The club has also been accused of setting traps for police officers in California. Seven original members started the Vagos MC, with 5 members dying and the remaining 2 members founding the Vagos MC in 1965. The emblem of the Sons of Silence Motorcycle club is shown here. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter. Henderson Police say members of the Hells Angels and the Vagos motorcycle gangs were involved in the shooting. Prosecutors said Devries opened fire during the altercation but have not indicated if any of the other co-defendants shot at the Vagos club members. Below are the most dangerous outfits operating in America today. Nigel Duara covered the border for the Los Angeles Times, based in Tucson, until 2017. The next day, a Vagos member was wounded at a rally by a drive-by shooter. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Vegas88s, Pastor Palafox, right, one of eight Vagos Motorcycle Club members who were acquitted of all charges, meets with friends and family outside the federal courthouse in Las Vegas on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. This is his story of the birth of our club. Fox News Flash top headlines are here. Federal authorities consider the Vagos to be an outlaw motorcycle gang. In December 2007, police arrested six Vagos members for "charges of first-degree burglary, second-degree robbery, coercion and second-degree kidnapping" that occurred in August 2007. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Vegas88s, Ernesto Gonzalez, one of eight Vagos Motorcycle Club members who were acquitted of all charges, greets friends and family outside the federal courthouse in Las Vegas on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. Courthouse in Las Vegas on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. The Nevada Supreme Court heard oral arguments on Thursday over a rule change in Clark Countys Family Court that makes it easier to close hearings to the public. An MF patch (meaning motorcycle family), is received by a member after a probationary period is over and the member is validated as a member of the Vagos family on the front. 2701 Fourth Street NW, during a . 3 were here. A Miami native, Duara was previously a reporter for the Associated Press in Portland, Ore. You can also follow him on Twitter at @TDSbrettkelman. Vagos MC is best known for coordinating drug smuggling operations with their Mexican chapters. Doesnt want to go out. The Cossacks and Bandidos have a violent history dating to at least 2013. A man who left the scene of a fatal motorcycle crash in September was sentenced Monday to between two and five years in prison. "Vagos it's a 1% motorcycle gang that I believe originated out of San Bernardino, but they. Devries, Smith, and Alo remained jailed on $380,000 bail pending court appearances on multiple attempted murder, conspiracy, battery and weapon charges. Jurors deliberated for about 17 hours over four days before returning the verdicts on federal charges of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise, murder and using a firearm to commit murder. About this item. The Henderson Police Department is investigating the shooting even though it took place in the jurisdiction of the Nevada State Highway Patrol. Courthouse in Las Vegas on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. This case is being investigated by a multi-agency task force consisting of ICE-HSI; ATF; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department; Los Angeles County Sherriffs Department; Washoe County District Attorneys Office; San Bernardino Police Department; San Bernardino County Sheriffs Department; Riverside County Sheriffs Office; California Department of Justice; San Diego County Sheriffs Department; Sparks Police Department; Washoe County Sheriffs Department; Carson City Sheriffs Department; Douglas County Sheriffs Office; Reno Police Department; North Las Vegas Police Department; Long Beach Police Department; Montebello Police Department; Henderson Police Department; San Bernardino County District Attorneys Office; Orange County, California District Attorneys Office; Carson City District Attorneys Office; and Clark County District Attorneys Office. Among other crimes, the indictment charges eight Vagos OMG leaders and members, including Ernesto Manuel Gonzalez, aka Romeo, for the September 23, 2011 murder of a member of the rival Hells Angels gang at the Nugget Hotel and Casino in Sparks, Nevada. Among those on trial were Vagos leaders Pastor Tata Palafox, Albert Al Lopez, Albert Dragon Man Perez, James Jimbo Gillespie and Ernesto Romeo Gonzalez. The Associated Press contributed to this report. The day before that attack, a Vagos funeral was held at a church next to the office. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Left_Eye_Images, Defendant James Gillespie, left, attorney Michael Kennedy, center, and defendant Ernesto Gonzalez, leave the Lloyd George U.S. New. Henderson Police investigators say members of the Hells Angels and the Vagos motorcycle gangs were involved. (L.E. Mongols motorcycle club members are shown here. Courthouse in Las Vegas on Monday, Feb. 24, 2020. A veteran member of the Vagos motorcycle gang who appears to be an enforcer for the group's desert chapter was arrested Friday as part of a far-reaching indictment that prosecutors . function utmx_section(){}function utmx(){} It was not immediately clear if the man had retained attorneys who could speak on their behalf. On September 29, police arrested Ernesto Manuel Gonzales, a Vagos member, at the University of California, San Francisco, for killing Pettigrew. In 2014 four members of the Vagos MC were arrested by the FBI for selling methamphetamine. Around noon on Sunday, law enforcement arrived at the scene and closed the freeway in both directions for hours. A Justice Department report classifies such organizations as outlaw motorcycle gangs, and federal law enforcement authorities are focused on their alleged drug activity and possible connections to Mexican cartels. [21] California Attorney General Jerry Brown called the attempts "urban terrorism. [35] Police investigators told the San Jose Mercury News that the victim met the three men in a nightclub on May 4, 2009, and that they had offered to drive her home, but instead they took her to the Vagos clubhouse on Kings Row where she was beaten and sexually assaulted. The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney David Karpel of the Criminal Divisions Organized Crime and Gang Section and Cristina D. Silva of the U.S. Attorneys Office for the District of Nevada. Market data provided by Factset. All rights reserved. The sweeping 12-count indictment revealed for the first time an extensive, yearslong law enforcement operation through which state and federal authorities worked undercover to infiltrate an exclusive society and move up the hierarchy. The Vagos riders were traveling northbound on US 95 near Wagon Wheel in a single lane. Vagos Motorcycle Club The Vagos are more concentrated than many of the other OMGs, with the Department of Justice putting their approximately 300 members mostly in the Southwest and Pacific areas of the United States. The Vagos, which formed in San Bernardino in the mid-60s, now have as many as 1,000 membersand can be recognized by their dark green gang colors, denim vests and distinctive emblem, which features Lokithe Norse god of mischief. Im grateful for the courts time, the jurys consideration and the diligent work of the assistant U.S. attorneys toward a verdict that the jury found to be fair and just, said Nicholas Trutanich, the U.S. attorney for Nevada. Seller assumes all responsibility for this listing. [8][5][9] Vagos in Ontario, Canada were reported to have patched over to Outlaws Motorcycle Club (American Outlaws Association) in 2015 before AOA disbanded in 2018. Really, what it boils down to are territory and egos, Christie said. Mongols motorcycle club members are shown here.