Bandidos MC criminal allegations and incidents in the United States

The Bandidos Motorcycle Club has been designated an outlaw motorcycle gang by the U.S. Department of Justice.Outlaw motorcycle gangs – USA overview National Institute of Justice (1991) The club is involved in drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, prostitution, money laundering, explosives violations, motorcycle and motorcycle-parts theft, intimidation, insurance fraud, kidnapping, robbery, theft, stolen property, counterfeiting, contraband smuggling, murder, bombings, extortion, arson and assault.2005 National Gang Threat Assessment National Alliance of Gang Investigators Association (2005) The Bandidos partake in transporting and distributing cocaine and marijuana, and the production, transportation and distribution of methamphetamine. Active primarily in the Northwestern, Southeastern, Southwestern and the West Central regions, there are an estimated 800 to 1,000 Bandidos members and 93 chapters in 16 U.S. states.Bandidos, The Terrorism Research & Analysis Consortium

Club membership is predominantly white and Hispanic.Two faces of the Bandidos: Weekend road warriors or criminal gang? Rick Jervis, USA Today (May 24, 2015) The Bandidos are supplied with drugs by Los Zetas,FBI 2013 National Gang Intelligence Center report fbi.gov (2013) and have also associated with the Outlaws in criminal ventures. The Bandidos' rivals include the Cossacks,The story behind the biker-gang feud that erupted in a shootout at a Texas restaurant Emily Schmall, Business Insider (May 19, 2015) the Hells Angels,How the Bandidos became one of the world's most feared biker gangs Michael E. Miller, The Washington Post (May 18, 2015) the MongolsLaw enforcement fears gang 'war' in Albuquerque Coleen Heild, Albuquerque Journal (April 15, 2020) the Kinfolk,Kinfolk gang member sentenced to prison in fatal shooting of Bandidos El Paso president Aaron Martinez, El Paso Times (January 24, 2019) and the Vagos.Shooting reignites rivalry between Bandidos & Vagos KOAT-TV (July 30, 2017)

Arkansas Twenty-two members and associates of the Bandidos were arrested in Little Rock on February 22, 1985, as part of a nationwide law enforcement operation against the club. Five of those arrested were charged under the Continuing Criminal Enterprise Statute, the first time the law had been used in Arkansas.Pre-dawn Raids Net More Than 70 Motorcycle Gang Members Steve Ellwanger, Associated Press (February 22, 1985) An investigation into the Bandidos' involvement in drug trafficking began sixteen months earlier and involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).Roundup of Bandidos motorcycle gang United Press International (February 21, 1985) A court-authorized wiretap was used at the Bandidos' Little Rock chapter clubhouse as part of the investigation.82 ARE ARRESTED IN DRIVE AGAINST MOTORCYCLE GANG Leslie Maitland Werner, The New York Times (February 22, 1985)

Four Bandidos members from Texas – Isidro Savala Zerrata Jr., David Thomas Wood, Keith Allen Miller and Thomas Fisher Goodnight – were stabbed by Massachusetts Hells Angels members after an altercation broke out between the groups in a parking lot in Eureka Springs on July 29, 2007. Two of the Bandidos members were critically injured.Four Stabbed as Biker Gangs Rumble in Eureka Springs KAIT (July 30, 2007) In March 2009, Hells Angels members Jason David Gallo, Eric Claudio Franco, Robert Thomas Reynolds and Derek Jeffrey Roy were each sentenced to five year suspended prison sentences and fined $4,000 after pleading guilty to second-degree battery. Plea agreements were also reached for two other Hells Angels, Christopher Michael Sweeney and Manny R. Monteiro, who were unable to attend the hearing; Sweeney was in prison in New York on federal weapons charges, while Monteiro had been deported to Portugal.Four in Hells Angels plead guilty in attack Adam Wallworth, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (March 17, 2009)

Colorado Bandidos chapters have been established in Denver, Pueblo and Grand Junction. The Bandidos and their support clubs in Colorado are involved in producing and distributing methamphetamine at wholesale and retail levels, in addition to smuggling, transporting and distributing cocaine and marijuana.Colorado Drug Threat Assessment National Drug Intelligence Center, justice.gov (May 2003)

Eight Bandidos members and associates in Colorado were indicted on September 13, 2011, on charges of trafficking methamphetamine and cocaine. Five of those – Keith P. Allison, Ronald C. Tenorio, Edward R. Goll, Adan C. Chavez and Tommy Freyta – were arrested during a series of raids in Denver, Golden, Rio Grande County and Thornton on September 27, 2011. A sixth man, Joseph P. Windsor, was already in custody, while another two remained at large. The indictments were related to a law enforcement operation against the Bandidos which resulted in drugs and firearms charges against a total of thirty-nine club members and associates in Colorado and Texas.Metro Gang Task Force Arrests Bandidos Motorcycle Club Members and Their Associates FBI.gov (September 27, 2011)

Three high-ranking Bandidos members were among eight people indicted by a Colorado grand jury in January 2015, accused of operating a drug trafficking ring in the Denver metropolitan area. The indictments followed Operation Tick and Flea Collar, an investigation that began in September 2014 and also led to the seizure of two-and-a-half pounds of methamphetamine.'Operation Tick & Flea Collar' Nets Bandidos Motorcycle Club Leaders KCNC-TV (January 28, 2015) National sergeant-at-arms Philip Duran, Denver "Westside" chapter president Lorenzo Sojo, and the chapter sergeant-at-arms Michael Mensen pleaded guilty to violating the Colorado Organized Crime Control Act and felony drug charges. In November 2016, Sojo was sentenced to twenty years' imprisonment and Mensen to twenty-four years', but Duran escaped from custody on October 28, 2016, before his sentencing.High-ranking Bandidos Motorcycle Club member escaped Denver court at sentencing hearing Blair Miller, KMGH-TV (November 22, 2016)

Louisiana The Bandidos have a strong presence in Louisiana. The club's Louisiana faction, which relies on Mexican drug cartels as its primary source of narcotics supply, distributes methamphetamine and, to a lesser extent, cocaine and marijuana, in the state.Louisiana Drug Threat Assessment National Drug Intelligence Center, justice.gov (May 2001) The Louisiana Bandidos have also been involved in stealing Harley-Davidson motorcycles and shipping them to various locations overseas.

Jimmy R. Graves, a member of the Bandidos' Dallas, Texas chapter, was sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty in July 1972 to the March 9, 1972 contract killing of National Guard sergeant Charles Edwin Overfield, who was shot dead on Interstate 20 near the Texas state line.Deaths The Times (March 10, 1972) Overfield was a witness against Robert Powell, a Bandidos associate charged with the attempted burglary of a Louisiana National Guard armory. Powell was sentenced to thirty years in a state penitentiary for attempted aggravated burglary and bribery of a witness in the trial.Bandidos motorcycle gang begins return to Shreveport J.L. Wilson, The Times (April 9, 1978)

David Wall, identified by law enforcement as the president of the Bandidos in the Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, was shot and killed with a shotgun outside a Bossier City lounge on September 5, 1974.Man is killed by gun blast The Times (September 6, 1974) A former club member was indicted in Wall's death but was never brought to trial because the only witness to the killing became a fugitive rather than testify.

In December 1979, Bandidos member William S. "Wheeler" Light was convicted of second-degree murder for the July 21, 1979 killing of off-duty police officer Ronald Euell "Ron" Dean, who was shot in the head at point-blank range through a car window outside a bar in Shreveport. Light was sentenced to life in prison.Gang made its mark in Shreveport-Bossier's past The Times (February 24, 1985)

Shreveport Bandidos members Lloyd Dale Randolph and James R. Shoemake were shot to death with a 9 mm caliber pistol by Dennis Baker as they beat him with an ax handle at his trailer home in Stonewall on June 1, 1986.2 Bandidos killed in shooting Russell Dangeleisen, The Times (June 2, 1986) Investigators ruled that the killings were self-defense. Randolph and Shoemake, a former Shreveport chapter president, went to Baker's home armed with two handguns and an ax handle to confront him after a dispute concerning the title to a motor vehicle.City police have warned members of the Bandidos motorcycle... United Press International (June 4, 1986)

The Vernon Parish Sheriff's Office began investigating an influx of motorcycle gang members and a subsequent turf war between the Bandidos and the Mongols in 2018.Vernon Parish motorcycle gangs have authorities on alert Jade Moreau, KPLC (October 19, 2021) A joint investigation into the Bandidos and Los Solitarios motorcycle clubs by Fort Polk officials, and state and local law enforcement agencies, which followed an assault on members of the Mongols at a business in Vernon Parish on September 11, 2021, resulted in the arrests of James Larry Birdsong, Christopher William Moore and James Allen Snyder Jr. on various charges on October 7, 2021.VPSO arrests 3 outlaw motorcycle gang members KALB-TV (October 8, 2021)

Montana The Missoula Bandidos chapter has allegedly been involved in an interstate drug distribution pipeline with the club's chapters in Gillette, Wyoming, Rapid City, South Dakota, and Denver, Colorado.

Bandidos member Joe Cancellare was imprisoned for his role in two assaults involving shotguns in Missoula in 1994.Out In Bad Standings: Inside The Bandidos Motorcycle Club Edward Winterhalder (2005)

Eleven Bandidos were arrested on May 27, 2003, after kidnapping and robbing Scott Spencer, a member of the rival Kinsmen Motorcycle Club, of his colors at gunpoint in Great Falls. A three-hour standoff ensued when an employee at Spencer's motorcycle repair shop alerted police.

Nine members of the Bandidos' Missoula chapter were among twenty-six club members and associates indicted on a variety of charges at the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, Washington on June 10, 2005, following a two-year investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Bikers were arrested during a series of raids in three Northwestern states, which resulted in the seizure of narcotics, firearms, U.S. currency, evidence of trafficking in stolen motorcycles and seventy marijuana plants.Twenty-six indicted following 2 year investigation of Bandidos motorcycle gang Justice.gov (June 10, 2005) Missoula chapter president Bernard Russell Ortman was apprehended in Lubbock, Texas.Another Bandidos leader arrested The Seattle Times (June 14, 2005) Several Missoula Bandidos were charged with the kidnapping of an individual that took place in May 2003.ATF, Police Crack Down on 'Bandidos' Motorcycle Gang Gene Johnson, Kitsap Sun (June 10, 2005) In April 2006, Ortman and another chapter member, Dale Granmo, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to kidnap.Biker Gang Reaches Plea Deal on Kidnapping, Racketeering Charges Fox News (May 10, 2006)

New Mexico The Bandidos are the most significant motorcycle gang involved in drug trafficking in New Mexico. The club maintains chapters in Albuquerque, Alamogordo, Las Cruces, Silver City and Roswell, and is also responsible for contract killing, extortion, welfare and bank fraud, and arson.New Mexico Drug Threat Assessment National Drug Intelligence Center, justice.gov (April 2002) The Bandidos have between 50 and 60 members in the state, with 25 or 30 of those based in Albuquerque.Turf at center of biker gang conflict in N.M. Jeff Proctor, Albuquerque Journal (August 10, 2013)