Top members of Bandidos Motorcycle Club nabbed by feds in joint Texas sting

Jeffrey Fay Pike is escorted by U. S. Marshals after his appearance in federal court, where he faces several charges related to his alleged activity with the Bandidos Motorcycle Club Tuesday, January 6, 2015. Jeffrey Fay Pike is escorted by U. S. Marshals after his appearance in federal court, where he faces several charges related to his alleged activity with the Bandidos Motorcycle Club Tuesday, January 6, 2015. Photo: Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle Photo: Melissa Phillip / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 45 Caption Close Top members of Bandidos Motorcycle Club nabbed by feds in joint Texas sting 1 / 45 Back to Gallery

Federal agents arrested the national president of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club at his fortified Conroe home Wednesday, and charged him with racketeering, extortion, drug dealing and other crimes while leading an international gang with as many as 2,000 members.

Two other leaders — the national vice president and sergeant-at-arms — were arrested in San Antonio.

They each face up to life in prison if convicted of the charges detailed in a hefty indictment that describes alleged inner workings of the secretive Bandidos, which began in the Houston area in the 1960s.

The indictment, handed up by a San Antonio grand jury, also describes simmering tensions between the Bandidos and the smaller, lesser known Cossacks Motorcycle Club over who could claim Texas as their territory. That beef allegedly roiled into a series of beatings and assaults around the state as Bandidos and their supporters allegedly attacked Cossacks.

The indictment does not mention the May 17 melee at the Twin Peaks roadhouse in Waco, which left nine people dead, two dozen wounded, and 177 arrested, but the series of attacks clearly set a stage for the violence.

Jeff Pike, 60, the Bandidos president, was not at Twin Peaks that deadly Sunday afternoon, nor were the two others charged with him: national vice president John Portillo and sergeant-at- arms Justin Forster.

Pike was shackled at the waist and ankles as he stood before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nancy Johnson, who advised him of his rights and ordered he be temporarily held without bail.

Whether he'll be conditionally freed pending trial will be determined at a hearing set for Monday at the federal courthouse in Houston.

Prosecutors will aim to convince the judge that Pike should remain in custody as he is either a danger to the community or a risk of fleeing the country.

All five previous Bandidos presidents have done time behind bars, but Pike is the only one who had not been arrested while in office.

"It's a big deal and it's bound to affect some clubs," said Randy McBee, a researcher of motorcycle clubs and professor at Texas Tech University. "But it perhaps won't be as disruptive [to the Bandidos] as we may think."

He said many motorcycle clubs and outlaw gangs have weathered the arrests of top leadership in past decades, but generally have reorganized and re-emerged.

Pike was questioned in 2006 by Canadian authorities who were investigating the murder of eight Bandidos or their associates who were shot in the head by a fellow Bandido, who is now in prison.

Investigators wanted to know if the deaths were a hit sanctioned by Pike. He was not charged.

The indictment made public Wednesday came following a probe by the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety.

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[Editor's Note: Indictment contains graphic language.]

"Operation Texas Rocker has inflicted a debilitating blow to the leadership hierarchy and violent perpetrators of the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang," said Joseph Arabit, head of the DEA's Houston Division. "This 23-month operation highlights a deliberate and strategic effort to cut off and shut down the supply of methamphetamine trafficked by the Bandidos as well as other related criminal activity."

The Bandidos are described as a "highly organized criminal organization" with chapters across Texas as well as in various parts of the United States and some foreign countries.

"Bandidos members do not fear authority and have a complete disdain for the rules of society," contends the indictment, filed under seal on Dec. 16 and signed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Fuchs.

Bandidos normally ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles; hold regular chapter meetings, known as "church" sessions, and coordinate with national leaders.

Pike has ultimate decision making authority in the organization, according to the indictment, but most "day-to-day decision- making authority" has rested with Portillo, who briefly assumed the presidency while Pike recovered from surgery between May and August.

According to the indictment, Portillo on May 23 doubled the dues for Bandidos and "donations" from support clubs to help pay for bonds and legal expenses for Bandidos who would go to jail for "club business," including criminal acts against the Cossacks. The clash at the Twin Peaks in Waco was on May 17.

As the sergeant-at-arms, Forster was responsible for enforcing of club rules and for disciplining members.

Pike is said to have long suspected federal agents were watching him and listening to his phones. Early Wednesday a convoy of two dozen officers and agents pushed through his front gate and ordered him through a loud speaker to surrender, his Houston lawyer Kent Schaffer said.

Pike's two-story home sits on a large patch of land, is surrounded by a wrought iron fence, and flanked by security cameras mounted in trees.

There are two driveway gates, each still adorned with a Christmas wreath, and neither appeared to be damaged late Wednesday.

Schaffer said law enforcement officers could have just called and told Pike to surrender.

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"These guys don't get to wear that stuff very often, so it is a big deal, a lot of fun," Schaffer said of officers wearing helmets and other hefty equipment for the arrest.

FBI Special Agent Michelle Lee said agents did nothing improper.

"Tactically trained agents used appropriate, reasonable, and lawful methods to conduct the arrest of Mr. Pike to ensure the safety of the public, Mr. Pike, and law enforcement personnel," she said.

Schaffer also said that the tension between the Bandidos and Cossacks is well known, but that the groups get in bar fights and don't commit federal crimes.

"The federal prosecution is designed to take heat off law enforcement involved in the assault in Waco," he said, noting that many questions about the actions of authorities who were there that day, including how many of the dead were shot by police.

Schaffer was adamant Pike is no criminal.

Pike builds and paints custom cars, he said, and has a wife who is a certified public account, and two adult children who graduated from the University of Texas.

The Bandidos, known for the red and gold patches on their cycling vests, are among the largest and most powerful motorcycle groups in the United States.

The Hells Angels are their longtime rivals, but the group's have a mutual understanding that they stay out of each other's territory.

RELATED: Bikers put out 'green light' against officers following Waco shooting

The indictment points to an instance in which Bandido leaders traveled to California for a face-to-face meeting with Hells Angels leaders.

Bandidos take exception to being called a gang instead of a motorcycle club.

They are considered a gang by the Texas Department of Public Safety. The agency's latest gang assessment ranks the Bandidos in the same tier as the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas prison gang, among others.

The Bandidos roots run deep in Houston, with one law enforcement officer saying the Houston region is to the Bandidos what Washington, D.C., is to the federal government.

Don Chambers, the founder and first president of the Bandidos, is buried at a Houston cemetery beneath a large, flat grave stone inscribed with his name, affiliation with the Bandidos, and the quote,"We are the people our parents warned us about."

Christopher Combs, head of the FBI's San Antonio Division, said the arrests were an attempt to "neutralize one of the most dangerous criminal organizations" in this state.

"This effort not only exemplifies our commitment to prevent gang violence and criminal activity from poisoning our communities," he said, "but it also sends a clear message that we will relentlessly pursue and prosecute the leaders and members of these violent criminal enterprises."