Former Hell’s Angels Associate Pleads Guilty

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
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ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Timothy M. Stone, 35, of Gates, NY, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to an assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering before U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $125,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett A. Harvey, who is handling the case, stated that in the late night hours on May 31, 2006, a male patron at Spenders Bar in Rochester, NY, was assaulted with a baseball bat. At the time, the bar was equipped with interior surveillance cameras that recorded the area where the assault occurred.  The surveillance recordings were stored on a computer hard drive. In the early morning hours on June 1, 2006, Stone – knowing that others had committed the assault with the baseball bat in aid of racketeering – went to Spenders, forcibly removed the hard drive, and took it from the bar.  Stone later destroyed the hard drive and the baseball bat used to commit the assault to assist the perpetrators of the assault in order to prevent their apprehension by the police.

This plea is part of a larger investigation that, in February 2012, resulted in the indictment of 10 Hell’s Angels members and associates on charges of drug trafficking, racketeering and accessory offenses. To date, two other defendants – Richard E. Riedman and Paul Griffin – have been convicted of narcotics conspiracy charges.  Hell’s Angels members James H. McAuley, Jr., and Robert W. Moran, Jr., along with Gina Tata, are currently charged with the assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering in connection with the assault at Spenders Bar.

The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Craig Hanesowrth, and the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli.

Sentencing is scheduled for October 13, 2015, at 10:30 a.m. before Judge Siragusa.