Four Members of Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Arrested on Federal Racketeering Conspiracy Charges
| U.S. Attorney’s Office June 22, 2012 |
ST. LOUIS—Four additional defendants have been charged in connection with racketeering conspiracy involving the Wheels of Soul, a nationally prominent Outlaw Motorcycle Gang boasting roughly 400 members.
In June 2011, a grand jury returned an indictment against 18 members of the Wheels of Soul, charging offenses including racketeering, murder, kidnapping, and narcotics trafficking. The original 18 defendants were arrested in July 2011 in a nationwide operation that resulted in the arrests of individuals in seven different states. Of those 18 original defendants, 11 have entered pleas of guilty.
This week, a grand jury returned a superseding indictment against the seven remaining defendants, adding four additional men:
- Jerry Peteet, a/k/a “Angel,” of Gary, Indiana, is charged with, among other things, shooting a rival motorcycle gang member in Indiana in May 2009. He was arrested this morning in Gary, Indiana.
- Anthony Owens, a/k/a “44,” “Pharaoh,” of Chicago, Illinois, is charged with two counts of accessory after-the-fact to murder, and tampering with evidence.
- Curtis Cole, a/k/a “Tomahawk,” of Camden, New JErsey, is accused of a January 2011 robbery/murder in Chicago, Illinois.
- Trevor Seymour, a/k/a “Cyclopes,” of Chicago, Illinois, is alleged to have conspired with other members of the Wheels of Soul to commit a murder in 2009 and is also alleged to have kidnapped a member of another motorcycle gang in January 2010.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in St. Louis and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives in Chicago.
The four newly charged defendants are now joined with the seven remaining from the original indictment. The case is presently set for trial beginning in October 2012 before Chief United States District Judge Catherine D. Perry.
If convicted, the defendants face varied sentences, with some subject to a term of life without the possibility of parole. In determining the actual sentences, a judge is required to consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide recommended sentencing ranges.
As is always the case, charges set forth in an indictment are merely accusations and do not constitute proof of guilt. The remaining defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.