The Houston FBI agent who investigates us has called me so many times that Ive got his number on my speed dial. Find out more on Amazon (link opens in a new tab). Chambers was sentenced to two consecutive life terms in prison, leading some police officials to speculate that the Bandidos, without their founder, would disband. [10][11], The Bandidos Motorcycle Club was founded by 36-year-old dockworker Donald Eugene Chambers on March 4, 1966, in San Leon, Texas. 1701 N. Main St. Higginsville, MO, 64037. Fall From Power. Weger was driving a Harley Davidson Street Glide southbound on Interstate 5 at about 3 p.m. Sunday. February 2023 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? According to a 2007 Texas Monthly article, they had a patchwork of tattoos, long beards, wild hair and nicknames like "Pecker," "Revolver," "Deadweight" and "Log Cabin." The Bandidos live here, and they love to steal motorcycles. . Kaiser-Wiegers Funeral Home. Edward Winterhalders status was changed to Out in Bad Standings by the Bandidos. Then Chambers and the other Bandidos had set their bodies on fire before burying them. Consider, for instance, the gold-colored courtesy card that Chambers printed up for his members to give to citizens (the word they used to describe nonmembers). Hell, no.. But thats where the comparisons ended. In 1998 George Wegers became the International President of the Bandidos Motorcycle Club,Jeff Pikewas the Vice President for much of this time. Bandido Chuco, who had died at the age of 65 from liver cancer. The cops drive by here just about every day just to see what Im up to. 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. Not only had a member been killed, but the Bandidos were embarrassed that a much smaller club would dare to take them on . George Christie unhappily confronts Sonny about breaking a cardinal rule of the Hells Angels organization in this scene from "Sonny vs. George."Subscribe for. Oh, hell, its not like its any secret where I live. Ojemann said he and another national member were tasked with trying to find Lammins. It is derived from the Gospel of St. John. [51][52], The German department of the Bandidos was chartered in 2000. Arent they long gone, artifacts of the Easy Rider era? Yes, they love riding fast. 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. A few years ago, Pike owned a large street-rod shop in Tomball. I headed down a dirt road, drove past a stand of trees, and saw an unfinished two-story frame home, about 3,500 square feet. 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. [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. Bring on the Shiplap? He was predeceased by : his parents, Chester Wagers and . Appointed in 1998 by club leaders as president of the 2,400-member Bandidos Motorcycle Club, George Wegers, now 53, did launch a mini-revolution, putting an end to such warm biker traditions as . We mourn with the family of George Wegers for this great loss. 2006 - Jeff Pike is questioned by Canadian law enforcement in relation to the deaths of 8 Bandidos MC members, known as the No Surrender Crew and based out of Ontario, Canada, who were shot in the head by another Bandidos member on 8 April, 2006, the event was known as the Shedden Massacre.Law enforcement were attempting to determine if this was a killing ordered or organized by by the . Another raced down the parking lot, hit his brakes, leaned his entire body to the left, whipped his motorcycle around, and then raced the other way. Service 1 PM Wednesday at Evans-Nordby Funeral Home . He looked like just another middle-aged man who had spent the morning working in the yard. Please help us out by hitting the Share button so that we can keep bringing you more articles and Follow us on Facebook so that you get updated when we release new articles. 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. Stevens asked him if he had told agents he left the club after losing interest in the club over matters he didnt agree with. [35] These rules also dictate that any member who fails to attend mandatory group motorcycle rides is fined and must forfeit the title of his motorcycle. He owned a Harley Davidson motorcycle shop in Bellingham, Washington State. TRUSTED AREA FUNERAL HOMES. This is the one and only official Facebook page for George Wegers, the former National and International President of the largest motorcycle club. Sonny Barger and the Hells Angels Creed. And the police certainly had their doubts about Pike. Shane Kenneth (Wheels) Maloney of Wolfpack gets parole relaxed, Bad Blood goes international as Netflix Original, Former Bandido biker Randolph Brown gets maximum security prison time for murder, He was crying, sweating: Boxers daughter stares down hitman who killed her father. . Pike laughed out loud. Lenny is a grown man. We take our clothes to the dry cleaners. George Wegers is the President of the Bandidos, a (supposedly) outlaw motorcycle gang. Police and federal agents began rounding up members of the Bandidos biker gang across the Northwest today, after a grand jury returned a 19-count indictment accusing them of crimes ranging from . (A Bandido was required to wear his vest whenever he rode his motorcycle. In the past, he had been a member of other Houston-area motorcycle clubs, but they had bored him. [18] George Wegers, who served as international president between 1998 and 2005, was convicted of racketeering charges in October 2006. 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. Each situation is different. She was 33 years old, tall and blond, and she was wearing a vest that had a patch on the back that read Proud Bandido Old Lady. People told me I had lost my mind when I said I was going to marry a Bandido, said Nicole, who runs a pet grooming salon in the Hill Country. Boxing champs killer, as fed witness, testifies against the Bandidos property tells of the clubs violence, drugs and Jeff Pike took the reins of the Bandidos until he was arrested in January 2016, according to testimony. Membership fees are required, and are used to cover club expenses, such as funeral costs, and contribute to a legal defense fund. 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. How Florence ButtNot Her SonLaunched the H-E-B Empire. He had a passion for motorcycles from a very young age, possibly spurred on by a Harley Davidson motorcycle owned by one of his neighbours that he used to see parked out the front. George Wegers Bandidos MC George Wegers Early Life / Family Life. When the hearse stopped, members of Chucos own San Antonio chapter carried his casket to the grave site. George Strathy, having just been sworn in as the new chief justice for Ontario, was making his first speech at the annual opening of the courts, a formal occasion where the judges of all three . Cut one, we all bleed, the Bandidos warnand the blood has never stopped flowing, often from internal strife as much as external battles.. [5] Patches denoting a member's rank and chapter are worn, as are various other patches which have specific meanings. At recess, we swapped storiesperhaps true, perhaps notabout how Bandidos pulled out their enemies teeth with pliers and beat them with heavy metal wrenches. said. A screening process is carried out to prevent infiltration by law enforcement. 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. Portillos lead lawyer, Mark Stevens, noted that what Ojemann told investigators in debriefings differed from his court testimony. About George Wegers George Wegers History. He told me he didnt see his father much when he was a boy. I attempted to eavesdrop on a conversation among some of the older Bandidos, thinking I might hear some interesting anecdotes about the club. The phrase "Support your local bandidos" was printed on the front of the panties, according to a 2007 Texas Monthly story on the motorcycle gang. Get down! he shouted again. No rules, no bullshit, just the open road.. Why dont they start chasing real criminals, like those kids in street gangs who scare the shit even out of me, instead of following us everywhere we go, tapping our phones, and trying to destroy us with a bunch of made-up charges?, For the first time, Pikes smile faded and his eyes narrowed slightly. Kerr identified three Bandidos in a police lineup as his possible assailants. But heres the thing. George Wegers was funny, highly intelligent and well read, but if crossed could slip instantly into a violent and unpredictable psychotic rage. He was as lean as a plank, with light brown hair that fell to the bottom of his neck and sideburns that went down to his jaw line, and he stared at the camera with a cocky, youll-never-bring-me-down expression. It is worth noting that paperback/hardback version of this book has been split into two parts for the Kindle, which just makes things confusing! They thundered into the funeral homes parking lot, gunning their engines again and again, sending thick clouds of exhaust into the air. I hope you dont believe all that bullshit the feds are feeding you, he said in a surprisingly cheerful voice. And we all go to work. Photos from Julian Carsini, Crown exhibits, Peter Edwards. [ 186 more . This is a carousel. And what they do is not organized crime authorized by the club, he said. In the decades since, a town has been split on what they think really happened George Wegers was born in Whatcom County in Washington State around 1953. Wegers has heart problems and high blood pressure and regularly saw three different doctors. Obviously, said Rodriguez, Benesh didnt follow their advice. (Written on the front of the panties was the phrase Support Your Local Bandidos.). Pike was like, (expletive) him. But would they call that entire department a criminal enterprise? Hi, how are you? I said to a Bandido wearing a bandanna and dark sunglasses. As he turned westbound to exit onto Highway 20, the motorcycle went off the road, according to the Washington State Patrol. Early on the morning of Wednesday, March 16, George tried and failed once more to reach his wife. The Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang has 2,000 to 2,500 members in the U.S. and 13 other countries. Ex-Bandido says national president kicked predecessor out over TV interview. Texas Monthly reported that the feds considered the gang an "organized criminal enterprise" that used "intimidation, extortion, violence and threats of violence against rival motorcycle clubs" to maintain "its power, territory and profits." In 1985, after a long undercover investigation, hundreds of federal agents and local police officers in eight states arrested nearly one hundred Bandidos and their associates on charges of narcotics trafficking. Ill be honest, it was a lot more fun back then. 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. The feds thought that they finally had us with that one, that there would be no one left to run the club, chuckled Schmick, who, along with Hodge, was given a five-year sentence. [16] Subsequent expansion into the Nordic countries in the 1990s led to a violent feud with the Hells Angels. Members claim that only a small percentage of Bandidos make their living through crime. 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?. In March 1966 Chambers founded the first Motorcycle Club with the name BANDIDOS MC in San Leon, Texas. In that era there were already a number of hard-core biker clubs scattered throughout the country, including the Outlaws, the Pagans, and, of course, the Hells Angels, which had been formed shortly after World War II. Or consider the Bandidos initiation rites. Just like the Lions Club, its members had vests and were given rules about wearing them. After the service, all the Bandidos headed to their bikes. Funeral Services for George S. Wagers will be conducted on Wednesday, December 8, 2021 at 2:00 P. M. at the Lower Hector Church. [9], Numerous law enforcement and international intelligence agencies classify the Bandidos as an organized crime syndicate. [56], In recent years the club has also expanded heavily into Spain, Belgium, Estonia, Greece, England and Ireland. As I got in my rental car, I heard the familiar whomp-whomp-whomp of the police helicopter. And according to the law enforcement gossip mill, at least one of those investigations is now focused on Texas, where all the Bandidos national officers live. They came in packs, riding two, sometimes three abreast, their motorcycles roaring loudly enough to rattle all the funeral homes windows. Wegers suffered severe spinal damage while cruising alone on his Harley Streeton the afternoon of Sunday, September 27. Though Wegers returned to the Bandidos after serving a 20-month prison sentence for racketeering charges, he is no longer in the club because of the documentary, Ojemann said, without specifying which one. Rev. January 2023 Reader Quiz: What Did You Learn? But the Bandidos kept right on growing, opening new chapters throughout the country. We had girls show up who wanted to screw everyone. Family and friends are welcome to send flowers or leave their condolences on this memorial page and share them with the family. Friends and families of the deceased are mourning the passing of their loved and cherished George Wegers . Now, he said, he works here alone, restoring and customizing vehicles for select customersincluding a local constable, who knows I do good work, he said with a smirk. The last was George Wegers, who pleaded guilty in Washington state to federal racketeering charges and was sentenced to about 20 months. Every man whos ever been president of the Bandidos has been brought down, and its only a matter of time before Mr. Pike gets brought down too., On an impulse, I sent an e-mail to the Web site, asking if the 51-year-old Pike would agree to an interview. Similar to the "Expect No Mercy" patch, the "CDG" ("Coup de Grce") patch reportedly signifies a member who has committed a significant act of violence. 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. We are made to known about his death on September 23, 2020. You know, I feel sorry for guys who dont have a clue what this feels like.. Bandidos member George Wegers tells Don Lemon that a police bulletin warning of new threats by bikers is "nonsense" and "made up by the police." For me and my friends, the Bandidos were like the bogeymen. Hodge was nicknamed "Mr. Its only a matter of time, a highly placed Texas law enforcement official told me last spring. The rest are just fun-loving guys who enjoy riding motorcycles. As part of his role as the Bandidos International President, or El Preisdente, as it is often referred to within the Bandidos, he decided to move the clubs headquarters from Texas to Bellingham, Washington, although the Bandidos will always be considered as a Texas outlaw motorcycle club. 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. The police said that before killing the dealers, Chambers had made them dig their own graves. George Weger was taken to Skagit Valley Hospital. Less than a month after the Benesh shooting, eight Bandidos were found stuffed inside abandoned vehicles in a field in Canada. 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. 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. I looked at Pike, who raised his eyebrows. 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. 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 . All the national officers of the Bandidos met after Batchelor's funeral. They looked at the helicopter, and once again, as if given a silent cue, they lifted their hands in unison and flashed their middle fingers toward the sky. Suddenly, the Bandidos heard a sound in the distance, a distinct whomp-whomp-whomp. A few days later I drove into a well-kept neighborhood near the Woodlands residential community. Federal prosecutors have gone so far as to indict Bandidos under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), a federal statute originally intended to destroy Mafia families, claiming that the club is an organized criminal enterprise that resorts to intimidation, extortion, violence and threats of violence against rival motorcycle clubs to maintain its power, territory and profits. This past August, the federal government also admitted in a court filing that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with other investigative agencies, was carrying on active investigations into the club. People who worked in the nearby stores and businesses rushed outside to get a better look. We dont do TV, Ojemann testified, recalling a conversation he said he had with Pike in 2012. His nickname was Spook. You got him, he said, shaking my hand and giving me a confident grin. Once a new member received his Bandidos vest, he was ordered to lay it on the ground. They are not Boy Scouts, but they are not outlaws. Chambers and other Bandidos made the dealers dig their own graves and then set their bodies on fire before burying them, Texas Monthly wrote. 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. Just like the Rotary Club, each chapter was required to have a weekly meeting where attendance was taken and dues paid. The other members of his chapter then urinated, vomited, and defecated on it. 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. Chester Weger was convicted for the murders of three women in an Illinois state park but he insists on his innocence. And then we looked at one another and said, Hell, we can do a lot better than these guys. . When a beloved brother died last summer, more than four hundred bikers thundered into San Antonio for his funeral. Jim Pitts audio and video editing. [47] The first European chapter opened in Marseille in France in 1989. [21] In 2007, the Bandidos' Canadian chapters went defunct following the internal Shedden massacre. Theyre at a major university right here in Texas, he said, grinning again. Additionally, prosecutor Eric Fuchs asked Ojemann about the difference between Bandidos in Houston and those in San Antonio. But by the time we headed off to prison, we already had the next group of leaders ready to go. Their suspicions about him only deepened after the Benesh and the Canadian affairs. [32], Bandidos members must be male[33] and own at least one Harley-Davidson motorcycle (although other American-made motorcycles can also be allowed). Most of these clubs are regional. Everyone said to me, Lock it up. [34] Prospective members must undertake a three-stage process before being initiated, beginning as a "hangaround", before becoming a "prospect" and then "probation". All of us read it to get some ideas on what we should be doing, said Showalter. If you fill out the first name, last name, or agree to terms fields, you will NOT be added to the newsletter list. And that, Pike and Portillos lawyers argued, could leave Ojemann facing a sentence closer to two years, maybe even probation. He was surrounded by bouquets of flowers, along with photos of him in his younger days standing beside his motorcycle or next to topless biker chicks. The Austin police, in particular, wanted to know if he had ordered the killing of Benesh as a way to send a message to all motorcycle clubs about what he would do to anyone he found moving into Bandidos territory. I know theyre trying to pin everything on us, he said. There were no drugs or alcohol in his system, although his helmet wasnt Department of Transporation approved. 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.. They had come to pay their respects to one of their early members, Luis Bonilla, a.k.a. Defense attorneys criticized federal prosecutors for stitching together a racketeering case based on minor felonies and misdemeanors. He suffered spinal injuries from a motorcycle crash when he exiting Interstate 5 in Skagit County, Washington State in 2010. I love you, brother! barked one beefy, middle-aged Bandido, wrapping his tattooed arms around a Bandido whose long gray hair was held back with a bandanna. One of the most high-profile cases involving Washington Bandidos came in 2005 with the arrest of the club's national president, George Wegers. Burial will follow in the Smith-Wagers Cemetery in the Hector Community. Crystal was wearing not only a necklace with a pendant that read PBOL but also a leather belt that carried the stitched-in phrase Property of Bandido F Off., I split time equally with them, F.O. 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 is a San Antonio Express-News staff writer. Up in Washington, one of our Bandidos is an engineer at Microsoft.. 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. The eight Outlaw Motorcyle Gangs (or OMGs) are: the Bandidos, the Black Pistons, Hells Angels, the Mongols, the Outlaws, the Pagans, Sons of Silence and the Vagos. [29], The Bandidos' mottos include "Cut one, we all bleed",[9] "God forgives, Bandidos don't",[1] "Our colors don't run"[30] and "We are the people our parents warned us about". Furious, law enforcement agencies redoubled their efforts to bring the club down. We are made to known about his death on September 23, 2020. 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. [69][11] The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Criminal Intelligence Service Canada (CISC) also identify the club as one of the "big four" motorcycle gangs, along with the Hells Angels, Outlaws and Pagans, and contend that the club is responsible for organized crime activity such as drug dealing, arms trafficking, prostitution, extortion, money laundering and murder. Bandidos have been accused of threatening people who were preparing to testify against them in court and of beating and even shooting any member of rival motorcycle clubs who has either not shown them the proper respect or attempted to invade one of their territories. Was it smart expanding into different countries in the first place? [14] Ronnie Hodge was sentenced to five years in prison in December 1988 for conspiring to bomb homes and automobiles belonging to members of a rival club, and he died of heart disease in 1992. [23] The American chapters began wearing a redesigned patch in 2011. A flask or two was passed around. George Wagers Obituary. The specific charges were hardly flashy: Wegers and the others were accused of such varied crimes as stealing motorcycles, kidnapping a rival motorcycle club member (the kidnapping lasted a day .