws laying low in 'fortress' (Continued from B-1) Scott Abrahams, Orlando Sentinel (May 30, 1982) Vincent's decomposing body was discovered on March 8, 1982, by a Florida Power & Light crew in a ditch in a wooded area on Old Tomoka Road in Ormond Beach near Interstate 95.Dayton motorcyclist found slain in Florida Dayton Daily News (March 11, 1982) An autopsy revealed he had died by homicide.Unsolved Murders volusiasheriff.org The murder remains unsolved.Seeking justice: Retired deputies try to crack unsolved murders Patricia G. Balona, The Daytona Beach News-Journal (May 25, 2013)
International president Bowman succeeded Harry Henderson as Outlaws international president after his mentor resigned due to ongoing legal issues, and he was appointed the club's leader at a summit in Joliet, Illinois in February 1984. He relocated the Outlaws' international headquarters from Chicago to Detroit and conducted his presidential activities from the Detroit chapter's fortified clubhouse on Warren Avenue, overseeing various matters, from setting the club's policies regarding rival motorcycle gangs to monitoring the activities of members. Upon his ascendency to the Outlaws presidency, Bowman moved to the affluent Detroit suburb of Grosse Pointe Farms, where he lived with his wife and three daughters, Kellie, Krystin and Kortney, who he enrolled in expensive local private schools. Eschewing the stereotypical long-haired, bearded biker image, he was generally clean shaven, sporting neatly coiffed hair and was known to wear expensive suits. Bowman travelled in a custom-made, armor-plated Cadillac automobile and was usually accompanied by at least one armed bodyguard. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Bill Randall said that Bowman "went against the grain and kept one foot in the straight world and the other in the biker world, while most of those guys want to stay as far away from the two-car garage and picket fence thing as possible".Biker Gangs In The Motor City: A History of Riding Rough Scott Burnstein, The Gangster Report (July 2, 2014) By the early 1990s, Bowman maintained dual residency in Michigan and Florida.Outlaw motorcycle gangs USA overview p.7 National Institute of Justice (1991) In addition to his wife and a mistress in Detroit, he also had numerous girlfriends across the country.Affairs of the Heart Led To Taco Bowman’s Apprehension, Outlaws MC Boss’ Girl Problems Got Him Caught Scott Burnstein, The Gangster Report (August 10, 2017)
Bowman developed a reputation as a formidable, ruthless and inventive, but discreet crime boss. He was "dead set" against publicity for himself or his club. Law enforcement described Bowman as the first "businessman biker boss" and credited him with pioneering the Outlaws' foray into more sophisticated rackets and diverse business ventures beyond traditional motorcycle gang fronts such as bars, strip clubs and tattoo parlors. One key policy decision of his was to augment the club's drug and prostitution operations with gambling, loansharking and extortion. Bowman forged ties with Italian and Eastern European crime groups as well as influential members of legitimate society, including philanthropists, politicians, judges and policemen. He also built a sophisticated counterintelligence network by having Outlaws members collect search warrant affidavits and newspaper clippings that provided details on law enforcement efforts against the club, and attend trials to gather information on witnesses against the Outlaws.Biker gang leader sought dominance of Florida Vickie Chechere, The Ledger (March 19, 2001)