Still, the evidence was strong enough that 18 of the Bandidos, including Wegers, agreed to plea deals in return for short prison sentences. And the truth is that I sometimes do get jealous of all the time he spends with the club. His nickname was Spook. Less than a month after the Benesh shooting, eight Bandidos were found stuffed inside abandoned vehicles in a field in Canada. George Wegers was funny, highly intelligent and well read, but if crossed could slip instantly into a violent and unpredictable psychotic rage. You know, were not all that different than anyone else. Youre going to let me come to your housethe head of the Bandidos? I asked. According to homicide detective Frank Rodriguez, in the days before his murder, Benesh had been receiving telephone calls from Bandidos telling him to stop wearing a vest that displayed Hells Angels patches. But other members from San Antonio did beat up and kick Morgas out of the Bandidos, Ojemann said . Obviously, said Rodriguez, Benesh didnt follow their advice. The Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang has 2,000 to 2,500 members in the U.S. and 13 other countries. on Monday, March 15th, 2010 at 11:55 am and is filed under Uncategorized. George (Crash) Kriarakis. After the service, all the Bandidos headed to their bikes. Well, if they are committing crimes, I dont see them doing it, she said. [35][38] The Bandidos' "mother chapter" is based in Houston, Texas. Ojemann said he and another national member were tasked with trying to find Lammins. All I ask is that he not bring it home and tell me about it. One man, standing in the parking lot of a Mexican restaurant, called a friend on his cell phone and shouted, There must be a hundred of them! A woman driving a Ford Taurus swerved to the shoulder of the road and slammed on her brakes as a group of them raced past her, missing her car by inches. ", "12 facts about the biker gangs involved in the Twin Peaks shooting", "Polisen: Det betyder mrkena p Bandidosvstarna", "20 Rules The Bandidos Make Their Members Follow", "Federal indictment details life, self-law of Bandidos", "Waco biker shoot-out: Facts about the Bandidos and the Cossacks motorcycle gangs", "Hells Angels under pressure as outlaw motorcycle clubs from across the globe expand into Canada", "Australian Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs & their Territories", "Two killed in rocket attack in escalating biker gang violence", "Sweden Democrats oust former biker gang boss", "Bandidoksen Suomen johtajan ampunut mies psee vankilasta vapaaksi", "Politiet pent til stede p Bandidos-jubileum", "Inside the biker gangs: the truth about guns, drugs and organised crime", "Court bans Dutch arm of Bandidos motorcycle gang", "Bandidos MC Worldwide Bandidos Motorcycleclub Worldwide", "About Violent Gangs - Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs", "Hombres MC Seattle Wash Chapter - WELCOME", "FBI 2013 National Gang Intelligence Center report", "Dutch court bans motorcycle gang Bandidos", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bandidos_Motorcycle_Club&oldid=1126148048, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 7 December 2022, at 20:13. Copyright 2010, Peter Edwards. And as soon as Wegers was gone, the feds quickly began circling his successor, Jeff Pike, who lives just north of Houston. Pike told me that he had been an altar boy at a Catholic church in California, where he was born and raised. We were walking in our bathing suits on the sidewalk next to the seawall when a group of them roared past us on the adjoining boulevard, their engines as loud as fighter jets. NU Nuggets. (A Bandido was required to wear his vest whenever he rode his motorcycle. Its the Bandidos! yelled the man in the parking lot. The Bandidos Motorcycle Club, also known as the Bandido Nation,[1] is an outlaw motorcycle club[6][7][8] with a worldwide membership. Canadian authorities were curious to learn if Pike had ordered the shooting of the eight Bandidos to remind other members just what would happen to them if they too turned against the club. [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. Chambers started the Bandidos in March 1966, when he was 36 years old and working on the ship docks in Houston. Those words never came out of my mouth, Ojemann answered. When a beloved brother died last summer, more than four hundred bikers thundered into San Antonio for his funeral. Read more of his stories here. Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering: Kidnaping (VICAR), Anthony Snodgrass Spencer (Bandidos Australia President), Jeff Pike (Bandidos International President), Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering Assault, Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana and Methamphetamine, Carrying a Firearm During and in Relation to a Drug Trafficking Crime, Conspiracy to Traffic in Certain Motor Vehicles and Motor Vehicle Parts. In one corner of the garage were his Harley-Davidsons. Under cross-examination, Ojemann admitted being involved in drug trafficking with another Bandidos member. Jim Pitts audio and video editing. He jumps up, says hell be back soon, and is gone for four days. Odd to think that, not long ago, they all wore patches with BFFB, for Bandidos Forever, Forever Bandidos.. Friends and families of the deceased are mourning the passing of their loved and cherished George Wegers . Hi, how are you? I said to a Bandido wearing a bandanna and dark sunglasses. 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. He owned a Harley Davidson motorcycle shop in Bellingham, Washington State. Pike, of suburban Houston, has been president of the Bandidos since 2006 and was vice president under George Wegers of Washington . I hope you dont believe all that bullshit the feds are feeding you, he said in a surprisingly cheerful voice. Arent they long gone, artifacts of the Easy Rider era? Lenny, who was married with four kids, worked for an electric cooperative in the Hill Country. For instance, Ojemann said he attended a meeting in 2011 at the Mason Jar restaurant in Houston in which Pike and other national members talked about Pikes proposal to split the Bandidos from chapters in Europe and Australia. Wegers suffered severe spinal damage while cruising alone on his Harley Streeton the afternoon of Sunday, September 27. Just like the Lions Club, its members had vests and were given rules about wearing them. He had a passion for motorcycles from a very young age, possibly spurred on by a Harley Davidson motorcycle . [5] In the United States, the majority of the club consists of white and Hispanic males. George (Bandido George) Wegers, once the most powerful Bandido in the world, lies today in a nursing home, broke and without any status in the club. The motto of Niagara University, "Ut Omnes Te Cognoscant," translated means "That All May Know You.". 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. About the only thing they get these days are speeding tickets., Although federal investigators in the 2005 RICO indictment claimed that Bandidos were sometimes required to pay the club a road tax (a percentage of their proceeds derived from criminal activities), Ed Winterhalder, a former Bandido from Oklahoma who quit the club in 2003, told me that only 10 percent of todays Bandidos make a living through crime. These patches consist of red lettering displayed on a gold background. One Bandido popped a wheelie on his Harley-Davidson and rode on his back tire for at least thirty yards. [15][12], In 1989, the club was established in Europe when a chapter was formed in Marseille, France. [27] However, the Frito Bandito was not developed until 1967, the year after the Bandidos' foundation. True Crime Jeff Pike, Texas's Own Tony Soprano Earlier this spring, Jeff Pike, the head of the infamous Texas-based Bandidos motorcycle club, went on trial in federal court for racketeering. The coffin was lowered into the ground, and a mariachi band sang Te vas, ngel mo (You Leave, Angel of Mine). Members were accused of conspiracy to commit murder, witness . Pike did not approve of members dealing in drugs, which was one of his concerns with the chapters in Europe and Australia, DeGuerin said. [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. Guillermo Contreras is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. Showalter, his white hair long and braided, is now sixty years old, living in San Antonio on disability payments and barely able to walk because of past motorcycle accidents. They love the tough biker persona. Theyre at a major university right here in Texas, he said, grinning again. 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. Man, that Chuco was a bad motherfer, said another, wearing a T-shirt underneath his vest that read Snitches are a dying breed! Remember how he used to say that if we ever had a problem, we should handle it very, very violently?. 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. When I walked in, F.O., who was there with his Old Ladies, leaned into my ear and said, Buddy, it would behoove you to buy some beers. But when I got older, people would talk about himtalk about his love of adventure, he said. The Bandidos Motorcycle Club was founded by 36-year-old dockworker Donald Eugene Chambers on March 4, 1966, in San Leon, Texas. In the helicopters open door were a couple of men in police uniforms holding binoculars. Ojemann said he became close to Pike and saw some of his decisions firsthand. Only a few went inside the church for the service to hear Chucos sister deliver a tearful eulogy, concluding with the line Oh, Chuco, I will miss your laughing and your fighting. Those who remained in the parking lot stood around their bikes. Pike was like, (expletive) him. In 2003 George Wegers had just come in as the Bandidos International President and there are mentions in the book about the control that Wegers attempted to place over how each of the chapters was run, however the author states that he mainly wanted to leave the club to look after his family and business. We report on vital issues from politics to education and are the indispensable authority on the Texas scene, covering everything from music to cultural events with insightful recommendations. The Bandidos deny that they're "white supremacists.". I tagged along in my rental car. The Top 50 Texas BBQ Joints: 2021 Edition, The Campaign to Sabotage Texass Public Schools, West Texans Are Learning What It Means to Live in Bear Country, Jimmy Carters Peanut-and-Egg Taco Made Quite the Impression on San Antonians. There was always someone stumbling into the bonfire and someone else shooting a pistol into the air. Although the particular meaning of each patch is not publicly known, various law enforcement agencies have identified Bandidos patches which they believe are related to criminal activity. Wegers displayed his arrogance, Woo said, by packing up his belongings in expectation that he would be . Investigators speculated that the victims had been killed by a team of hit men as part of an internal cleansing ordered by the Bandidos leaders. Jos R. Ralat is Texas Monthlys taco editor, writing about tacos and Mexican food. 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. Chip Gaines Bought Larry McMurtrys Historic Texas Bookstore. 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. Ojemann agreed with that, and with DeGuerins assertion that Pike was disappointed with Ojemann for his involvement in drugs. Stevens asked him if he had told agents he left the club after losing interest in the club over matters he didnt agree with. A screening process is carried out to prevent infiltration by law enforcement. Mimi Swartz is a staff writer based in Houston. . Stevens pressed Ojemann on whether he had ever said before that he left the club by mutual agreement. The new recruit was then required to put the vest back on and dry it out by riding on his motorcycle. In 1998 George Wegers became the International President of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club,Jeff Pikewas the Vice President for much of this time. (To protect their privacy, Pike asked me not to name the school.) Wegers suffered severe spinal damage while cruising alone on his Harley Street on the afternoon of Sunday, September 27. Chambers was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison, leading some police officials to speculate that the Bandidos, without their founder, would disband. The latter earned his nickname for his tendency to drink whiskey from a Log Cabin syrup bottle. While there are no books specifically written about George Wegers, this following book details the rise of the Bandidos, written by Alex Caine who was able to infiltrate the club for 3 years. Paul Mitchell, Rev. [21] In 2007, the Bandidos' Canadian chapters went defunct following the internal Shedden massacre. A former national ranking member of the Bandidos testified Friday that the groups latest president kicked his predecessor out of the biker club for appearing on a television documentary.