Hells Angels members Calvin Schaefer, left, and Raymond Foakes hug before entering guilty pleas in federal court in a 2002 Laughlin River Run melee that left three bikers dead and dozens injured. Photo by Jeff Scheid. Maurice Eunice Nearly sank deal because of concerns his plea might affect his San Diego business Raymond Foakes His kicking of rival biker started the brawl on April 27, 2002 Dale Leedom Pleaded guilty in district court and no contest in federal court to same charges James Hannigan Pleaded guilty to battery with substantial bodily harm by stabbing a Mongol Calvin Schaefer He is seen on security video firing his handgun at a Mongol

With their case against the Hells Angels unraveling, federal prosecutors agreed to a plea bargain Wednesday that reduced charges against the six main defendants and dismissed all charges against three dozen other members of the infamous motorcycle club.

Forty-two Hells Angels had faced the possibility of life sentences as a result of a gunbattle with their rival club, the Mongols, in Harrah's Laughlin during the 2002 River Run motorcycle festival. But under the deal approved Wednesday, six Hells Angels will serve no more than 30 months in federal prison, and charges against the remaining Hells Angels members are dropped.

The agreement extends to a parallel state case in which seven Hells Angels faced multiple charges, including murder. The sentences levied in district and federal court will run concurrently.

Opening statements for the federal trial of the first wave of Hells Angels, 11 members, began in late September. Because the case was so complex, lawyers expected it would last into next year.

In the opening days, federal prosecutors attempted to show jurors the Hells Angels are a criminal enterprise that conspired to kill members of the rival Mongols club. Aside from racketeering, 42 Hells Angels faced attempted murder charges.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Johnson's case ran into problems early when defense lawyers challenged whether prosecutors had shared all the documentation they should have, prompting U.S. District Judge James Mahan to chide Johnson about how his case appeared to be foundering.

By the third week of the trial, Mahan had enough and struck from the record the testimony of former Hells Angel James Richey after defense attorneys argued that prosecutors allowed Richey to lie on the stand.

Mahan threatened to prohibit two Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agents from testifying. Mahan was furious after learning on the eve of the testimony that prosecutors didn't give defense attorneys every video shot of the agents intermingling with Hells Angels.

After releasing the jury Friday, Mahan called the prosecution's failure to turn over evidence "out of control."

"The government faced the prospect of sending the case to the jury with substantially less than all of the evidence against the defendants than it possessed," U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said in a prepared statement after the plea agreements were accepted.

"The government concluded under the circumstances that the guilty pleas by the six most active and culpable participants in the crime would best serve justice and the public interest."

One defense attorney labeled the government's case a "train wreck." But attorney David Chesnoff was more diplomatic, saying the two sides began negotiating Monday after prosecutors conceded "their case was in difficulty."

"They (prosecutors) were having a very difficult time proving the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club was a criminal enterprise for one good reason: It's not," Chesnoff said after District Court Judge Michael Cherry agreed to the reduced charges.

District Attorney David Roger said, "These sentences were not what we had envisioned when we filed our case against the Hells Angels. But based upon the circumstances, we can certainly say that there was accountability in this case."

While prosecutors contended the Hells Angels planned and executed an attack against the Mongols at the River Run, the defense told jurors the Hells Angels simply were defending themselves when shots were fired on the casino floor at Harrah's Laughlin.

Hells Angels members Jeramie Dean Bell, 27, of Hughson, Calif., and Robert Emmet Tumelty, 50, of Stockton, Calif., were fatally shot during the melee, and Mongols member Anthony Salvador Barrera, 43, was stabbed to death.

Wednesday, in both district and federal courts, Hells Angel James Hannigan, 39, pleaded guilty to battery with substantial bodily harm, admitting he stabbed a Mongol.

Calvin Schaefer, 37, pleaded guilty to battery with use of a deadly weapon resulting in substantial bodily harm. Schaefer is seen on security video firing his handgun at a Mongol. Schaefer's sentence will run concurrent with a 5-year sentence he received as a result of charges in Arizona.

Dale Leedom, 44, who admitted stabbing a Mongol, pleaded guilty in District Court and no contest in federal court to battery causing substantial bodily harm. Rodney Cox, 44, who hit a Mongol in the head with a wrench, pleaded guilty to the same charges.

Raymond Foakes, 43, whose kick of a rival biker started the bloody brawl, entered a guilty plea to one count of challenge to a fight.

The giddy atmosphere in Cherry's courtroom quickly turned tense when Cherry asked Hells Angel Maurice "Pete" Eunice, 55, to enter his plea. Gasps were heard when Eunice paused, then asked: "Could I go on and challenge my case individually?"

The agreement called for all defendants to plead guilty. If Eunice backed out, the deal for all 42 Hells Angels would have fallen through.

Eunice was hustled into a private conference room where attorney Tom Pitaro and a half-dozen Hells Angels joined him and closed the door. Several minutes passed before Eunice resurfaced and pleaded no contest to battery causing substantial bodily harm.

On the security video played in the courtroom during opening arguments of the federal case, a Mongol is seen shooting at Eunice. Eunice, who possesses a concealed weapons permit, shot back.

Defense attorneys said Eunice had concerns about the deal because he is a successful businessman in San Diego and has no criminal history.

On Wednesday afternoon, the biker crowd appeared nervous when Mahan questioned Eunice about the plea agreement. The judge asked whether Eunice had any problems with pleading no contest to an assault charge.

"Yes, your honor, I have a lot of problems, but I'm trying to do the right thing here," said Eunice, who eventually entered the plea.

The six Hells Angels acknowledged they acted as an enterprise by pleading no contest or not guilty to committing a violent crime in aid of racketeering. However, the enterprise comprised the six individuals and not the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club.

Mahan dismissed charges against Michael Smullen, Sohn Regas, Donald Smith, Ron Arnone and Justin Harrah. Regas also was the seventh Hells Angels charged in District Court, where charges were dismissed.

"I'm glad it's over," Pitaro said as the defendants and other Hells Angels members exchanged embraces outside the courtroom.

State prosecutors ran into their own problems with their case against the Hells Angels early on. The Supreme Court in 2005 stayed the state indictments to consider the state's conspiracy charges filed against the motorcyclists.

During the Supreme Court hearing, Chesnoff argued the conspiracy counts were written to make Hells Angels members potentially guilty of crimes involving the death of their own gang members.

William Kephart and Chris Owens, both chief deputy district attorneys, argued that state law says anyone who participates in a challenge to a fight in which someone dies is responsible for the death, just as if a party accepted a challenge to a fatal duel.

In March, the Supreme Court tossed out one of the state's murder indictments against 14 members of the Hell's Angels, leaving two other murder indictments and lesser charges such as assault and aiding and abetting.

Federal prosecutors "were first to trial, because the court stayed our trial. If the Nevada Supreme Court had not intervened, in all likelihood we would have been the first prosecution to get to trial," Roger said.

But once the defendants had been acquitted or convicted in federal court, he said, there was a legal question as to what the state could charge them with, because federal and state laws prohibit two governmental entities from using the same charges or evidence against defendants.

"There was a chance we would not be able to proceed, and the defendants didn't want to enter pleas in federal court unless they received concurrent sentences in state court. So, in an effort to assist federal prosecutors we agreed to participate in negotiations," Roger said.

Owens said he believed the state could have proceeded with murder and battery charges against members of the group, but said the federal trial wiped out about two-thirds of their case.

"They (the defense) apparently felt the same way or they wouldn't be here pleading today," Owens said.