The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is designated an outlaw motorcycle gang by the Department of Justice.Outlaw motorcycle gangs – USA overview National Institute of Justice (1991) Based primarily in the Southwest, the Pacific Northwest, the Great Lakes region, the Mid-Atlantic and New England,Hells Angels Motorcycle Club National Drug Intelligence Center (October 2002) there are an estimated 92 Hells Angels chapters in 27 U.S. states, with a membership of over 800. Due to the club's designation as a "known criminal organization" by the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, the United States has a federal policy prohibiting its foreign members from entering the country.Hells Angels sue U.S. over visas, criminal designation Bill Mears, CNN (August 20, 2012) The Hells Angels partake in drug trafficking, gunrunning, extortion, money laundering, insurance fraud, kidnapping, robbery, theft, counterfeiting, contraband smuggling, loan sharking, forced prostitution/"pimping " trafficking in stolen goods, motorcycle and motorcycle parts theft, assault, murder, bombings, arson, intimidation and contract killing.2005 National Gang Threat Assessment National Alliance of Gang Investigators Association (2005) The club's role in the narcotics trade involves the production, transportation and distribution of marijuana and methamphetamine, in addition to the transportation and distribution of cocaine, hashish, heroin, LSD, MDMA, PCP and diverted pharmaceuticals. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the HAMC may earn up to $1 billion in drug sales annually.Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs Deputy John Williams, Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department (2008)
The Hells Angels are allied with numerous smaller motorcycle gangs – such as the Devils Diciples,Organized Crime in America U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary (1983) the Diablos, El Forastero, the Galloping Goose,Springfield police keep watch on biker turf war — Tension alleged between two local groups Jess Rollins, Springfield News-Leader (July 16, 2012) the Hessians, the Iron Horsemen,Angels in Disguise? Brendan McGarvey, My City Paper (August 7, 2003) the Red Devils,A peek into the inner-workings of the Hells Angels Jason Old, WIS (June 7, 2012) the Sons of Silence, and the Warlocks3 Arrested in Md. in Probe of Biker Clubs Michael Amon, The Washington Post (July 25, 2003) – and have associated in criminal ventures with the Buffalo, Cleveland, Gambino, Genovese, Los Angeles,Les Gangs de Motards Criminalisés: Une expansion internationale Xavier Raufer, Institut de Criminologie de Paris Patriarca,The State of the Mob W. Zachary Malinowski, The Providence Journal (January 28, 2007) and San Jose crime families, as well as the Aryan Brotherhood,Reputed Aryan Brotherhood Gang Member Convicted of Murders of Three Men in Massachusetts Bill Marlin, Southern Poverty Law Center (May 16, 2014) the Mexican Mafia, and the Nazi Lowriders.White Power Gangs: The NLR (Nazi Low Riders) Story B. Belt and G. Doyle, National Criminal Justice Reference Service (March 1998) Rival motorcycle gangs include the Bandidos,How the Bandidos became one of the world's most feared biker gangs Michael E. Miller, The Washington Post (May 18, 2015) the Breed,Five die in clash of cycle gangs The New York Times (March 8, 1971) the Mongols,Biker in Mongols gang is arrested in fatal shooting of rival Hell Angels member Veronica Rocha, Los Angeles Times (June 23, 2017) the Outlaws, the Pagans, the Sons of Satan, and the Vagos.Worst California biker feud in decade erupted at Starbucks Jason Kandel, Reuters (October 26, 2011)
Alaska HAMC chapters were established in Anchorage and Fairbanks in December 1982 following a merger with the Brothers MC.Shoot out at the Healy Hotel alaskarails.org The Brothers were formed in 1967,Jack Cottrill obituary Anchorage Daily News (June 16, 2019) and established an association with the Hells Angels in California's San Francisco Bay Area by 1977.Angels Pop Tops For 'Blown' Harry Las Vegas Sun (January 16, 1977) The club "patched over" to the HAMC during a ceremony in California attended by members of the Brothers' Fairbanks chapter.Organized Crime in America U.S. House Committee on the Judiciary (1983) The Alaskan Hells Angels are involved in methamphetamine trafficking.FBI task force arrests 'well-known member' of Hells Angels with 12 pounds of meth Zaz Hollander, Anchorage Daily News (August 14, 2018)
Operation Cacus Anchorage Hells Angels chapter sergeant-at-arms Anthony "Tony Truth" Tait volunteered to become a paid informant for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1985, and he provided the government with detailed information on the club's organization and criminal activities – such as drugs and explosives trafficking – for two years.The Hells Angel of the Future Derek Lundy, booksincanada.com During this period, Tait travelled the country at government expense to meet with various Hells Angels members, and he covertly recorded some of these meetings by wearing a wire.United States of America v. Ralph Hubert Barger Justia (October 5, 1990) As part of the investigation, the informant and undercover agents purchased approximately $1.6 million of cocaine and methamphetamine from the Hells Angels, in addition to more than twenty pounds of explosives, three automatic weapons and two silencers.38 Hells Angels Arrested In 'Operation Roughrider' Kathleen MacLay, Associated Press (November 11, 1987) The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Operation CACUS culminated with 38 HAMC members in Alaska and four other states being arrested on narcotics, weapons, explosives and conspiracy charges on November 10, 1987.38 Arrested in Inquiry Of Hells Angels Gang The New York Times (November 11, 1987) Anchorage chapter president Edward Floyd Hubert and Fairbanks chapter president Dennis E. Pailing were among fourteen people taken into custody during raids by FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents on homes in Anchorage and a compound in Fairbanks.Five-state sweep produces arrests of 32 Hells Angels Ray Means, United Press International (November 11, 1987)
Ten Hells Angels from California and Alaska, including Hubert and Pailing, were extradited to Louisville, Kentucky to face charges of conspiring to transport firearms and explosives across state lines in order to kill members of the Outlaws in retaliation for the death of John Cleave Webb, the previous Anchorage Hells Angels president who was fatally shot by two Outlaws outside a saloon in Jefferson County, Kentucky on August 12, 1986.Louisville trial gives bikers an easy ride Michael York, The Washington Post (October 23, 1988) On October 28, 1988, Anchorage chapter members Hubert, Lawrence Russell Hagel and Gerald G. Protzman were convicted of the misdemeanor charge of converting a government intelligence manual for their use, while Pailing and four other Alaskan Angels were acquitted.2 Hells Angels leaders guilty of conspiracy Deborah Yetter, The Courier-Journal (October 29, 1988) Other members of the Alaska and California chapters were convicted on state drug and firearm charges either side of the federal trial. The Hells Angels allegedly put a $1 million bounty on Tait's life.Names Of Hells Angels Jurors To Be Kept Secret Bill Morlin, The Spokesman-Review (April 30, 1996)
Federal racketeering case Four Alaskan Hells Angels – Montgomery David Elliott, Michael Hurn, Dale Leedom and William Spearman – were arrested by ATF agents on federal racketeering and firearms charges during raids at three homes in Anchorage and one in Two Rivers on December 3, 2003. HAMC clubhouses in Anchorage and North Pole were also searched.Area arrests part of Hells Angels sweep Kitsap Sun (December 4, 2003) The charges, filed at the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada, stemmed from the River Run riot – a conflict between the Hells Angels and the Mongols on April 27, 2002, which left three bikers dead in Laughlin, Nevada – and followed a twenty-month ATF investigation of the club.Federal Racketeering Charges Brought Against 42 Members of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club justice.gov (December 4, 2003) The operation resulted in the arrests of a total of fifty-eight Hells Angels members and associates by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies in Alaska and four other Western states for narcotics trafficking, firearms violations, possessing stolen explosives and various other crimes.Raids nab 55 Hells Angels, guns, drugs CNN (December 4, 2003) Leedom, the Fairbanks chapter president, was one of six Hells Angels convicted in the case after being extradited to Las Vegas, Nevada to face charges; he pleaded no contest to committing a violent crime in the aid of racketeering in October 2006 and was sentenced to two years in prison on February 13, 2007.Hells Angels members sentenced to prison for brawl The Press Democrat (February 13, 2007) Thirty-six others had charges against them dismissed.Fugitive biker surrenders Las Vegas Review-Journal (July 19, 2008)
Violent incidents Hells Angels member James William Leffel was convicted of first-degree assault for stabbing a man named Jens Schurig in the thigh, opening his femoral artery, outside a bar in Anchorage after Schurig allegedly denigrated Leffel's motorcycle.James William Leffel v. State of Alaska FindLaw (August 25, 2017)
On August 3, 2017, Michael "Steak Knife" Staton was kidnapped and taken to a duplex in Wasilla where he was tortured, beaten and killed by members of the 1488s – a white supremacist prison gang to which he belonged – after he was accused of stealing drugs and "colors" from Craig "Oakie" King, a Hells Angels member and 1488s associate.Alaska white supremacist gang members face federal charges Mark Thiesse, The Seattle Times (March 27, 2019) King and five 1488s members were arrested on March 27, 2019, and charged with murder, kidnapping and racketeering crimes including drug trafficking.Neo-Nazi gang members charged with murder, racketeering in Alaska Yereth Rosen, Reuters (March 28, 2019) On May 2, 2022, King was convicted of racketeering conspiracy, conspiracy in aid of racketeering, murder in aid of racketeering, kidnapping resulting in death, and kidnapping conspiracy.White Supremacist Gang Leader and Members and Associates Convicted on Racketeering and Murder Charges Justice.gov (May 2, 2022) King and four others were sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in January 2023.Five Members and Associates of White Supremacist Gang Sentenced to Life in Prison for Racketeering, Kidnapping, and Murder justice.gov (January 26, 2023)
Methamphetamine trafficking Hells Angels member Charles Denver "Pup" Phillips and his wife Lois Latrilla Phillips were arrested after an FBI drug task force discovered twelve pounds of methamphetamine and almost $25,000 in cash at their apartment and in a nearby shipping container in Anchorage on August 10, 2018. Investigators also found a ledger listing money and quantities, and a list of names of Hells Angels prospects throughout the state. The couple were convicted of distributing and conspiring to distribute methamphetamine. On October 30, 2019, Charles Phillips was sentenced to eighteen years in federal prison, and his wife was sentenced to five years.Anchorage Hells Angel and Wife Sentenced to Federal Prison for Drug Trafficking justice.gov (October 30, 2019)
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