Unlike the Hells Angels, who have tried to finesse their public image with toy runs and other charity stunts, wrote the Canadian journalist Julian Sher, who has spent years covering motorcycle gangs, the Texas-based Bandidos have never shied away from flaunting their brutal pedigree. Its only a matter of time, a highly placed Texas law enforcement official told me last spring. George Weger was taken to Skagit Valley Hospital. He owned a Harley Davidson motorcycle shop in Bellingham, Washington State. When a beloved brother died last summer, more than four hundred bikers thundered into San Antonio for his funeral. There were no drugs or alcohol in his system, although his helmet wasnt Department of Transporation approved. In one corner of the garage were his Harley-Davidsons. Friends and families of the deceased are mourning the passing of their loved and cherished George Wegers . The passing of George Wegers. [44][45] They claim to have more than a dozen patched members and prospects in the Christchurch area. Some of them downed beers, ignoring the handwritten signs on the church doors that read Please, no drinking on church property. One Bandido, pretending he had a rifle in his hands, aimed at the police helicopter and fired off a few imaginary rounds. Briefly the Canadian president. GEORGE WEGERS, 53, of Bellingham, Washington, was sentenced today to 20 months in prison, three years of supervised release and $10,000 fine for RICO Conspiracy (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization). This is a carousel. He was 36 years old, the son of one of the first members, Steve Panhead Jonas, who had been shot to death at a San Antonio bar in 1983. TRUSTED AREA FUNERAL HOMES. He had a passion for motorcycles from a very young age, possibly spurred on by a Harley Davidson motorcycle . Yes, they love riding fast. The Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang has 2,000 to 2,500 members in the U.S. and 13 other countries. Nineteen search warrants were executed. But thats it., On the other hand, said the highly placed Texas law enforcement official, Bandidos have a tendency to turn violent, especially during confrontations with other motorcycle clubs: What you have to remember is that these men dont become Bandidos because they are simply motorcycle enthusiasts. Federal agents and local police decapitated the Bandidos motorcycle gang yesterday with the arrest of its president and at least a dozen members in a series of pre-dawn raids in and around . The length of this process is decided by each chapter president, and ends when the chapter's members vote unanimously to allow the probationary member to enter the club. He was a hell-raiser, there was no question about that, said his daughter, Donna Lee Chambers-Miers, who lives near Crockett and used to go barhopping with her father when she was a teenager. Having once infiltrated the Bandidos for three years in a landmark police operation, Alex Caine is uniquely positioned to reveal the untold story of the Hells Angels' fiercest rivals. [12], Ronald Jerome "Ronnie" Hodge took over from Chambers as the Bandidos' president in 1972. He is charged in several different conspiracy counts, including a conspiracy to traffic in motor vehicles and motor-vehicle parts. The message, George said, was simple call home immediately. Under terms of the plea agreement entered into on May 5, 2006, WEGERS must move out of, and refrain from working in . [46], There are approximately ninety Bandidos chapters in Europe. The Bandidos' color scheme was inspired by that of the United States Marine Corps and chosen by Chambers, a Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War. In the past couple of years alone, police around the country have arrested Bandidos for everything from drug dealing and kidnapping to possession of illegal weapons and trafficking in stolen vehicles. [67][68], The United States Department of Justice and Europol consider the Bandidos to be a criminal organization. There was always someone stumbling into the bonfire and someone else shooting a pistol into the air. [32], Bandidos members must be male[33] and own at least one Harley-Davidson motorcycle (although other American-made motorcycles can also be allowed). Well, if they are committing crimes, I dont see them doing it, she said. The Rev. "[12] By the early 1970s, the club had over one hundred members, including many Vietnam War veterans. Not only had a member been killed, but the Bandidos were embarrassed that a much smaller club would dare to take them on . And we all go to work. The Bandidos deny that they're "white supremacists.". And the police certainly had their doubts about Pike. And no one, absolutely fing no one, is going to take that brotherhood away.. And if that didnt work, hed pull out his knife and start swinging that around too.. They knocked back their kickstands with their boots and roared off, lining up behind the hearse, two by two, the line growing longer and longer. John Xavier Portillo, former national vice president of the Bandidos, arrives at Feb. 27 the San Antonio federal courthouse for the first day of his racketeering trial. Just like the Lions Club, its members had vests and were given rules about wearing them. And as soon as Wegers was gone, the feds quickly began circling his successor, Jeff Pike, who lives just north of Houston. Friends and families of the deceased are mourning the passing of their loved and cherished George Wegers . February 2023 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act was used to indict Bandidos in 2005. [17] The third Bandidos international president, James Edward "Sprocket" Lang, as well as his successor, Charles Craig "Jaws" Johnston, were each sentenced to ten years' imprisonment on drug charges in November 1998. He ran over and put his arms around one of my sisters, thinking they might kidnap her. Was it smart expanding into different countries in the first place? And when you get a bunch of men like that together in one club, you better watch out, because theres no telling what can happen.. Their suspicions about him only deepened after the Benesh and the Canadian affairs. His nickname was Spook. Eventually, Pike met some Bandidos at a Harley shop in Houston and at the strip joints on Gessner Road, and in 1979 he became a prospect. He quickly moved his way up in the club, becoming president of one of Houstons chapters in 1988 at the age of 33 and a national vice president eleven years later. Pike did not approve of members dealing in drugs, which was one of his concerns with the chapters in Europe and Australia, DeGuerin said. George Weger passed away. Chambers started the Bandidos in March 1966, when he was 36 years old and working on the ship docks in Houston. (Written on the front of the panties was the phrase Support Your Local Bandidos.). | gcontreras@express-news.net | @gmaninfedland. A minister read a poem about a dead biker (Can you feel the wind in Heaven, while the men hold back the tears?), and right after he said amen, a friend of the Bandidos pulled up in a pickup with a keg of beer strapped to the bed. But I know he loves it so much that I would never ask him to quit., When Lenny was out of earshot, I asked Nicole what she thought about the allegations that the Bandidos were a criminal enterprise. [27] However, the Frito Bandito was not developed until 1967, the year after the Bandidos' foundation. Less than a month after the Benesh shooting, eight Bandidos were found stuffed inside abandoned vehicles in a field in Canada. It was just something you dont forget, like a cowboy seeing his first train., He dropped out of high school, and in 1973 he moved with a buddy to Texaspartly because the drinking age was eighteen. A couple of years later, when he was twenty years old, he bought a big Harley Panhead. A former cohort, ex-Bandidos national officer Edward Winterhalder , has written the above book about the club, says Wegers thought the Bandidos needed more . Fing off the fing charts., I turned around and came face to face with F.O., who had stabbed me in the sternum the day before. George Wegers was the former National president of the Bandidos and lived just across the line in Bellingham where the Bandidos host that large annual Oyster run which was cancelled this year due to Covid. Get down! he shouted again. After the service, all the Bandidos headed to their bikes. Any member who cooperates with law enforcement, for example, is susceptible to disciplinary action. One of the most high-profile cases involving Washington Bandidos came in 2005 with the arrest of the club's national president, George Wegers. And then we looked at one another and said, Hell, we can do a lot better than these guys. . From the #1 national bestselling author of Befriend and Betray, an intimate expos of a criminal empire and the massacre that nearly started a global biker war. You know, if the feds spent as much time investigating a police department as they do investigating us, theyd eventually catch someone breaking a law. It contained a list of all the Bandidos chapters, photos of famous dead Bandidos such as Chambers (who died of cancer in 1999) and Hodge (who died of heart disease in 1992), and a page where supporters and wannabes could purchase Bandidos T-shirts, clocks, coffee cups, tote bags, calendars, and thong panties. Guillermo Contreras/San Antonio Express-News, John Davenport / San Antonio Express-News, Texas chain with San Antonio bakeries files for bankruptcy, Report: San Antonio Rep. Joaquin Castro diagnosed with cancer, How a viral chicken fried steak briefly closed down Mr. Juicy, Puerto Rican restaurant finds new life in former Rosario's spot, TX DPS duped into shipping at least 3,000 Texas drivers license, Hazy mornings coming to San Antonio on Friday, NWS says, Massive pirate-themed San Antonio park delays opening date, Manu Ginobili narrates film of 100-mile Austin-San Antonio trail, 'Hundreds of condoms' destroy pipe. Rev. For the 1967 film, see, Bandidos MC criminal allegations and incidents, "Law agencies prep, keep watch, as outlaw biker club rides in for holiday weekend | St George News", "Number of Hells Angels charters and Bandidos chapters worldwide", "Bandidos: 5 things to know about second-most dangerous motorcycle gang | USA Today", "FBI and DEA arrest top Bandidos Motorcycle Leaders in San Antonio, Houston", "How the Bandidos became one of the world's most feared biker gangs", "Texas Monthly: "The Gang's All Here" by Skip Hollansworth", "Milperra - the spark that started the bikie violence", Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, "Biker wars dredge up something rotten in the state of Denmark", Hells Angels under pressure as outlaw motorcycle clubs from across the globe expand into Canada, "USA Based Motorcycle Clubs kicking out or shutting down chapters overseas. [28] For example, police have reported that the "Expect No Mercy" patch is awarded to those who have committed murder on behalf of the club, while the "TCB" ("Taking Care of Business") patch is worn by club officers and nomads. Guillermo Contreras is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Like the Elks, the Bandidos had their own clubhouses, and like the Masons, they had their own initiation rites. The Bandidos were so brazen that they even started their own Web site. Funeral Services for George S. Wagers will be conducted on Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 2:00 P. M. at the Lower Hector Church. George Wegers Death | Obituary | George Wegers Dead | Died | Funeral Plans - We heard about the great loss, that George Wegers is no more and has reportedly passed away. Weve got guys who own their own businesses, guys who work for oil companies, guys who are in the computer industry. And even if you do know who they are, you could very well have trouble believing they still exist. Wegers had no desire to flood the clubhouses with newly patched members just to boost the motorcycle clubs membership. It is derived from the Gospel of St. John. The daylong hearing was a victory, at least for now, for Pike, who was ordered released on $250,000 bond. [48] This was followed by expansion into the Nordic countries, with branches being established in Denmark in 1993,[49] Sweden in 1994,[50] and Finland and Norway in 1995. London CNN . police raid Texas massage parlor. They hit Johnstons successor, George Wegers, who lived in Washington State, and 27 other Bandidos and their associates in that area with a RICO indictment. But the Bandidos kept right on growing, opening new chapters throughout the country. He suffered spinal injuries from a motorcycle crash when he exiting Interstate 5 in Skagit County, Washington State in 2010. Wegers's attorney Jeffrey A . He had already been bumped from the club because of a television interview he gave. The Bandidos live here, and they love to steal motorcycles. . [41], The first Australian chapter was formed in 1983, in Sydney, by former members of the Comanchero Motorcycle Club. And, there were some Bandidos members in those chapters who, when arrested, were found to have pictures of Osama bin Laden at their homes, DeGuerin said. Texas Lege Watch: A House Republican Fights for Chicken Freedom, Texas Monthly Recognized by ASME in the 2023 National Magazine Awards. (In the Newsweek article, a defiant Hodge snarled, Were the last free Americans.) And when members of an El Paso crime family, the Chagras, were eventually convicted of hiring hit men to shoot Kerr and WoodWoods killer was Charles Harrelson, the father of actor Woody Harrelsonthe Bandidos promptly celebrated by throwing huge parties and racing around on their motorcycles, shooting their middle fingers at just about everyone they came across, including cops. They might do a burglary here and there. God, Daddy was famous for the way he could throw a punch. The gang's founder died of cancer in 1999. J. C. Stevens and Rev. They are not getting on their bikes and looking to commit crimes. By Sherryl Connelly. They also like the phrase "Cut one, we all bleed.". Bandidos Book Out in Bad Standings: Inside The Bandidos Motorcycle Club The Making Of A Worldwide Dynastyby Edward Winterhalder. Would they say, All police officers commit crimes, the way they tell reporters like you, All Bandidos commit crimes? Once a new member received his Bandidos vest, he was ordered to lay it on the ground. I looked at Pike, who raised his eyebrows. The obituary was featured in Legacy on March 14, 2006. . Wegers lived, and still lives, in Bellingham. Hell, no.. The other he had built himself to look just like a chopper out of the seventies, complete with an elongated Springer front end, high handle bars, and chrome pipes. As he turned westbound to exit onto Highway 20, the motorcycle went off the road, according to the Washington State Patrol. But defense lawyers for Pike and Portillo attacked Ojemanns testimony as self-serving, or of being fabricated to wrongly accuse their clients in order to save himself from lengthy prison time in his own drug case. One Bandido popped a wheelie on his Harley-Davidson and rode on his back tire for at least thirty yards. A Bandido scout went over to check out the van and came back to report that it too was filled with police officers, one of whom was taking photos with a high-powered camera. George Wegers is Dead : Death, Obituary, Cause of Death, Memorial, Funeral 360NG totally feeling remorsed to announce the death of a loved one 'George Wegers '. Bandido Chuco, who had died at the age of 65 from liver cancer. In fact, the Bandidos are not just hanging on, they are thriving. They were dressed in steel-toed boots, jeans, and their colors: denim or black leather vests covered with a variety of red-and-gold patches that carried such slogans as Loyalty is our honor, Our colors dont run, and Expect no mercy. On the back of every vest was a large patch of a bellicose Mexican bandit brandishing a pistol and a machete. The Houston Chronicle wrote in 2001 that at some meetings attendance was required, and chapters took roll calls. Several of them headed into the chapel to see Chuco in his casket. I assumed I would be met by one of his sergeants at arms, eyeing me suspiciously, maybe with a handgun sticking out of the back of his pants. IN 1998 THERE WAS TALK ONCE AGAIN that the Bandidos had suffered a fatal blow: Craig Jaws Johnston, who was then the Bandidos president, and other leaders pleaded guilty in federal court to charges that they had conspired to manufacture and sell as much as a thousand pounds of methamphetamine. He showed me his bicycle, which he rides eleven miles a day to stay in shape, and then he led me into the first floor of his house, which was basically a garage containing a couple of vintage automobiles and motorcycles that he was restoring. ET Jim Pitts audio and video editing. said. The state funeral for Queen Elizabeth II will take place on Monday in London, in an occasion that will mark the world's farewell to Britain's longest-reigning monarch . He has also covered immigration, minority affairs and legal affairs as part of the projects team here and for other print, TV and radio outlets. ", "Ex-Bandido says national president kicked predecessor out over TV interview", "Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs: Aspects of the One-Percenter Culture for Emergency Department Personnel to Consider", "Are the Bandidos Named After A Corn Chip Mascot? One was a black 1988 Softail Custom. We are Bandidos forever, forever Bandidos, he said. With an estimated 800 to 1,000 members in sixteen states (about 400 in Texas alone) and another 1,400 members in Canada, Europe, and Australia, they are now as large as the fabled Hells Angels, from California, and according to law enforcement officials who investigate the club, the new Bandidosor at least some of themare just as ribald and rebellious as the originals, whom the cops used to chase day and night. But it was also a rare look inside the Bandidos and at the life of the man who has been . We mourn with the family of George Wegers for this great loss. These are not your fathers Bandidos, said Kent Schaffer, a well-known Houston attorney who has been defending the club for 23 years. Ojemann is the latest ex-insider to testify against his former Bandidos brothers at the racketeering trial in San Antonio of Pike and ex-national vice president John Xavier Portillo. Pike laughed out loud. 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