Tuesday, April 20, 2004 | 11:03 a.m.
Two days before motorcyclists were to converge in Laughlin for the annual River Run, nine alleged motorcycle gang members entered not guilty pleas Monday on 73 counts, including murder, in connection with a shootout at the 2002 gathering that left three people dead.
Court officials unsealed the grand jury indictment against the seven alleged Hells Angels and two alleged Mongols at 11 a.m. Monday in the clerk's office. Six of the accused Hells Angels members appeared in court two hours later for their initial arraignment before District Judge Donald Mosley.
The nine men are collectively charged in the grand jury indictment with murder, attempted murder, battery, assault, burglary, challenging or provoking a fight, and discharging a weapon into a building or other structure -- all done with the intent to promote the activities of a criminal gang.
Most of the charges include weapons enhancements that automatically double each sentence.
District Attorney David Roger said more indictments may be forthcoming against additional Mongols members.
Monday's indictment comes just eight days before the second anniversary of the shootout that killed Salvador Barrera, Robert Tumelty and Jeremy Bell.
The indictment alleges that Hells Angels Calvin Schaefer, 34, of Chandler, Ariz., Sohn Regas, 37, of Reno, Dale Leedom, 42, of Two Rivers, Ark., James Hannigan, 36, of Mountain View, Calif., Raymond Foakes, 40, of Petaluma, Calif., Maurice Eunice, 53, of Lakeside, Calif., and Rodney Cox, 45, Phoenix, along with Mongols Alexander Alcantar, 35, and Roger Pinney, both of Los Angeles, entered Harrah's in Laughlin with the intention of causing or provoking a fight "to assist the activities of the criminal gang."
All defendants are accused of all of the 73 charges on the basis that they conspired together in all actions, specifically by "congregating in provocative manner, issuing challenges, displaying gang colors, possessing, displaying and using weapons, holding, tackling or striking other persons, and/or hiding evidence of said actions," the indictment says.
Because of the nature of the gang-related fight, many of the defendants are also listed as the victims.
In the ensuing fight, authorities believe Alcantar shot and killed victims Tumelty and Bell. Alcantar himself was allegedly shot by Frederick Donahue, who was indicted in federal court.
No one is named in Barrera's death.
Schaefer is similarly accused of shooting victims Richard Nolan and Benjamin Leyva, and assaulting Kenneth Dysart. Dysart, who has not yet been indicted, is in turn listed in the indictment as having shot Schaefer.
Schaefer also is charged with shooting fellow Hells Angel member Leedom.
Authorities further allege Hannigan stabbed defendant Pinney and victims Leyva and Raymond Santos, Eunice shot victims Enrique Monoz and John Tully, Leedom stabbed Leyva as Regas held him and Cox hit victim Benjamin Silva in the head with a wrench.
Pedro Martinez, whom police identified as another possible defendant who has not yet been indicted, is also accused of shooting victim Tom Collins.
Hells Angels Schaefer, Regas, Leedom, Hannigan, Foakes and Eunice appeared in court voluntarily Monday. All were out on bail or personal recognizance releases from related federal charges.
Fellow Hells Angel Cox was not present because he is in custody in Arizona on unrelated charges, Ross Goodman, Cox's attorney, said.
Mongol members Alcantar and Pinney, both of Los Angeles, were not present in the courtroom but had local attorneys enter not guilty pleas on their behalf.
Because the two men did not appear and because they are the only two indicted Monday who do not have previous federal indictments against them, arrest warrants remain outstanding for both, Mosley said.
Mosley revoked the bench warrants for all of the Hells Angels Monday and set a bail hearing for April 30. All remain out of custody.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Chris Owens asked Mosley to arrest the men during the arraignment because the original warrants had set bail at $278,000 for 70 of the charges and said there would be no bail possible on the three murder charges. Owens also argued that the murder charges included in the state's indictment were considerably stronger than the racketeering charges in federal prison.
David Chesnoff, one of Schaffer's attorneys, said all of the men faced life in prison whether charged locally or federally. Chesnoff also said all of the Hells Angels out of custody on the federal charges have continued to successfully meet all of the requirements of their releases.
The six Hells Angels in the courtroom Monday also appeared with the understanding they may be asked to surrender, Chesnoff said, which showed they were not a flight risk.
Mosley agreed, telling the men that the "fact that you are here says a lot."
Chesnoff was the only attorney to comment after the arraignment.
"We are glad to enter not guilty pleas and are looking forward to presenting our defense," Chesnoff said outside the courtroom.
On Dec. 4, 42 Hells Angels were charged in a federal indictment alleging racketeering charges in connection with the April 2002 brawl that left three dead at Harrah's Laughlin.
The defendants, including Cox, Eunice, Foakes, Hannigan, Leedom, Regas and Schaefer, who were also named in Monday's Clark County indictment, are charged with 10 counts each of violence in the aid of racketeering and one firearms charge in connection with the fight at the annual Laughlin River Run motorcycle rally.
Roger said the seven men would not be prosecuted both federally and locally. The decision on where they would face charges has not yet been determined.
"This has been a joint investigation from the start, and prosecutors are working closely with the U.S. Attorney's Office," Roger said. "In the end there will only be one prosecution. We'll see where we get more bang for our buck and proceed there."
Roger said that it was possible that the seven Hells Angels charged in both courts could go on to face charges federally, while the two Mongols could be prosecuted locally since no Mongols were indicted federally.
In Clark County the defendants face possible penalties of life in prison with minimum eligibility for parole of 40 years for the three murder with use of a deadly weapon charges alone. The penalties on the other charges vary and it is up to the judge whether sentences are served concurrently or consecutively.
Federally the 42 Hells Angels members face up to 20 years in prison on the violence in the aid of racketeering charges, and a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison on the firearm charge that must run consecutively to any other penalty.
A federal judge would determine if any other penalties would run consecutively or concurrently if the defendants were found guilty. The exact penalties for those convicted of federal charges are determined by the federal sentencing guidelines.
Roger said that his office will seek additional indictments from the Clark County Grand Jury against Mongols allegedly involved in the brawl. Roger said that there were probably less than a dozen others that he would seek indictments for.
Metro Police Lt. Tom Monahan said that while the indictment is coming almost two years after the incident in Laughlin, the delay is not that great when the weight of the evidence is considered.
"You're talking about a crime scene that is one of the largest you can imagine short of something like the World Trade Center," Monahan said. "We detained and interviewed 78 Hells Angels members and associates and 42 Mongols and associates."
Police also interviewed 60 Harrah's employees and witnesses, and confiscated 14 guns, 107 knives and 17 other weapons that included hammers and metal flashlights believed to be used in the melee that injured 11 and left two Hells Angels and one Mongol dead.
About 400 pieces of individual evidence was collected at the crime scene, and there are about 400 security videotape segments that were reviewed by police and prosecutors, Monahan said.
"These weren't nicely made TV movies where you easily follow them through the casino," Monahan said. "You'd see them in a piece here and a piece there."
Roger said that prosecutors have highlighted the defendants in some of the video images, and that those images could be used during a trial.
During Monday's hearing about 10 Metro Police SWAT officers were stationed in the courtroom, the hallway and outside the front doors of the courthouse.
Monahan and Metro Police spokesman Sgt. Rick Barela said that the officers were at the courthouse as a security precaution.
"I think it's reasonable when you have outlaw motorcycle gang members present," Monahan said.
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