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4 years agoon
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gvwireThe federal government’s investigation into the activities of the Modesto Hells Angels Motorcycle Club yielded new indictments Thursday in Fresno.
Chapter vice president Michael Shafer, 31, of Modesto, was charged with conspiring to distribute marijuana, conspiring to distribute heroin, distribution of marijuana, and two counts of use of a communication facility to facilitate a drug trafficking offense.
Related Story: Modesto Hells Angels President Arrested on Meth Charges
Law enforcement officers executed search warrants at the residences of Shafer and Gonzales, along with other locations.
According to court documents, at Gonzales’s residence officers found the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club World Rules and the rulebook that governs all Hells Angels Motorcycle Clubs. Officers also found the rules for the Modesto Charter of the Hells Angels, minutes of club meetings, membership information, and membership agreements.
Earlier this year, Modesto Hells Angels President Randy Picchi was charged with conspiring to distribute methamphetamine for leading a drug conspiracy that involved his wife, Tina Picchi, Michael Mize, and Hells Angels member Michael Pack.
This latest case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Internal Revenue Service, Modesto Police Department, Turlock Police Department, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the California Highway Patrol.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ross Pearson and Laurel Montoya are the prosecutors.
If convicted, Shafer faces a maximum statutory penalty of 40 years in prison, a mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison, and a $5,000,000 fine.
Gonzales faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Blackwell faces a maximum penalty of life in prison, a mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison, and a $250,000 fine.
Related Story: LIFE Rides With Hells Angels, 1965
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