SEATTLE – The 10-week trial included testimony from a convicted perjurer and porn actor, methamphetamine users, felons and paid informants – “snitches and rats,” in the common parlance of the case. There were times Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Lang wasn’t sure the jury would buy a word of it.
But when the jurors returned their verdict Monday after nearly 100 hours of deliberation, they found three current and former members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club in Spokane guilty of running or conspiring to run an organized crime ring involved in motorcycle theft, extortion and murder. The jury deadlocked on charges against a fourth defendant, Ricky Jenks.
One former Hells Angel, Rodney Rollness of Snohomish, a thick-bearded bear of a man, faces a mandatory life sentence after being convicted of shooting Michael “Santa” Walsh of Arlington to death during a party in rural Snohomish County in 2001. Prosecutors said Rollness and Joshua Binder wanted to punish Walsh for pretending to have been a Hells Angels member, and for this they received coveted “Filthy Few” patches indicating they had killed for the club.
Jurors could not decide if Binder, 31, of North Bend, was guilty of murder, but did convict him of conspiracy to commit racketeering. Binder and Rollness, 46, of Snohomish, left the Hells Angels in 2003.
Richard “Smilin’ Rick” Fabel, 49, the president of the organization’s Washington Nomads chapter, swiveled rapidly back and forth in his chair as U.S. District Judge Robert Lasnik read the verdict against him: guilty of racketeering and conspiracy to commit racketeering – specifically, mail fraud, extortion and trafficking in stolen motorcycles. Fabel and Binder each face a maximum 40 years in prison.
Acting U.S. Attorney Jeff Sullivan called the trial one of the most significant his office has handled, all the more so because the government has a spotty record when it comes to winning trials against outlaw motorcycle clubs.
“They operate in a culture of silence. They use their violence to keep people from coming forward,” Sullivan said after the verdicts were announced. He said the case “blows up the myth that they create – that they just get together to sell T-shirts and ride motorcycles.”
The jurors considered 16 counts, which each named at least one defendant. In half of those counts, the jurors failed to reach verdicts on at least one of the defendants named. The charges on which they deadlocked include Binder’s alleged role in the murder, witness tampering against Rollness, sale of a stolen 1997 Harley-Davidson against Fabel, and the racketeering charge against Jenks and Binder.
Prosecutors will refile the charges on which the jury deadlocked, Sullivan said.
Rachelle Walsh, the niece of murder victim Michael Walsh, cried after the verdict. “I can’t say I’m happy they are guilty, but I’m happy there is justice,” she said. “I’m happy for my family.”
She also said it’s been difficult for her to explain to Michael Walsh’s mother that he’s not coming back; the woman has Alzheimer’s disease and often forgets that her son was killed.
Throughout the trial, defense lawyers sought to portray the government’s case as a sham cooked up by investigators only too eager to take the word of unreliable witnesses. Some witnesses were paid cash or given other considerations, such as immunity for crimes they committed, in exchange for testifying.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman said investigators worked diligently to corroborate information provided by the witnesses, and she noted that one, Perry Prenguber, received nothing for telling investigators that Rollness had asked him to “tie up a loose end” by killing the host of the party where Walsh was murdered.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
