A founder of the Hells Angels testified Thursday at a racketeering trial here for two former top leaders of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club that a man killed by Bandidos members in 2006 in Austin was not a member of his club.
Ralph “Sonny” Barger, who is arguably one of the best known outlaw bikers in the world, also said he did not know of any problems between the Bandidos and the Hells Angels, and denied that the two clubs are enemies.
“No, sir,” Barger, now 79, testified via Facetime video transmitted to San Antonio’s federal courthouse from the federal courthouse in San Francisco. Barger, who can’t travel for medical reasons, was called as a defense witness by lawyers for the Bandidos’ former national president Jeffrey Fay Pike, who is being tried in San Antonio with his former vice president, Xavier John Portillo.
Barger’s testimony challenged earlier assertions by government witnesses who testified that Anthony Benesh was shot by Bandidos members because he had ignored the group’s warnings to not set up a chapter in Texas and to stop openly displaying insignias of the Hells Angels in the Lone Star state, which is considered Bandidos territory.
“That was not a Hells Angel,” Barger said, his raspy voice hard to hear because he does not have vocal cords. He also testified that the Hells Angels emblem on the back of Benesh’s motorcycle vest was a fake, after he compared a photo of that emblem to a photo of a Hells Angels vest from a chapter in Nevada.
Barger, who co-founded the Hells Angels chapter in Oakland, California, in the late 1950s, has been a member of that club for more than 60 years. He did stints in prison for crimes that included conspiracy to use explosives to kill or damage buildings in a plot in the late 1980s targeting the rival Outlaws Motorcycle Club.
He also testified that no one ever came to him in 2005 or 2006, when he was living in the Phoenix area, to ask for permission to start a Hells Angels chapter in Texas. He could not recall, though, if anyone called him for permission.
His testimony contradicted that of Michael Burford, who testified earlier that he and Benesh were trying to establish a Hells Angels chapter in Texas in 2006 and that Burford traveled to Phoenix to meet with Barger and other Hells Angels honchos for their blessing. According to Burford, a tattoo artist in College Station at the time, the Hells Angels gave permission but added they would deny doing so if anything bad took place with the nascent Texas chapter.
Benesh’s killing is one of three murders listed in a 13-count indictment charging Pike and Portillo with leading a racketeering conspiracy that used violence, extortion and intimidation to expand the Bandidos’ power and reach. A former high-ranking Bandido who pleaded guilty in Benesh’s killing testified that Pike also sent down orders to kill Burford, but he was not found.
On cross-examination, prosecutor Eric Fuchs asked Barger if he would be OK if the Bandidos set up a chapter in California.
“I’m not sure I would really like that, but I don’t think I could do anything about it,” said Barger, who added he hasn’t been an officer with the Hells Angels since 1972.
And, he asked Barger if he was aware that six Hells Angels members from Massachusetts had stabbed four Bandidos from Texas during a fight in Arkansas in 2007 “to retaliate” for the Benesh killing.
Barger said he was unaware. But he also testified that the Hells Angels local chapters, are autonomous. In other testimony, Larry Piña a then-Bandidos member who reportedly was with the six-man hit crew that killed Benesh, was called as a defense witness by Pike but jurors did not ´ see him in Court.
Piña answered yes when DeGuerin asked him if law officers interviewed him in March 2017, while investigating Benesh’s murder. Johnny “Downtown” Romo, a former national sergeant-at-arms for the Bandidos, testified earlier in the trial that he put together a crew to track and kill Benesh on orders from Pike that were passed down by Portillo. Romo’s brother, Robert Romo, testified that he shot Benesh with a rifle. The Romos and another ex-Bandido member who testified in the trial, Edward “Tiger” Treviño, said Piña was in one of two vehicles the crew used to follow Benesh to a pizza restaurant in North Austin, where he was shot.
In connection with the Benesh killing, the Romos have pleaded guilty to murder in aid of racketeering and discharging a firearm during a racketeering murder, while ex-Bandidos Jesse James “Kronic” Benavidez and Norberto “Hammer” Serna Jr., both of San Antonio, have pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm during murder in aid of racketeering. Treviño, one of the crew members, was granted immunity.
Piña “didn’t get immunity at all,” his lawyer, Allen Cazier, said in an interview. “He has not been formally charged, although there were some discussions. That’s all I can say about it at this point.
“We’re aware he’s a subject of the investigation,” Cazier added. “He hasn’t even been designated a target.”
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“That was not a Hells Angel,” Barger said, his raspy voice hard to hear because he does not have vocal cords. He also testified that the Hells Angels emblem on the back of Benesh’s motorcycle vest was a fake, after he compared a photo of that emblem to a photo of a Hells Angels vest from a chapter in Nevada.
Barger, who co-founded the Hells Angels chapter in Oakland, California, in the late 1950s, has been a member of that club for more than 60 years. He did stints in prison for crimes that included conspiracy to use explosives to kill or damage buildings in a plot in the late 1980s targeting the rival Outlaws Motorcycle Club.
He also testified that no one ever came to him in 2005 or 2006, when he was living in the Phoenix area, to ask for permission to start a Hells Angels chapter in Texas. He could not recall, though, if anyone called him for permission.
His testimony contradicted that of Michael Burford, who testified earlier that he and Benesh were trying to establish a Hells Angels chapter in Texas in 2006 and that Burford traveled to Phoenix to meet with Barger and other Hells Angels honchos for their blessing. According to Burford, a tattoo artist in College Station at the time, the Hells Angels gave permission but added they would deny doing so if anything bad took place with the nascent Texas chapter.
Benesh’s killing is one of three murders listed in a 13-count indictment charging Pike and Portillo with leading a racketeering conspiracy that used violence, extortion and intimidation to expand the Bandidos’ power and reach. A former high-ranking Bandido who pleaded guilty in Benesh’s killing testified that Pike also sent down orders to kill Burford, but he was not found.
On cross-examination, prosecutor Eric Fuchs asked Barger if he would be OK if the Bandidos set up a chapter in California.
“I’m not sure I would really like that, but I don’t think I could do anything about it,” said Barger, who added he hasn’t been an officer with the Hells Angels since 1972.
And, he asked Barger if he was aware that six Hells Angels members from Massachusetts had stabbed four Bandidos from Texas during a fight in Arkansas in 2007 “to retaliate” for the Benesh killing.
Barger said he was unaware. But he also testified that the Hells Angels local chapters, are autonomous. In other testimony, Larry Piña a then-Bandidos member who reportedly was with the six-man hit crew that killed Benesh, was called as a defense witness by Pike but jurors did not ´ see him in Court.
Senior U.S. District Judge David Ezra listened to Piña’s brief testimony outside the presence of the jury as Piña chose not to answer eight of nine questions posed by lawyer DeGuerin, including whether Piña is a member of the Bandidos and whether he was present during Benesh’s killing.
“On the advice of my lawyer, I decline to answer based on my rights under the Fifth Amendment,” Piña said.Piña answered yes when DeGuerin asked him if law officers interviewed him in March 2017, while investigating Benesh’s murder. Johnny “Downtown” Romo, a former national sergeant-at-arms for the Bandidos, testified earlier in the trial that he put together a crew to track and kill Benesh on orders from Pike that were passed down by Portillo. Romo’s brother, Robert Romo, testified that he shot Benesh with a rifle. The Romos and another ex-Bandido member who testified in the trial, Edward “Tiger” Treviño, said Piña was in one of two vehicles the crew used to follow Benesh to a pizza restaurant in North Austin, where he was shot.
In connection with the Benesh killing, the Romos have pleaded guilty to murder in aid of racketeering and discharging a firearm during a racketeering murder, while ex-Bandidos Jesse James “Kronic” Benavidez and Norberto “Hammer” Serna Jr., both of San Antonio, have pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm during murder in aid of racketeering. Treviño, one of the crew members, was granted immunity.
Piña “didn’t get immunity at all,” his lawyer, Allen Cazier, said in an interview. “He has not been formally charged, although there were some discussions. That’s all I can say about it at this point.
“We’re aware he’s a subject of the investigation,” Cazier added. “He hasn’t even been designated a target.”
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