Hells Angels to appear in court

Friday, Dec. 12, 2003 | 9:20 a.m.

SUN STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS

Twenty-three Hells Angels motorcycle club members were scheduled to appear in U.S. District court this morning for arraignment and plea hearings in connection with last year's gunbattle at a Laughlin casino that left three dead.

An indictment handed down by a federal grand jury in Las Vegas charges 42 Hells Angels with 10 counts each of violence in the aid of racketeering and one firearms charge in connection with the April 27, 2002, riot at Harrah's Laughlin during a motorcycle rally.

Two Hells Angels and one member of the Mongols motorcycle gang were shot and killed in the bar area of the casino.

Nine of the defendants are considered fugitives, and have not yet been arrested, while others have already made court appearances in other jurisdictions.

Arrests were made last week across five Western states including Nevada, culminating a two-year undercover investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The leader of the Fairbanks, Alaska, chapter of the Hells Angels was among the defendants expected to appear before U.S. Magistrate Peggy Leen this morning.

Dale Leedom, 41, agreed Wednesday to be extradited to Nevada.

Leedom is one of 57 people arrested Dec. 2 when the ATF led a raid on Hells Angels clubhouses in Alaska, Nevada, California, Washington and Arizona.

The 22-page Las Vegas indictment lists 42 defendants and outlines what prosecutors describe as a "highly organized criminal enterprise" in 23 states and 25 countries that is involved in threats, violence, murder, robbery and conspiracy to distribute drugs.

Federal prosecutors alleged the Hells Angels created a "climate of fear" by assaulting members of rival motorcycle clubs, including the Mongols.

In the April 2002 brawl at Harrah's Laughlin, Hells Angels and Mongols fought with guns, knives, hammers and wrenches.

Another Hells Angels member was shot to death on Interstate 40 in California -- about 115 miles west of Laughlin.

Clark County District Attorney David Roger said he hopes to have local indictments in the case by the first of the year and plans to prosecute the case parallel to the federal case.