We look forward to the sentencing phase and seeking lengthy and life sentences for these defendants convicted today., The criminal activities and horrendous acts of violence are dangerous and damaging to everyone involved, said Special Agent in Carge Mickey French of the ATFs Nashville Field Division. 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. The mayor had previously threatened to shut down the hotel over unpaid taxes if the agreement to host the Mongols was not canceled. So, she sent the recording along with a text message to two other members of the Mongols Motorcycle Club. Streamline your workflow with our best-in-class digital asset management system. The main back patches, or rockers, are earned in three steps, starting with the bottom one that indicates the location of the club, followed by the middle Genghis Khan patch, and finally the top Mongols patch, indicating full Mongol membership. [37], In 2016 the last Mongols chapter in Bremen closed.[38]. Prosecutors requested the injunction after authorities arrested dozens of Mongols under a racketeering indictment. Like other motorcycle clubs, the Mongols have a variety of rules they have to follow. [34][35], Organized crime in Bremen is dominated by the Miri-Clan, a large family of Lebanese origin with more than 10,000 members, who first migrated to Germany beginning in the late 1970s, and rose to national notoriety with a number of large-scale criminal activities in 2010. Both Mr. Santillan, a Mongols member for almost 25 years who was voted out of the club in July, and the agent, John Ciccone, who retired in December after 32 years at the A.T.F., deny that Mr. Santillan was acting as an informant during the trial, though Mr. Ciccones sworn declaration does not address whether Mr. Santillan had acted as a confidential informant in the past. The explosive allegations come after a secretly recorded video surfaced of Santillan talking to his wife about the lead ATF agent on the case -- John Ciccone. At that point, the motorcycle had only just come into existence, proving that, as motorbikeonly.com notes, for as long as theres been motorized two-wheel machines on the roads, thereve been people who want to associate themselves with the unique sense of camaraderie they offer. You can't just be a deadbeat and enjoy this brotherhood. In the video, Ms. Santillan was talking to her husband on speakerphone when he told her that Mr. Ciccone was retiring. In the case that led to the racketeering conviction against the Mongols, Mr. Ciccone had acted as the case agent. Jorge Gil-Blanco, a retired intelligence officer from the San Jose Police Department who serves as an expert witness on the Mongols in court, opined, "You only see what they want you to see. The belief that as long as they're not hurting anybody, they should be able to do what they please." The Mongols, who feared that losing the rights to their logo a brawny Genghis Khan-like man sporting a queue and sunglasses and riding a chopper while brandishing a sword would have severe consequences, hailed the ruling as not just a victory for the group, but for other biker clubs that law enforcement authorities have tried to take down. In exchange, the club said in its motion, the agent appears to have spared Mr. Santillan from serious legal consequences for several offenses since 2011. Some of the most infamous legal cases to involve the Mongols include the arrest of 54 Mongols in 2000 after FBI agent William Queen uncovered drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder, and theft during a 28-month undercover operation. The U.S. Attorneys Office has failed to force the Mongols to forfeit their trademarked logo. [3][4][5][6], Mongols members have a long history in the illegal drugs trade (especially methamphetamine), money laundering, robbery, extortion, firearms violations, murder, and assault, among other crimes. 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. He's written over 1000 articles in the space and continues to learn about it each day. Do you have a job? Mongols MC: The club talks about being in Fort Worth. "It was an improper line of communication, particularly for a law enforcement personnel trying to convict an entity of being a criminal organization," Yanny said. On February 23, 2007, Hells Angels members James Hannigan and Rodney Cox were sentenced to two years in prison for their respective roles in the incident. 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. ", RELATED: Racketeering verdict in OC might force Mongols biker club to lose logo. The Mongols MC patches Motorcycle Club, sometimes called the Mongols Nation or Mongol Brotherhood, is a "one-percenter" outlaw motorcycle club. Boylston felt disrespected by Cole and was concerned about maintaining his standing and reputation among the Clarksville Mongols. The club's name of the "Mongols" was inspired by Genghis Khan's Mongol Empire. Both men also rejected the claim that Mr. Santillan had revealed privileged defense information to the government while his motorcycle club was on trial. The Mongols Motorcycle Club has solidified its reputation of violence and crime, having been involved in gang wars, drug deals, and human trafficking. If hes found guilty, Martinez faces the death penalty. The Mongols MC was formed in California as a one-percenter group in 1969 and has its presence in more than 14 states in the US, as well as having many international chapters. Organize, control, distribute and measure all of your digital content. He said the office was considering an appeal. These convictions underscore the Justice Departments dedication to disrupting and dismantling violent criminal enterprises.. The club is headquartered in Southern California and was originally formed in Montebello, California, in 1969. Today, it has 14 chapters in the US and a presence in 10 countries internationally. The belief that the government should stay out of our lives. He went on to explain, "That's one of the first questions we ask. 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Per their archived official website, which appears to have been last updated in 2010, there were 15 members in the original club, and within five years, there were additional chapters inLos Angeles, San Diego, Bakersfield, Long Beach, San Gabriel Valley, and San Fernando Valley. 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. The Motorcycle Club was founded in London in 1901. On April 5, 1973, Mongols member Ferman Benavides was among eleven motorcycle gang members convicted in Los Angeles of rape and sex perversion. Free to Subscribe to the YouTube Channel Members and associates of the Mongols Motorcycle Club converged on the patio of a popular Las Vegas, New Mexico, hotel and saloon the evening of Oct. 23, unaware that they were under surveillance by The club was ordered to pay a $500,000 fine in what prosecutors hoped would be a down payment on putting it out of business. [28], A planned weekend meeting in Lancaster, California, expected to draw 800 Mongols and their families, was blocked after city officials shut down and fenced off the hotel they had booked for the event, which coincided with the "Celebrate Downtown Lancaster" festival. "You're my everything, you're my ride or die, you're my everything. Dave repeated, "Nicely. The Mongols described their presence in Southern California as a "stronghold" and note that "[a]t the time and even now there were really no other 1%er clubs co-existing in these areas." positioned and primarily active in the Pacific states and Southwest of the United States. Attorneys Kathryn Risinger and Chris Suedekum for the Middle District of Tennessee are prosecuting the case. Federal prosecutors want to seize the rights to the logo of the Mongols Motorcycle Club and suppress its use. But then he began to talk about now-retired ATF agent John Ciccone, the lead agent on the racketeering case. A federal district court judge will separately determine each defendants sentence after considering the U.S. As for Mr. Ciccone, he had mastered the craft of executing complex investigations using everything from undercovers to informants to wiretaps to subpoenas and surveillance, said Frank DAlesio, a retired A.T.F. "He's retiring, he's retiring. Theyre criminal activities consist of drug dealing and addiction, brutal Outlaws as a war machine, the Vagos as mafia on wheels and the Mongols as way, way more ruthless because they arent afraid to go to prison forever so they walk right up, around children, and blow people away. In fairness, the majority of violence committed by one-percenter clubs is interclub. As reported by NBC News, prosecutors had been attempting to take down the Mongols for over a decade, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Welk saying members were "empowered by these symbols that they wear like armor." ", The brotherhood and loyalty aspect of Mongols membership seems to be of ultimate importance to club members. Methamphetamine is the main drug the Mongols use, and it is also the main reason why they should get caught for spreading it across the U.S. People should be worried of the mongols because they are dangerous. Such an order would allow anyone to use the image. I'd be willing to take a bullet for a brother and a brother who'd be willing to take a bullet for me." 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 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. Mr. Santillan holding a photo of himself with fellow Mongols members. More recently, David Martinez was charged with the fatal shooting of Pomona Police SWAT Team member, Shaun Diamond. Judge Carters ruling was a severe setback for California prosecutors who spent more than a decade going after the Mongols patch. This isnt something you see in the movies or just happening in California and other places it is alive and well here, Gualtieri said. [23], Operation Black Rain was an operation by the ATF in 2008 to stop alleged criminal activity within the Mongols. After one year he's done and he can't protect me, so we have to have an exit strategy.". According to a report by CNN (available on YouTube), newly accepted members receive patches upon their acceptance into the club. The Mongols club is named for Genghis Khan's Mongol army, which the website characterized as "small in numbers with a lot of heart" who "dominated and decimated their enemies." When Ling asked "What if I refused?" An attorney for the Mongols said he planned to sue the city and the mayor, potentially for civil rights violations, after previously threatening to sue the hotel for breach of contract should they comply with the mayor's demands. In 2002, members of the Mongols and the Hells Angels had a confrontation at the Harrah's Laughlin Casino in Laughlin, Nevada, that left three bikers dead. One prospective member told Ling, "This is everything to me. The club is headquartered in Southern California and was originally formed in Montebello, California, in 1969. 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.CreditMichael Tyrone Delaney for The New York Times. 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 . "I assumed it was going to be her, so we videotaped," Annie Santillan tells Eyewitness News. 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. Mongols Motorcycle Club Says Its Leader Was an Informant, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/05/us/mongols-new-trial.html. The site compares the code to that used by the military and notes that club members use them to communicate when other methods are unavailable or when they want the content of their conversations to remain private. Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri said Monday that Dominick Paternoster, 46, was gunned down by several Mongols in April because they thought he was cooperating with law enforcement. Now the Mongols want a new trial and say their former president was a confidential informant for the ATF. However, it's also made some inroads nationwide and abroad. In 2018, the government scored a victory of sorts. In her story on the Mongols for CNN (available on YouTube), journalist Lisa Ling asked a tattoo artist if anyone who wanted one could get a tattoo of a "Mongol head," referring to the head of the official, trademarked Mongol symbol. However later on, since this gang activity is worldwide, more and more members were accepted. [34], Local daily newspaper Klnische Rundschau reports that a further German Mongols chapter has become active in Cologne, which is a traditional Hells Angels area. Loyalty, honor, and respect among members were integral to the clubs early vision. I'll sacrifice anything to be a full patch member." SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- Testimony resumed inside an Orange County federal courthouse on Wednesday morning for a hearing in which a judge will decide if the Mongols Motorcycle Club will get a . Mr. Santillan said he talked with the A.T.F. [33], A German chapter of Mongols MC was founded in Bremen by members of the local crime syndicate run by Lebanese immigrants in 2010. nicely." In a 51-page ruling, Federal District Judge David O. Carter said the governments strategy of trying to devastate the Mongols motorcycle club by confiscating its treasured Genghis Khan-style logo would violate the groups First Amendment right to free speech and the excessive fines clause of the Eighth Amendment. "I think they got David in compromising situations," Yanny tells Eyewitness News. He and his wife, Annie, were estranged after he had an affair. "John told me that I have one year, one year," Santillan says in the call. Their reputation for drug trafficking, violence, turf wars, money laundering, extortion, firearms violations, and more besides puts them in contention for the title of the USs biggest, baddest MC. 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