Racketeering charges dismissed against Hells Angels members

A Las Vegas judge dismissed racketeering charges on Monday against Hells Angels members accused of opening fire at rival motorcyclists on a Henderson highway last year.

Eight men were indicted in September connection with the May 29 shooting between the Hells Angels and Vagos Motorcycle Club, including 67-year-old Richard Devries, the president of the local Hells Angels chapter. The shooting, which injured Vagos motorcyclists, erupted on U.S. Highway 95 following a Memorial Day weekend ride from the Hoover Dam to the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City.

In a court order filed Monday morning, District Judge Tierra Jones agreed with defense attorneys’ arguments that an indictment from prosecutors failed to properly specify which defendants engaged in which alleged racketeering activities.

Jones dismissed the racketeering charges and also dismissed multiple gang enhancements the defendants were facing, writing that prosecutors failed to present evidence of which of the defendants’ “common activities” were criminal activity.

Prosecutors have accused the Las Vegas Hells Angels of acting as a “criminal syndicate.” The men were accused of organizing or financing the gang and “knowingly inciting or inducing others to engage in violence or intimidation to promote or further the criminal objectives of the criminal syndicate,” according to an indictment.

Devries and six of the other men — Stephen Alo, Russell Smith, Aaron Chun, Cameron Treich, Taylor Rodriguez and Rayann Mollasgo — were also facing 25 counts of discharging a firearm at or into an occupied vehicle. The judge dismissed 20 of those counts, writing that prosecutors only presented evidence from a witness who said a Hells Angels member fired five times at Vagos motorcyclists.

“I am pleased that after performing the factual and legal analysis the court granted important aspects of my motion and dismissed the alleged gang enhancements, the racketeering charge, and 20 counts of discharging a firearm,” Richard Schonfeld, Devries’ defense attorney, said in an emailed statement on Monday.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Dickerson did not immediately respond to request for comment on Monday.

A police officer who testified to a grand jury said 25 bullet cartridges were found on the highway following the shooting. Defense attorneys had argued that prosecutors failed to present exculpatory evidence that at least four Vagos members had firearms, and that Mollasgo was hospitalized with a gunshot wound, but the judge ruled that didn’t “explain away any of the charges.”

Dickerson has previously said that Mollasgo was injured from “friendly fire.” He has also said that there was more than one shooter who opened fire on the highway.

The co-defendants are also still facing 17 charges, including conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, battery and assault. The eighth defendant, Roneric Padilla, was indicted on charges of accessory to commit a felony and racketeering.

Prosecutors have said that Smith and Alo, who were arrested with Devries shortly after the shooting, are “prospects” for the Hells Angels. Treich and Rodriguez are full-patch members, Chun is another “prospect,” and Mollasgo and Padilla were described as associates of the organization, also called “hangarounds.”

The shooting may have been in retaliation for a San Bernardino, California, shooting that left a Hells Angels motorcyclist dead, prosecutors have said, although a Vagos member challenged the claim during a grand jury hearing in June.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.