ORGANIZED CRIME SPOTLIGHT OUTLAW MOTORCYCLE GANGS: The Rise of the Pagans in New Jersey State of New Jersey Commission of Investigation September 2020 State of New Jersey Joseph F. Scancarella COMMISSION OF INVESTIGATION Chair 28 WEST STATE STREET Chadd W. Lackey Robert J. Burzichelli PO Box - 045 Executive Director Rosemary Iannacone TRENTON, NEW JERSEY 08625-0045 John A. Hoffman Telephone (609) 292-6767 Commissioners Fax (609) 633-7366 September 2020 Governor Phil Murphy The President and Members of the Senate The Speaker and Members of the General Assembly The State Commission of Investigation, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 52:9M, herewith submits for your information and review a report of findings and recommendations stemming from an investigation into the resurgence of the Pagans Outlaw Motorcycle Gang in New Jersey. Respectfully, Joseph F. Scancarella Robert J. Burzichelli Chair Commissioner John A. Hoffman Rosemary Iannacone Commissioner Commissioner New Jersey Is An Equal Opportunity Employer ~ Printed on Recyclable Paper Introduction The biker sat parked next to a pump at a Newark gas station when a burly man wielding a metal bat approached from behind. The first blow – one of many more to come – struck the back of the biker’s head. Three other men soon joined the melee, hitting and kicking the biker – a Hells Angel Motorcycle Club associate – as he helplessly flailed on the ground. This savage attack of a rival by members of the Pagans Motorcycle Club occurred in the middle of an afternoon in April 2018 at a busy service station. A surveillance video of the beating showed innocent bystanders – including a woman who emerged from a nearby car with two small children in tow – fleeing from the brawl. At the other end of the state on a June night nearly a year prior, a military-like operation unfolded at a Gloucester County sports bar when more than two dozen Pagans – fully decked out in gang colors and wearing black skull bandanas pulled over their faces – rode into the parking lot and blocked off the entrances. The Pagans went inside the bar – a known hangout for a rival biker club – and systematically checked out the patrons one-by-one, seemingly looking for a particular individual. After departing without incident, it was unclear to local police if the bikers did not find their intended target or if the exercise was merely to send a message to their adversaries. The State Commission of Investigation found violent and disturbing incidents like those detailed above have become increasingly common in New Jersey as the Pagans dramatically expanded its membership ranks over the last three years, nearly doubling the number of chapters statewide from 10 in 2016 to 17 in 2020.1 According to law enforcement estimates, there are approximately 200 Pagans statewide but the Commission found the number of members in New Jersey is probably far greater. Once mostly based in South Jersey, the outlaw motorcycle gang has pushed as far north as Bergen County and into territories traditionally dominated by its longtime nemesis, the Hells Angels, as part of a strategy by its national leadership to establish dominance along the entire East Coast of the United States. 2 This larger presence, combined with the Pagans’ desire to flex its collective muscles, predictably led to numerous clashes with rivals, some of which occurred in public places and in broad daylight. Law enforcement experts told the Commission that there were more incidents of violence committed by the Pagans during a recent 18-month period than the prior ten years combined, but the actual tally was likely higher because many incidents go unreported. Even more alarming, the Commission found private citizens were not simply caught in the middle of 1 The number of chapters at the time of publication of this report. 2 The Commission developed information that indicated there are upwards of 300 current and former Pagan members living in New Jersey. It is difficult for law enforcement to track the exact number of members, in part, because it is fluid and constantly changing. the biker warfare, in some cases they were the designated marks for the gang’s attacks. The inquiry revealed numerous incidents in New Jersey where the Pagans carried out acts of intimidation and physical assaults against members of the general public – some of whom had nothing whatsoever to do with the biker club. Along with carrying out documented assaults, shootings and other violent acts, Pagans remain involved in the extortion of legitimate businesses, muscle-for-hire debt collection schemes and the illegal possession of weapons. They have been known to partner with traditional organized crime to collect gambling and loan sharking debts. The Pagans also continue to maintain their long-standing foothold in the drug trade, particularly in the distribution of methamphetamine. This unprecedented period of growth and the explosion of violence that accompanied it are the results of a paradigm shift in the overall operation of the Pagans. Motivated by the desire to achieve supremacy in the motorcycle club domain, leadership of the Pagans relaxed longtime biker traditions related to the recruitment process and removed blockades to membership for some in the interest of quickly building up its ranks. Under these eased restrictions, particular groups once excluded from the club – such as certain ethnic minorities and former street gang members – became Pagans. In some instances, Pagans extended membership to individuals willing to pay for it – a practice referred to by some as “cash for colors.” The call for the Pagans to aggressively recruit, expand and display its force came directly from the gang’s national president Keith “Conan” Richter. A former sergeant at arms for the national club, Richter served 16 years in federal prison for ordering the killing of a Long Island, NY strip club manager who refused to pay extortion fees to the Pagans in 1998. After his release, Richter assumed the presidency in a hostile takeover in 2018. Under Richter’s leadership, membership of the Pagans grew quickly, not just here in New Jersey but along the entire East Coast, going as far south as Florida and, for the first time establishing chapters in parts of Puerto Rico. This Pagan resurgence – especially the increased violence and other illegal acts that have accompanied it – not only threatens the public peace and public safety of the citizens of New Jersey, it also presents significant challenges for those responsible for protecting it. Along with the usage of encryption communications technology to shield their activities from outside scrutiny, Pagans have found other means to frustrate and undermine law enforcement. Chief among those are counter-surveillance operations designed to uncover and thwart policing tactics. Further complicating suppression efforts is that some law enforcement authorities remain reluctant to share intelligence with other policing agencies due to incidents in which confidential information was leaked to the Pagans. 2 Concerns about the existing and escalating peril posed by the Pagans prompted the Commission to hold a public hearing in October 2019 to air its initial findings about the gang. The investigation was undertaken as part of the Commission’s statutory obligation to keep the public informed of the operations of organized crime and the problems of criminal law enforcement in the State. The hearing included the appearance of three suspected high-ranking New Jersey- based Pagans who were subpoenaed by the Commission to provide testimony regarding the club’s organized criminal activities. All three men invoked their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in response to all the questions posed by SCI counsel. 3 The Commission wishes to thank those who generously shared their expertise and offered valuable insights throughout the course of this inquiry. The completion of this investigation would not have been possible without the participation of various law enforcement agencies at the federal, regional, state and local levels. During the course of this inquiry, numerous law enforcement authorities raised significant concerns about a general sense of mistrust that now exists between many agencies following instances in which confidential information accessible only to police personnel wound up in the possession of the Pagans. This is a serious matter that requires immediate attention from the larger policing community. Without assurances that sensitive information will not end up in the hands of the bikers or other organized criminal groups, and lacking the certainty that all parties are working in unison for the common goal of protecting public safety, any potential improvements to the current system are hollow and meaningless. With that in mind, the Commission offers a series of reform recommendations – presented in further detail at the conclusion of this report – to assist government in general, and law enforcement in particular, to fulfill their central duty to safeguard its citizens. A chief component in any reform must address how various jurisdictions can rebuild this broken trust and develop new mechanisms to better synchronize collective efforts to effectively control and contain outlaw motorcycle gangs. Further, a training gap exists in some departments that impede officers' ability to both recognize and link illegal activity committed by outlaw motorcycle gangs. Enhancement in these arenas is mandatory in order for police personnel to successfully combat organized criminal groups. 3 The only testimony provided by the Pagans during the SCI’s public hearing was from Hugo “Zorro” Nieves, then- Vice President of the national Pagans organization, who made the following statement: “All I will say is that it is not the policy of this club for anybody to engage in any criminal activity.” 3 Origins and History Originally founded as a fellowship of 13 motorcyclists, the Pagans were established in Prince George’s County, Maryland in 1959. The group evolved into a more formal motorcycle club with a specific governing structure, rules and traditions in the 1960s.