ROCHESTER — A 64-year-old Monterey, Calif. man was sentenced today to 10 years in prison for a conviction on a pair of drug charges here in Western New York.
According to U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr., Richard W. Mar, who was the president of the Hell’s Angels Monterey (Calif.) Charter at the time of crime, was also prohibited by Judge Siragusa from being a member of or associating with the Hell’s Angels for four years after his release from prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett A. Harvey, who handled the case, stated that, from 2002 through July 2010, Mar supplied significant quantities of methamphetamine to a methamphetamine trafficking network operating in the Western District of New York. The leader of the network was James H. McAuley, Jr. – a member and Vice President of the Rochester Hell’s Angels. During the conspiracy, McAuley and other members of the conspiracy traveled to the Monterey, California, on numerous occasions to obtain pound-size quantities of methamphetamine from Mar, in exchange for cash. The methamphetamine was be transported and/or shipped from California to the Rochester area, where other members of the conspiracy would sell and distribute it to their customers.
In April 2007, McAuley was arrested on federal racketeering charges in the Northern District of New York. After his arrest and incarceration, McAuley continued to maintain control over the methamphetamine trafficking operation. Mar, acting at the direction of McAuley, distributed pound-size quantities of methamphetamine to McAuley’s wife, Donna Boon. Boon and other members of the conspiracy sold and distributed the methamphetamine to individuals in the Rochester area, Genesee County, and other locales. Mar, who admitted to trafficking up to 15 kilograms of methamphetamine during the course of the conspiracy, continued to supply the methamphetamine trafficking network until July 2010.
The sentencing is part of a larger investigation that resulted in the indictment and arrest of seven members and associates of the Rochester and Monterey (Calif.) Hell’s Angels for drug trafficking and racketeering-related offenses in February 2012. Seven defendants – including Mar – were charged and convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Also convicted were:
- James McAuley, sentenced to 300 months in prison;
- Donna Boon, sentenced to probation and 12 months home incarceration;
- Gordon L. Montgomery, sentenced to 60 months in prison;
- Jeffrey A. Tyler, sentenced to 18 months in prison;
- Richard E. Riedman, sentenced to 37 months in prison; and
- Paul Griffin, sentenced to probation.
In addition, Rochester Hell’s Angels member Robert W. Moran, Jr., a/k/a Bugsy, was convicted of conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering activity. Gina Tata was convicted of being an accessory after the fact to the conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering activity. Defendant Timothy M. Stone was convicted of being an accessory after the fact to the assault.
On May 31, 2006, Moran – a member and officer of the Rochester Hell’s Angels – assaulted a patron, who made disparaging remarks about motorcycle clubs, at Spenders Bar on Lyell Avenue in Rochester with a baseball bat. Moran committed the assault in order to maintain his position in the Rochester Hell’s Angels. Gina Tata, who was the bartender at Spenders Bar at the time of the assault, tried to help Moran escape arrest and prosecution for the assault. Timothy Stone destroyed the hard drive and the baseball bat used to commit the assault. Moran was sentenced to 18 months in prison, Tata received probation and Stone was sentenced to 12 months in prison.
Today’s sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Adam Cohen, the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Gary T. Maha, the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Craig Hanesworth, the City of Batavia Police Department, under the direction of Chief Sean Shawn Heubusch, and the Village of LeRoy Police Department.
