A jury sided with the prosecution in 2019 and ordered the group to give up the emblem, but Judge David O. Carter rejected the verdict as an infringement on the clubs constitutional rights. They offered an opportunity for motorcycle enthusiasts to socialize, meet up, and race. The group has about 1,200 members in the United States, most of them Hispanic, and numerous chapters around the world. When the Clarksville Mongols learned that Bradley had failed to accede to their demands, she was kidnapped and murdered in the woods behind a cemetery in Bumpus Mills, Tennessee. He cant protect me, he told me, so we have to have an exit strategy, he told me, an apparently agitated Mr. Santillan said to her. The sheriff categorized the group as an organized crime syndicate with national reach. Annie Santillan says she surreptitiously recorded the call because David's mistress had been harassing her. While affirming the jurys guilty verdicts on racketeering charges, the courts ruling nullifies the jurys finding that these marks are a core component of the Mongols decades-long pattern of murder, assault and drug trafficking, Mr. Mrozek said. Now the Mongols want a new trial and say their former president was a confidential informant for the ATF. "He goes, I know you've been doing a bang-up job at the club, can't protect you from this point forward," Santillan recounted of their conversation. According to mongolsmc.com, the Mongols took the inspiration for their name from the Mongol Empire that was led by Genghis Khan. The U.S. Attorneys Office has failed to force the Mongols to forfeit their trademarked logo. According to sources listed above, the mongols would distribute (sell) drugs and also transport them to various locations, depending where they travel. However later on, since this gang activity is worldwide, more and more members were accepted. Mr. Santillan said he talked with the A.T.F. The club was originally formed in Montebello, California by hispanic Vietnam-war veterans who were said to be refused entry into the Hells Angels due to their ethnicity. Evidence at trial demonstrated that the Clarksville Mongols were responsible for the kidnapping and murder of Stephanie Bradley, as well as the separate kidnapping and murder of Stephen Cole. Today, Judge Carter stood strong against the United States governments attempt to ban symbolic speech in an epic win for all Americans.. The Mongols Motorcycle Club, sometimes called the Mongols Nation or Mongol Brotherhood, is a "one-percenter" outlaw motorcycle club. In October 2008, a grand jury returned an 86-count federal racketeering indictment against 79 Mongols, accused of crimes ranging from murder to drug trafficking to money laundering. A veteran federal agent who spent years undercover after infiltrating the notorious Mongols Motorcycle Club offered his first-hand account Thursday of a secretive culture of violence and . A petition for a new trial and reversal of the half-million-dollar fine, which is scheduled for an initial hearing on Monday in the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, Calif., claims that Mr. Santillan, 52, covertly cooperated for years with a special agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. In court Monday, prosecutors told Judge David O. Carter that retired ATF agent Ciccone will testify that Santillan was never an informant. Now the Mongols want a new trial and say their former president was a confidential informant for the ATF. The judge will most likely consider a series of procedural matters on Monday, lawyers said, with additional hearings expected before any final ruling. Mongols Motorcycle Club was founded in Montebello, California on December 5, 1969. Two years later, a confrontation between members of the Mongols and rival gang the Hells Angels at the Harrahs Laughlin Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, led to four fatalities on both sides. The Mongols MC is ecstatic that they could successfully defend the First Amendment for themselves and all motorcycle clubs, the clubs general counsel, Stephen Stubbs, said. Ling called her experience "an interesting time" and "exhilarating" and even suggested that the club could serve a positive influence on "a lot of guys who ordinarily might do things they're not supposed to do.". There was nothing nefarious about it.". That was all it was about. [33], A German chapter of Mongols MC was founded in Bremen by members of the local crime syndicate run by Lebanese immigrants in 2010. Then, in November 2017, Stephen Cole was kidnapped, brutally beaten, and murdered by the Clarksville Mongols. John looked out not just for me but the club, Mr. Santillan said. ", RELATED: Racketeering verdict in OC might force Mongols biker club to lose logo. "You're my everything, you're my ride or die, you're my everything. Testimony resumed for a hearing in which a judge will decided if the Mongols Motorcycle Club will get a new trial after being convicted of conspiracy and racketeering in 2018. Conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; distribution of, or possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. The unusual legal imbroglio provides a rare glimpse into the hidden and volatile politics of the outlaw motorcycle club and the degree to which law enforcement and its targets may engage in limited cooperation when it is seen as mutually beneficial. A spokesman for the United States attorneys office for the Central District of California, Thom Mrozek, said in a statement that prosecutors were disappointed by the decision and that they believed Judge Carter was required by law to issue the forfeiture order that the government had requested. Judge Carters ruling was a severe setback for California prosecutors who spent more than a decade going after the Mongols patch. When Ling replied, "People have fought and died for the patches," Dave confirmed her statement (per YouTube). Life in prison, with a mandatory minimum sentence of: life in prison for murder; and 10 years for the drug and firearm offenses to be served consecutive to all other sentences. A woman across the street appeared to take a picture of the four men, who were all wearing . motorcycle club chapter support gear and news Copyright 2023 KABC Television, LLC. In the second phase of that wide-ranging, eight-week trial, the jury found that the Mongols must give up their rights to the emblem, which is emblazoned on the vests, T-shirts and motorcycles of hundreds of members. [37], In 2016 the last Mongols chapter in Bremen closed.[38]. These days, theyre even more so. Life in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years for the drug offenses to be served consecutive to all other sentences. Members and associates of the Clarksville Mongols interrogated Bradley, threatening her and demanding that she should not mention the Mongols again. motorized two-wheel machines on the roads, How Eiza Gonzalez Achieved a Net Worth of $5 Million, How Bebe Rexha Achieved a Net Worth of $10 Million, The 20 Worst Cities for Human Trafficking in the World, How Simu Liu Achieved a Net Worth of $4 Million. Their colors are black and white and their insignia bears the name Mongols in large black letters above a pony-tail sporting man riding a motorcycle wearing a leather vest and sunglasses while carrying a scimitar or cutlass. But the group that was once the most powerful biker organization in the West other than its archrivals, the Hells Angels, is returning to court next week, hoping to set aside the racketeering and conspiracy convictions based on what it says is new evidence about its previous leader, David Santillan. David Santillan, the president of the Mongols, was ousted by the group after a video surfaced that implied he was being protected by a federal agent. Other possible patches include one designating the rider as a "one percenter" biker, and one reading MFFM, which stands for "Mongols Forever, Forever Mongols." Copyright 2023 KABC Television, LLC. We will use all of ATFs resources to disrupt the illegal possession of firearms, distribution of narcotics, and other violent crimes. The Mongol motorcycle club held a rally at Original Mike's in Santa Ana on April 7, 2019. Mongols Motorcycle Club Says Its Leader Was an Informant, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/05/us/mongols-new-trial.html. Boylston felt disrespected by Cole and was concerned about maintaining his standing and reputation among the Clarksville Mongols. Both Mr. Ciccone and the U.S. Attorneys Office declined to comment on the motion beyond the government response filed in court, which said the petition for a new trial was replete with false and unsupported allegations and speculation.. Testimony will reconvene on Friday, July 22, at 7:30 a.m. 3 Kansas City officers shot while executing search warrant, chief says, Roof collapses at nonprofit South LA clinic, causing $500K in damage, Video shows group of sharks in feeding frenzy off Louisiana coast. The sheriff said more than one person shot Paternoster and that more arrests are forthcoming. Consisting of a large majority of ex-servicemen that had served in the war, the Hells Angels quickly started to gain a reputation for all the wrong reasons. [30], After a long legal battle with the Department of Justice and ATF over the Mongols' MC patch, the Mongols won the rights to continued use and ownership of their patch. Now the Mongols want a new trial and say their former president, David Santillan, was a confidential informant for the ATF. According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the Clarksville Mongols were a violent motorcycle gang operating in and around the city of Clarksville. The U.S. Attorneys Office had earlier tried and failed to force the Mongols to forfeit their rights to the clubs trademarked logo, a drawing of a brawny Genghis Khan-like figure riding a chopper while brandishing a sword, a landmark case that prosecutors felt would help weaken the club by undermining its visual identity. Paternoster was a member of the Raiders biker gang, a group Gualtieri described as a lower-level club that served as a feeder to the more powerful Mongols. (Ric Francis/AP) All rights reserved. That quest to seize the Mongols patch was part of a criminal case brought by the U.S. Attorneys Office in 2013 under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act. Learn how your comment data is processed. ", As the CNN interview with Lisa Ling (available on YouTube)continued, the tattoo artist, who was also a Mongols member, shared that another rule for prospective members is that they must "be a breadwinner to be in this club." Such an order would allow anyone to use the image. 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, Undercover agent exposes Hells Angels sex rules: A violent price to pay, Las Vegas biker gangs shootout possibly caused by prior shooting death, Seven hurt after rival biker gangs get in shootout on Nevada highway: cops, Inside the swinging 60s home where Dennis Hoppers marriage unraveled. [12], In January 2019, a California jury had ruled that federal prosecutors could strip the motorcycle club of its brand. Judge Carters ruling was drawn from a flood of legal opinions that were submitted by academics, law firms and think tanks. The Mongols Motorcycle Club was formed in Southern California, and today, the West Coast is still the club's stronghold. In fairness, the majority of violence committed by one-percenter clubs is interclub. As the years progress the more violent they get and they go to war with their rivals. The A.T.F. The Clarksville Mongols were a self-described outlaw motorcycle club with ties to Mongols chapters nationwide. As with other motorcycle clubs, members of the Mongols value the patches they wear on their jackets and vests that announce their membership as well as indicate the rider's rank and achievements within the organization, as reported by Hot Cars. He said the office was considering an appeal. "He's retiring, he's retiring. Keeping with a continual forward movement in technology, innovation, and making upgrades to the, Read More 10 Things You Didnt Know About the 2020 Ducati Superleggera V4Continue, If you live in the state of New Jersey and youre thinking about riding a motorcycle, there are a few things you need to know about the laws. Ducatti announced the impending release of a new take on the Panigale V4 in late 2019 for the upcoming model year. One prospective member told Ling, "This is everything to me. It became clear that Dave had betrayed the club, his oath and everything we hold sacred, the club said in a statement. The lawyer in charge of the retrial motion, Joseph A. Yanny, said the Mongols hoped to prove that an improper relationship between Mr. Santillan and Mr. Ciccone during the 2018 trial allowed the government to hear things it should not have about the Mongols defense strategy and even adversely influenced the Mongols presentation of their case. Do you have a job? A total of 10 Tampa-based Mongols were arrested in January in connection with a gang killing in Colorado. Judge Carter also pressed Annie Santillan on why she specifically called her husband a confidential informant and "a rat" if she was just trying to hurt him. Mr. Santillan holding a photo of himself with fellow Mongols members. 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