Pagans MC
Encyclopedia
Pagan's Motorcycle Club, or simply The Pagans, is a one-percenter outlaw motorcycle gang and an alleged organized crime
syndicate formed by Lou Dobkin in 1959 in Prince George's County, Maryland
, United States
. The club rapidly expanded and by 1965, the Pagans, originally clad in blue denim jackets and riding Triumphs, began to evolve along the lines of the stereotypical one percenter motorcycle club.
The Pagans are categorized as an outlaw motorcycle gang by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
. They are known to fight over territory with the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) and other motorcycle clubs, such as Fates Assembly MC, who have since merged with the HAMC. They are active in thirteen states; Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Michigan, Virginia and West Virginia.
. Originally they were a comradeship of 13 motorcyclists. In the 1960s they adopted a formal constitution and formed a governing structure choosing a national president.
They were a fairly non-violent group until 1965, when the Pagans evolved into an outlaw biker gang with ties to other organized crime groups such as the American Mafia
. Under the leadership of John "Satan" Marron their violence grew in the early 1970s. Their Mother Club is not in a fixed location but has been generally located in the North East. Pagan leaders number 13 to 18 members who are chapter presidents with the largest chapter located in Philadelphia.
The Pagans have grown through merging with other smaller Outlaw Motorcycle gangs (OMG). Considered by law enforcement to be almost as complex and diversified as the Hells Angels, the discipline and structure of the Pagans is the most rigid of the Big Four OMGs.
fire-giant Surtr
sitting on the sun, wielding a sword, plus the word Pagan's [sic] in red, white and blue. Unlike most one percenter motorcycle clubs, the Pagans do not include on their club insignia a bottom rocker indicating the geographical chapter of the member wearing the club's full patch. It is believed the club declines to follow this one percenter tradition because they do not want law enforcement to know what state chapters individual Pagans belong to.
Members wear blue denim vests called cuts or cutoffs with club patches, known as colors, on the front and back. Symbols of the Pagans also include a black number 13 on the back of their colors (indicating that they are affiliated with the club's Mother Chapter), the number "4" (which signifies the motto "live and die"), the number "5" (which signifies the Nazi SS motto), the number "7" (an "in memory of" patch) and the number "9" (the chapter with which the member is affiliated). Nazi
or White supremacist
patches are also common on the front of the cuts, as are tattoos reading "ARGO" (Ar Go Fuck Yourself) and "NUNYA" (Nun'Ya Fuckin' Business).
. Chapters are common in Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. The Pagans have a Mother Club or ruling council which ultimately rules the gang. The Pagans headquarters is currently in Delaware County
, Pennsylvania.
Members must be at least 21 years old and owners of Harley-Davidson
motorcycles with engines 900 cc or larger. The national sergeant-at-arms' responsibility is to hand-pick 13 chapter members to serve as the "enforcers" or "regulators". This body uses violence and intimidation to prevent any and all opposition to the Mother Club.
Members join for a variety of reasons. First, bikers often consider themselves loners and join gangs for mutual protection. The bonds with other motorcyclists are strengthened by the subscription to non-conventional norms and the rejection of mainstream society. Secondly, they use MCs as mechanisms of power. Oftentimes, MC membership brings them legitimate and illegitimate job opportunities and financial prospects. Additionally, members feel a sense of control while intimidating less powerful, defenseless citizens. Generally, the values of this MC subculture lie in the value of brotherhood, the interest in motorcycling, and respect for mechanical skills. Although many motorcycle gang members are loners, many have families, are gainfully employed, and have much to lose despite their risk-taking.
, marijuana, cocaine
, heroin, and PCP
. The Pagans also have had strong ties to organized crime
, especially in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Pagans often use puppet clubs, smaller affiliated motorcycle clubs, or small street drug trafficking organizations that support larger Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs) for distributing drugs. Pagans have also engaged in assault, arson, extortion, motorcycle/car theft, and weapons trafficking. Most of the violence carried out by the Pagans is directed to rival OMGs such as Hells Angels.
In 2005, Pagans allegedly opened fire on and killed the Vice-President of the Hells Angels' Philadelphia chapter as he was driving his truck on the Schuylkill Expressway
. Later that year, the Hells Angels closed their Philadelphia chapter.
In September 2010, nineteen members of the Pagans were arrested in Rocky Point, New York
for allegedly conspiring to murder members of the Hells Angels. Charges also include assault, distribution of cocaine
and oxycodone
, conspiracy to commit extortion and weapons charges. Two federal bureau agents, infiltrated the gang, providing key evidence. One agent eventually served as sergeant-at-arms, the second-highest position in the hierarchy. Gang members were heard plotting to murder members of the Hells Angels using homemade hand grenades.
Dennis Katona, alleged to be the club's "National President", was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police
near Pittsburgh in Herminie in June 2011.
, by 60 plus officers from state, local and federal officials with a bomb disposal robot
on May 9, 2007, and later charged with possession of a regulated firearm after conviction of a violent crime. Police and agents recovered seven handguns, two alleged explosive devices and 13 long rifles. On March 5, 2008, Wagner pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. On August 8, 2008, U.S. District Chief Judge Benson E. Legg sentenced Wagner to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
On 6 October, 2009, the home of national president David "Bart" Barbeito in Myersville, Maryland
was raided by police. He was arrested on firearms charges. In June, 2010 he pled guilty to racketeering and other charges. He was sentenced to thirty months confinement.
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
syndicate formed by Lou Dobkin in 1959 in Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County, Maryland
Prince George's County is a county located in the U.S. state of Maryland, immediately north, east, and south of Washington, DC. As of 2010, it has a population of 863,420 and is the wealthiest African-American majority county in the nation....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The club rapidly expanded and by 1965, the Pagans, originally clad in blue denim jackets and riding Triumphs, began to evolve along the lines of the stereotypical one percenter motorcycle club.
The Pagans are categorized as an outlaw motorcycle gang by the Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
. They are known to fight over territory with the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) and other motorcycle clubs, such as Fates Assembly MC, who have since merged with the HAMC. They are active in thirteen states; Delaware, Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Michigan, Virginia and West Virginia.
Early history
The Pagans were established in Prince George County, Maryland by then president Lou Dobkin, in 1959. The group started out by wearing denim jackets and riding Triumph MotorcyclesTriumph Motorcycles
Triumph Engineering Co Ltd was a British motorcycle manufacturing company, based originally in Coventry and then in Solihull at Meriden. A new company, Triumph Motorcycles Ltd based in Hinckley gained the name rights after the end of the company in the 1980s and is now one of the world's major...
. Originally they were a comradeship of 13 motorcyclists. In the 1960s they adopted a formal constitution and formed a governing structure choosing a national president.
They were a fairly non-violent group until 1965, when the Pagans evolved into an outlaw biker gang with ties to other organized crime groups such as the American Mafia
American Mafia
The American Mafia , is an Italian-American criminal society. Much like the Sicilian Mafia, the American Mafia has no formal name and is a secret criminal society. Its members usually refer to it as Cosa Nostra or by its English translation "our thing"...
. Under the leadership of John "Satan" Marron their violence grew in the early 1970s. Their Mother Club is not in a fixed location but has been generally located in the North East. Pagan leaders number 13 to 18 members who are chapter presidents with the largest chapter located in Philadelphia.
The Pagans have grown through merging with other smaller Outlaw Motorcycle gangs (OMG). Considered by law enforcement to be almost as complex and diversified as the Hells Angels, the discipline and structure of the Pagans is the most rigid of the Big Four OMGs.
Patch
The Pagans MC patch depicts the NorseNorse mythology
Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...
fire-giant Surtr
Surtr
In Norse mythology, Surtr or Surt is an eldjötunn. Surtr is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson...
sitting on the sun, wielding a sword, plus the word Pagan's [sic] in red, white and blue. Unlike most one percenter motorcycle clubs, the Pagans do not include on their club insignia a bottom rocker indicating the geographical chapter of the member wearing the club's full patch. It is believed the club declines to follow this one percenter tradition because they do not want law enforcement to know what state chapters individual Pagans belong to.
Members wear blue denim vests called cuts or cutoffs with club patches, known as colors, on the front and back. Symbols of the Pagans also include a black number 13 on the back of their colors (indicating that they are affiliated with the club's Mother Chapter), the number "4" (which signifies the motto "live and die"), the number "5" (which signifies the Nazi SS motto), the number "7" (an "in memory of" patch) and the number "9" (the chapter with which the member is affiliated). Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
or White supremacist
White supremacy
White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...
patches are also common on the front of the cuts, as are tattoos reading "ARGO" (Ar Go Fuck Yourself) and "NUNYA" (Nun'Ya Fuckin' Business).
Membership
Recently, the Pagans' membership has begun to decline as their rival Hells Angels’ membership has grown. Pagans have approximately 350 to 400 members and 44 chapters and are active along the East Coast of the United StatesEast Coast of the United States
The East Coast of the United States, also known as the Eastern Seaboard, refers to the easternmost coastal states in the United States, which touch the Atlantic Ocean and stretch up to Canada. The term includes the U.S...
. Chapters are common in Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. The Pagans have a Mother Club or ruling council which ultimately rules the gang. The Pagans headquarters is currently in Delaware County
Delaware County, Pennsylvania
Delaware County is a county located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 558,979, making it Pennsylvania's fifth most populous county, behind Philadelphia, Allegheny, Montgomery, and Bucks counties....
, Pennsylvania.
Members must be at least 21 years old and owners of Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson , often abbreviated H-D or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer. Founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, during the first decade of the 20th century, it was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression...
motorcycles with engines 900 cc or larger. The national sergeant-at-arms' responsibility is to hand-pick 13 chapter members to serve as the "enforcers" or "regulators". This body uses violence and intimidation to prevent any and all opposition to the Mother Club.
Members join for a variety of reasons. First, bikers often consider themselves loners and join gangs for mutual protection. The bonds with other motorcyclists are strengthened by the subscription to non-conventional norms and the rejection of mainstream society. Secondly, they use MCs as mechanisms of power. Oftentimes, MC membership brings them legitimate and illegitimate job opportunities and financial prospects. Additionally, members feel a sense of control while intimidating less powerful, defenseless citizens. Generally, the values of this MC subculture lie in the value of brotherhood, the interest in motorcycling, and respect for mechanical skills. Although many motorcycle gang members are loners, many have families, are gainfully employed, and have much to lose despite their risk-taking.
Criminal activities
The Pagans have been linked to the production and smuggling of drugs such as methamphetamineMethamphetamine
Methamphetamine is a psychostimulant of the phenethylamine and amphetamine class of psychoactive drugs...
, marijuana, cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
, heroin, and PCP
Phencyclidine
Phencyclidine , commonly initialized as PCP and known colloquially as angel dust, is a recreational dissociative drug...
. The Pagans also have had strong ties to organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
, especially in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Pagans often use puppet clubs, smaller affiliated motorcycle clubs, or small street drug trafficking organizations that support larger Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs (OMGs) for distributing drugs. Pagans have also engaged in assault, arson, extortion, motorcycle/car theft, and weapons trafficking. Most of the violence carried out by the Pagans is directed to rival OMGs such as Hells Angels.
New Jersey
On July 17, 1994, at least eight members of the Pagan's showed up at a the annual charity picnic fund-raiser organized by Tri-County MC in Hackettstown, NJ. The Pagans were there to intimidate local motorcycle clubs into aligning with the Pagans so they would have a larger power base to prevent the Hell's Angels from getting established in New Jersey. A fight started and escalated from fist to knives and guns. When it was all done, Pagan's Glenn Ritchie & Diego Vega had been shot dead. Pagan's Ron Locke & Tri-County member William Johnson had gun shot wounds and Tri-County member Hank Riger had had his throat cut by Ron Locke.New York/Pennsylvania
On February 23, 2002, 73 Pagans were arrested in Long Island, New York after appearing at an indoor motorcycle and tattoo expo called the Hellraiser Ball. The Pagans had shown up to the event to confront Hells Angels who were at the Ball. Dozens of Pagans rushed the doors of the event and were met with violence by the Hells Angels. Fighting ensued, ten people were wounded, and a Hells Angel allegedly shot and killed a Pagan member. Two weeks later, a Pagans owned tattoo parlor located in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was firebombed.In 2005, Pagans allegedly opened fire on and killed the Vice-President of the Hells Angels' Philadelphia chapter as he was driving his truck on the Schuylkill Expressway
Schuylkill Expressway
The Schuylkill Expressway , locally known as the Schuylkill, is a freeway through southwestern Montgomery County and the city of Philadelphia, and the easternmost segment of Interstate 76 in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania...
. Later that year, the Hells Angels closed their Philadelphia chapter.
In September 2010, nineteen members of the Pagans were arrested in Rocky Point, New York
Rocky Point, New York
Rocky Point is a hamlet in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island. As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 10,185.Rocky Point is a community in the town of Brookhaven.-Geography:...
for allegedly conspiring to murder members of the Hells Angels. Charges also include assault, distribution of cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
and oxycodone
Oxycodone
Oxycodone is an opioid analgesic medication synthesized from opium-derived thebaine. It was developed in 1916 in Germany, as one of several new semi-synthetic opioids in an attempt to improve on the existing opioids: morphine, diacetylmorphine , and codeine.Oxycodone oral medications are generally...
, conspiracy to commit extortion and weapons charges. Two federal bureau agents, infiltrated the gang, providing key evidence. One agent eventually served as sergeant-at-arms, the second-highest position in the hierarchy. Gang members were heard plotting to murder members of the Hells Angels using homemade hand grenades.
Dennis Katona, alleged to be the club's "National President", was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police
Pennsylvania State Police
The Pennsylvania State Police is the state police force of Pennsylvania, responsible for statewide law enforcement. It was founded in 1905 by order of Governor Samuel Pennypacker, in response to the private police forces used by mine and mill owners to stop worker strikes and the inability or...
near Pittsburgh in Herminie in June 2011.
Maryland
A Pagans MC leader, Jay Carl Wagner, 66, was arrested in Washington County, MarylandWashington County, Maryland
Washington County is a county located in the western part of the U.S. state of Maryland, bordering southern Pennsylvania to the north, northern Virginia to the south, and the Eastern Panhandle of West Virginia to the south and west. As of the 2010 Census, its population is 147,430...
, by 60 plus officers from state, local and federal officials with a bomb disposal robot
Remote control vehicle
A remote control vehicle is defined as any mobile device that is controlled by a means that does not restrict its motion with an origin external to the device. This is often a radio control device, cable between control and vehicle, or an infrared controller...
on May 9, 2007, and later charged with possession of a regulated firearm after conviction of a violent crime. Police and agents recovered seven handguns, two alleged explosive devices and 13 long rifles. On March 5, 2008, Wagner pled guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. On August 8, 2008, U.S. District Chief Judge Benson E. Legg sentenced Wagner to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
On 6 October, 2009, the home of national president David "Bart" Barbeito in Myersville, Maryland
Myersville, Maryland
Myersville is a town in Frederick County, Maryland, United States. The population was 1,382 at the 2000 census.-History:The Peter of P. Grossnickel Farm was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.-Geography:...
was raided by police. He was arrested on firearms charges. In June, 2010 he pled guilty to racketeering and other charges. He was sentenced to thirty months confinement.
Multi-State
In 2009, 55 Pagans members and associates were arrested from West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Delaware and Florida. Charges range from attempted murder and kidnapping to drug dealing and conspiracy. So far, seven defendants in the case have pled guilty.External links
- The Pagans and The Fates from The Malefactors Register