Feds raid Hell's Angels home in Rochester, New York

OFF THE WIRE

Feds raid Hell's Angels home in Rochester

Robert Moran, a member of the Hell's Angels, right, is escorted from federal court in Rochester. / SHAWN DOWD staff photographer

After a raid on a Hell’s Angels home in the city this morning, federal authorities charged five people with alleged involvement in a beating with a baseball bat in 2006 at a city bar.
That beating, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett Harvey alleged, was part of a racketeering enterprise — an effort by club members to strengthen their role in the Hell’s Angels criminal circles.

Four of those accused were arrested in early morning raids at homes, including one city house on Algonquin Terrace. The house is across the street from another where the local Hell’s Angels motorcycle club chapter maintains a “clubhouse.”

Arrested today were Robert “Bugsy” Moran Jr., 59, a vice president of the local chapter; Gina Tata, 47; Richard Riedman, 37; and Timothy Stone, 31.


Also charged in an indictment unsealed today was James Henry McAuley Jr., 62, another vice president of the chapter. McAuley is currently imprisoned for a federal conviction of conspiracy to commit murder as part of a racketeering enterprise.

Court papers and prosecutors allege that the May 31, 2006, beating at a Lyell Avenue bar occurred after the victim threatened to kill a Hell’s Angels member. Moran, who appeared in court wearing a Hell’s Angel-New Jersey shirt and who had to don reading glasses to study the indictment, allegedly beat the victim, who was not identified today.

Others helped set up the beating or tried to cover up the crime, authorities allege.

The four who appeared in federal court today pleaded not guilty and a bail hearing was scheduled for Monday. Stone was allowed to remain free on bail conditions set as part of a separate case.

Stone and Riedman are accused of stealing scrap metal from a railyard in another ongoing federal case. A federal judge disallowed testimony about the Hell's Angels in that trial, deciding that the alleged crimes were not connected to the club.

However, in the criminal charges unveiled today, membership in the Hell’s Angels is a crucial ingredient. Prosecutors must show that the motorcycle club is a criminal racketeering operation. Court papers allege that the Rochester chapter maintains a hold on turf from Rochester to Syracuse, and that its members have engaged in narcotics trafficking and murder.

Individuals who don’t properly respect the Angels — or even members who don’t follow the rules — are met with violence, prosecutors allege.

The court papers also paint the local chapter as a controlling, corporate-type structure that required other clubs in the area to support the Angels “by attending events that they sponsored, purchasing items that they offered for sale, and paying dues” to the local coalition of motorcycle clubs led by the Angels.

Robert Wood, the attorney for Stone, said prosecutors were facing a five-year statute of limitations for the crimes.

“They just beat the clock on it,” said Wood, a Rochester lawyer. “It looks like an assault case that should be going to Rochester City Court.”
Stone is accused of being an “accessory” after the crime.
“He has no clue what they’re referring to,” Wood said.
GCRAIG@DemocratandChronicle.com