State Chapters > California
Jury Has Mongols Case
Elderberry:
The Aging Rebel 12/4/2018
A federal trial jury in Santa Ana, California began deliberating the racketeering case United States versus Mongol Nation, An Unincorporated Association today about 1:15 p.m. Pacific Time.
The case title is clumsy because it is a confusing case that tries to make the last 20 years of the motorcycle outlaw vision of America dance on the head of a thumbtack. The witness list had everybody but Sonny Barger and Charlie Hunnam. ATF author-heroes William Queen and Jay Dobyns testified about Operation Ivan and Operation Black Biscuit. The four undercover agents from Operation Black Rain – Gregory “Russo†Giaioni, Paul “Painter†D’Angelo, Darrin “Dirty Dan†Kozlowski and John Hollywood Carr testified – or testi-Lied as defense attorney Joe Yanny put it.
A score of alleged Mongols victims and police told their stories.
The mother and sister of a Mongol named David Martinez, whose home was invaded by Swat at four in the morning a little more than four years ago testified. Pomona Police Department SWAT Officer Shaun Diamond did not testify because he died in the raid but his photo literally hovered over hours of the trial like a wraith.
Christopher “Stonee†Ablett who killed Hells Angel Mark “Papa†Guardado in a brief, ferocious fist, knife and gun fight in San Francisco a little more than a decade ago testified.
A Mongol who was stabbed four times and shot four times in the so-called Laughlin riot in April 2002, who won a soc-called “murder patch†because somebody tried to murder him, and who later signed and renouced a coerced plea deal testified.
Al “The Suit†Cavazos who was expelled from the Mongols in 2008 testified and he raged against ATF case agent John Ciccone who sat at the prosecutors’ table.
Mony Robles, a sixty-something Mongol whose motorcycle shop was blown up in 1977, testified. Robles referenced a bouquet of red and white flowers that was sent to a funeral home; the site of another bombing. And, he did not miss a beat when he was asked who he thought has sent the flowers. “The ATF,†Robles replied without pausing to think about it.
Jesse Ventura who was last a Mongol in about 1972 testified and when he did the trial briefly caught the nation’s attention. TMZ picked up the story of the trial that day.
More: http://www.agingrebel.com/17248
TomSea:
Kind of interesting, those 1% OMGs. Quite a few pages online to read up on these groups if one is interested and I think from the FBI for one source. I got into reading up about them about 5 years ago.
Cyber Liberty:
First I'd heard of the Laughlin Riot. No wonder Harrah's Laughlin casino sucks.
Elderberry:
Mongols Deliberations Continue
http://www.agingrebel.com/17260
--- Quote ---The prosecution is based on a theoretical distinction between what prosecutors describe as the “Mongols Gang†which is comprised of all full members of the Mongols Motorcycle Club, and “Mongol Nation†which includes patched members of the club and former members, club hang arounds, prospects, probationary members and so-called “associates.†Prosecutors defined “associates†to mean Mongols family members, visitors at Mongols sponsored events and people who buy Mongols support gear. Mongol Nation was the named defendant in the case.
Some of the crimes described to the jury were not committed by Mongols members or prospects but by Mongols associates.
If “Mongol Nation†is convicted the government will once again begin proceedings to confiscate various items that proclaim an affiliation with the Mongols Motorcycle Club: That say, for example, “Mongols,†“Support Your Local Mongols,†“MFFM†and “Free The M*****S.†Throughout the fist half of 2009, police executed indicia search warrants of suspected Mongols associates and confiscated personal photographs of men wearing the Mongols patch.
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Elderberry:
Mongol Nation Guilty
http://www.agingrebel.com/17280
--- Quote ---About one o’clock yesterday afternoon a nine-woman, three-man jury in the federal courthouse in Santa Ana, California found Mongol Nation: An Unincorporated Association guilty of racketeering and conspiracy to racketeer.
Red Sox Nation, Baylor Nation and Bachelor Nation might be next. In a breathtakingly short time, a couple of Department of Justice dust bunnies named Christopher Brunwin and Steven Welk have advanced from prosecuting the perpetrators of illegal acts to successfully prosecuting an affinity – we’re talking about an affinity – for a group with symbols that indicate membership in a brotherhood which has some members who arguably committed illegal acts.
The Verdict
What happened yesterday was that the jury unanimously decided that the government had proven that Mongol Nation was responsible for five of nine racketeering acts: Conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of a substance containing cocaine; the distribution of methamphetamine in Los Angeles on November 26, 2006; the beating death of a man named Leon Huddleston in a dive bar in Lancaster, California by a patched Mongol and a non-Mongol on February 14, 2007; the attempted murder of two Hells Angel prospects on April 6, 2008; and the distribution of methamphetamine by patched members of the club on June 19, 2008.
The jury unanimously decided that the government had not proven “Mongol Nation†culpable for three other “overt acts†of racketeering: An attempted murder at a toy run in Riverside County, California on December 4, 2005; the murder of Hells Angel Mark “Papa†Guardado by Mongol Christopher “Stonee†Ablett in San Francisco on September 2, 2008; and the murder of a man named Bill James outside a Gustine, California bar on November 6, 2009 by six men prosecutors alleged were members or associates of the Mongols.
The jury could not decide if Mongol Nation was guilty of what the government characterized as two attempted murders outside Nicola’s adult entertainment club on April 8, 2007. Two members of the jury thought Mongol Nation was guilty of that. Ten jurors did not.
What Next
The jurors were meticulous in their deliberations. They began asking Judge David O. Carter questions about the verdict forms at ten yesterday morning. After they rendered their verdict they were surprised to learn their work was not complete. The fact that there will be a forfeiture phase to this trial had been kept secret from them.
The trial will resume on Tuesday, January 8 when the same jurors will listen to about three days of testimony and argument about what Mongol Nation has that the government might want to steal.
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More at link above.
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