MONGOLS MOTORCYCLE CLUB

In The Hat
Gangs, crime, cops and politics in Los Angeles. I welcome commentary by interested parties.

Thursday, December 16, 2004

BOTH SIDES STEP OFF
The war between the EME and the MONGOLS has apparently been called off due to television. The medium that was once described as a "vast wasteland" may be responsible for saving some lives or at least prevent some bloodshed.

After CHRIS BLATCHFORD broadcast his story on the war between the two groups on FOX 11 NEWS in LA last week, a shot caller concluded that any overt moves would draw an awful lot of attention from LE.

As a result, all SOUTHERN SOLDIERS have been ordered to stand down and wait for further instructions. For now, we have a cease fire. Further updates as they arrive. Stay tuned.

posted by Wally | 9:44 PM

11 Comments:
Anonymous said...
I'm an old veterano from east L.A. friends with true carnales of LA EME and THE MONGOL BROTHERS like many other veteranos and SURENOS here in Los Angeles. I'm glad to hear that the green light was called off. I'd like to school you on a quick tip. The Mongols motorcycle club was not formed in prison, they were formed on the streets of Montebello consisting of a bunch of low riders and cholos that had grown out of that scene and graduated to motorcycles and hotrods. Eventually finding themeselves with the same interests they got together and formed the motorcycle club. At first they tried joining the white motorcycle clubs that were already in existence but were not accepted by them so they started their own. Actually their first war was with a low rider club called Orpheus and they were jealous that the Mongols had moved up continentally on the streets. But history shows that Orpheus no longer exists. Most motorcycle club names are themed around hell and Satan. The Mongols wanted something different so they came up with the fiercest warriors that ruled Russia and China and most of the world for over 500 years. They even considered Aztecs or Mayans but they felt it was little bit too ethnic. I personally feel the name they chose was perfect. Their next battle was with the Hells Angels with whom they wanted to be friends with but were not accepted and the Mongols were being told what they could wear and how they should exist. Maybe the Mongols did insult them by sewing on the California bottom rocker but the Mongols had thier reasons. As far back as I could remember LA EME was always tight allies with the Mongols. They have done favors for each other many of times. You can ask anyone who has been in a Calfornia prison. The Mongols have brothers from up north and down south. They have white brothers too. This was never a problem with the Surenos before. Hell the Mongols are the only guys in the joint that I know that can walk the yard without having to ask permission that's how much love they have from LA EME. Also, for your information, the second in command to Joe Morgan, which was Robot, is brothers with the ex-president of the San Gabriel Chapter Monogls. So this so called problem is a little confusing to some Surenos and even to some older Mongols. But as with the Pepsi generation things have changed with LA EME and now similar types of changes are happening with the Mongols. So if the youngsters would talk to the elders on both sides I'm sure all this oculd be straighten out. Know the facts, the Mongols never had a reputation for taxing people. They've been known to just be a tight brotherhood that live the Chicano biker lifestyle and have one common enemy with all outlaw organiztions, the local authorities and the federal government. For all we know the federal government is creating chaos amongst us through the media to limit our constitutional rights.

9:06 AM
Anonymous said...
I came across a book that talks about an ATF federal agent who somehow infiltrated the MONGOLS MOTORCYCLE CLUB posing as a club member. He worked his way up the ranks into the position of secretary-treasuer. During his investigation, he says in his book on page 25, "they'd made efforts to recruit from the Chicano criminal culture of East L.A., which had become a feared force within the California prison system, and forged a dangerous alliance with La Eme, or the Mexican Mafia". The federal government has proof that the MONGOLS and La Eme are closely tied not only by business but by family and friendship. The name of the book is Under and Alone by William Queen. Pick up a copy and read it and you'll find it very interesting. This is the closes to knowing what happens within the MONGOL NATION.~~~An old veterano from east L.A.

Im watchin them on Gangland - Biker wars 2 here the link http://www.megavideo.com/?v=CSMQ2D0K

MONGOL NATION-
PART 1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gSAV0hHnAY
PART 2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q01P9WrRrbE
PART 3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ziTKKgXCuU
PART 4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFofJwrGEfU
PART 5 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-V2mZGoyXY

Will Doc Cavazos Flip
Thu, Oct 23, 2008
Features, News

Maybe the Feds have the Mongols by the huevos. Maybe after, numerous attempts over the last 30 years, the Department of Justice is finally, actually going to deconstruct a major outlaw motorcycle club. Maybe not. But, don’t dismiss the possibility.

“The future right now,” former Mongol Tony Vodnik rhetorically asked the Associated Press yesterday. Vodnik was one of about 200 Mongols patch holders purged by ex-Mongols President Ruben “Doc” Cavazos. “Well it’s kind of hard to say. Hopefully the club will always be out there.”

Hopefully but maybe not. Maybe this is it for the Mongols.

First of all, in all the world there are probably only 600 Mongols and right now about 10 percent of them are in jail. Who is going to pay the suits? Criminal lawyers are expensive. And, the Feds have also sent the Mongols a bill for $5,000,000.

Bye Bye Mongols Patch

The Feds are already seeking the permanent forfeiture of the “intellectual rights” to the Mongols trademarked name and logo. Yesterday, U.S. District Court Judge Florence-Marie Cooper granted an injunction that prohibits gang members, their family members and associates from wearing, licensing, selling or distributing the Mongols patch which depicts the head of a Mongol warrior wearing sunglasses and smoking a cigarette.

Starting today, any cop anywhere who sees anyone wearing a set of Mongols colors can confiscate them on sight. Which is exactly the sort of things cops dream.

And so, there goes even the club income from the “Support Your Local Mongols” coffee cup business. Maybe there goes the Mongols.

Cavazos Property Of

Even more important than the money, right this minute, the Feds own Ruben “Doc” Cavazos. Right this minute, all those Dudley Do Rights own Cavazos’ house, car, motorcycles, guns, his son, his credit cards and his bank accounts.

Cavazos, who has become almost famous as the leader of the Mongols, was voted out of the club “in bad standing” at a meeting in Vernon, CA on August 30. Apparently, a majority of the membership believed Cavazos was stealing from the club and was provoking a war with the Mexican Mafia.

Apparently, many Mongols and ex-Mongols have thought Cavazos was stealing from the club for a long time.

Exiled Mongols Speak

“Doc was all about the money,” former Mongols President Roger Pinney told the AP. Cavazos was “out for himself and not the brotherhood of the club.”

“I heard on one run he made $900,000. That’s a lot of money,” former member Vodnik said. “He was stripping the club of money. That was the club’s money not his money…No President is supposed to gain from the club. And he bought houses, bikes, cars for his son and his brother.”

Alone

Cavazos is on his own. And, because of the enemies he has made, he is very unlikely to be greeted by friends in prison. He might become the first motorcycle outlaw in the history of motorcycle outlaws to do his time in protective custody. If, that is, he does his time.

If Cavazos does his time he will not be able to return to his club because it is no longer his club. They are no longer his brothers. Right now Cavazos might get turned down by HOG. He has burned so many bridges behind him that it might be a good idea for Cavazos if he just stays away from all motorcyclists everywhere forever.

Doc Cavazos, however, is not completely painted into a corner. He has repeatedly demonstrated a real actual talent for self promotion. He has a book out. He has been on TV. He has a most excellent, Beverly Hills agent. He is printed by a leading publisher. He is not shy. He seems confidant that he can pull anything off. All of which brings to mind another famous piece of Federal property.

Sammy The Bull Gravano

Sammy “the Bull” Gravano was a tough guy’s tough guy. He was plain spoken, taciturn and camera shy. He was a business man, a family man and a ladies man. He had the blood of a couple of dozen other tough guys on his hands. Nobody ever thought Sonny Gravano would flip. Then he sang like a canary.

So far, nobody has ever exactly accused Cavazos of being Gravano. But, it is an absolute certainty that if “Doc” Cavazos flips, the Mongols Motorcycle Club is toast.

You see this. This morning, everyone sees this.

One hand weighs the rest of a life in a really crappy prison on constant guard from the contracts that have been placed on one’s head by La Eme, the Brand and the BGF. The other hand weighs four or five years in a mediocre motel room on an Army base followed by a new beginning in, oh say, Ka’u, under the shadow of the volcano on the Big Island. Or, worst case, a little fishing village in Alaska.

You see this. And, if you see this the Federales see this. The Feds saw this coming months ago.

Operation Black Rain

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) is the Federal law enforcement agency that investigates outlaw motorcycle clubs. Over the last decade, the ATF has carried out largely unfruitful infiltrations of the Vagos in Los Angeles, the Sons of Silence in Colorado and the Hells Angels in Arizona.

The ATF has also infiltrated the Mongols once before. The “Under and Alone” undercover agent that time was a man named Billy Queen, whom it is rumored, will be portrayed by Mel Gibson in a forthcoming movie.

It is not certain but it is possible that the ATF learned something from all its previous failures.

The evidence with which the Department of Justice will attempt to prosecute the Mongols Motorcycle Club was gathered by eight ATF agents and four snitches, or cooperating witnesses. Four of the ATF agents prospected and patched with the Mongols. Four Female agents impersonated their old ladies. Additionally, it appears that most of the Mongols’ cell phones were tapped.

RICO

The Feds are prosecuting the Mongols under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO.) RICO was enacted as part of the Organized Crime Control Act of 1970. It was written to ease the prosecution of organized crime bosses who might carry out a discernible pattern of criminal activity through subordinates while they actually committed no criminal act themselves.

The acronym RICO was contrived as a reference to the classic Edward G. Robinson gangster film Little Caesar. The film was intended to portray Al Capone and the Capone-like crime boss played by Robinson in that film called himself Rico.

RICO works best against associations that are organized into a hierarchy that can be drawn as a pyramid. In a perfect RICO case, a clear connection can be shown between a leader or leaders at the top of the pyramid and followers at the bottom of the pyramid.

And, it is the absence of this clearly discernible, highly organized structure that has made it virtually impossible to prosecute motorcycle clubs under the RICO statute.

In United States v. Barger in 1979 the Department of Justice unsuccessfully prosecuted several members of the Oakland Charter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club using RICO. But all the jurors could see was a motorcycle club that had some criminals for members. And the RICO case fell apart.

The Mongols And Rico

The problem the Mongols have right now is that Ruben “Doc” Cavazos was clearly in charge. And, on top of that, the Mongols have already voted that Cavazos was running the club for his own profit. There have even been allegations that Cavazos was pocketing each new member’s $500 prospecting fee.

And, Cavazos was apparently not declaring any of this on his income tax. One of the charges in the indictment is money laundering.

So all of this might actually look like a fairly well defined, top to bottom, pyramid shaped crime organization to a jury of good, straight citizens. It could be.

The federal indictment alleges that the Mongols were a “criminal enterprise…involved in a wide range of criminal activity including murder, hate crimes against African-Americans, assaults, firearms violations and narcotics trafficking.”

Making Sense Of The Indictment

This is a 177 page indictment that attempts to throw everything down to and including the kitchen sink at the Mongols. The crimes, or “overt acts,” enumerated in the indictment fall into the following categories:

* Minor drug and firearms crimes;
* crimes that will seem particularly egregious and offensive to jurors;
* major drug crimes;
* murders and attempted murders;
* and crimes committed by Doc Cavazos, his son “Little Rubes” Cavazos and a few close associates to expand, enhance and enrich a Cavazos criminal organization.

Minor Drug And Firearms Offenses

Small drug and gun offenses comprise most of the indictment. For example:

“On November 17, 2005, defendant William ‘Moreno” Ramirez is alleged to have possessed a .22 caliber rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun, an M-1 carbine .30 caliber rifle, a .45 caliber handgun, a .38 caliber revolver, ammunition, and numerous articles of clothing that identified his membership in the Mongols gang, at a residence in Montebello, California.”

And, again:

“On October 21, 2005, by telephone using coded language, defendant Jorge Viramontes arranged to sell approximately 28 grams of cocaine and 14 grams of methamphetamine to an undercover law enforcement officer.”

Crimes That Will Offend Jurors

Prosecutors can’t wait to tell jurors a few allegations that include:

“On October 9, 2005, multiple Mongols members, riding in a pack of motorcycles and wearing Mongols riding vests, attacked motorists on the highway near Palm Springs, California, by using their motorcycles to ‘trap’ the vehicles between them while a Mongol attempted to stab the motorists with a knife.”

Oh no! The Mongols tried to stab Grandma on her way to her golf game!

And, since there is a good chance that the jury that decides this case may include a black face or two, there are also several allegations like the following:

“On December 10, 2006, defendants Shawn Buss, Robert Vincent Rios, Abram Wedig and Joseph Braden attacked and beat an African-American patron at the Tokio Lounge in Hollywood, California, while shouting racist slurs at the victim.”

Major Drug Crimes

The amount of the drugs stated in a couple of the charges obviously exceeds the usual amount consumed by average recreational users.

“On September 18, 2007, in San Bernardino, California, defendants Rafael Lozano, Harold Reynolds and Ismael Padilla and an unindicted co-conspirator armed themselves with firearms and arranged to purchase 33 kilograms of cocaine with an undercover law enforcement officer and a confidential government informant.”

Needless to say, 33 keys is a phrase that wakes up jurors.

Murders And Attempted Murders

All together, the government is alleging dozens of counts homicide and attempted homicide and the indictment hints that additional counts may be prosecuted in state court.

“On February 14, 2007, defendants Norberto Jose Montes and Austin Melcer beat L.H. to death at ‘Young’s Tavern’ in Lancaster, California.”

And again:

“On or about April 8, 2007, in Los Angeles County, within the Central District of California, defendant Denis Maldonado willfully, deliberately, and with premeditation, unlawfully attempted to kill with malice aforethought M.G. and Z.S.”

Ruben Doc Cavazos

Doc Cavazos is portrayed in the indictment as being the mastermind behind an almost purely criminal organization. The specifics are too numerous to even adequately sample here. But, almost at random, the charges include the following.

In the General Allegations of the indictment Cavazos is alleged to:

* “negotiate with Mexican Mafia representatives concerning the collection of “tax” payments for the narcotics trafficking activities of Mongols members in areas otherwise controlled by the Mexican Mafia.”

* “direct Mongols members to travel to different locations and commit acts of violence, including murder, against rival gang members, law enforcement or other persons who would challenge the authority of the Mongols criminal enterprise.” And,

* “conduct financial transactions to conceal the proceeds derived from the crimes of the organization and convert those proceeds to promote the crimes of the Mongols and enrich themselves.”

Most perilous for the former Mongols president is that the government seems to have multiple witnesses who will testify that Cavazos ran an aggressive, for profit, criminal enterprise across state line and national borders.

While his phone was being tapped Cavazos “advised approximately 200 members that Mongols should be alert to the possibility of wiretap monitoring by federal law enforcement agents and should be careful not to discuss incriminating matters on the telephone, and Cavazos also discussed criminal investigations conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, as well as the risk to the Mongols of prosecution for its racketeering crimes.”

In April, 2006 “Cavazos addressed a Mongols ‘All Members’ Meeting in Baja, Mexico, and advised members that the Mongols would ‘exterminate’ the ‘rats’ who had provided incriminating information about (him) to law enforcement.”

In July, 2007 Cavazos “and others conducted a Mongols ‘Presidents and Sergeant-at-Arms’ meeting in Los Angeles County, California, and Cavazos told members that they needed to demonstrate the ‘strength and muscle’ of the Mongols and described the expansion of the Mongols gang into other states across the nation, and Cavazos discussed the need to use violence to expand the authority of the Mongols into new areas not previously controlled by the Mongols.”

What Do You Think

Do you think it might just be possible that the Feds have some of this on audio tape? Is it possible that they might have this on video?

“On February 5, 2008, by telephone using coded language, defendants Cavazos and William Michael Munz discussed the Mongols’ conflicts with the Mexican Mafia based on the Mongols’ refusal to pay ‘taxes’ to ‘La Eme’ for their narcotics trafficking and the consequences of Mongols members entering protective custody while in prison.”

Protective custody?

But Wait There’s More

“On March 11, 2008, by telephone, defendant Cavazos discussed preparing a story on the Mongols with a news reporter, and Cavazos told the reporter that he could provide specific details about a Mongols murder committed at a tattoo shop and involving the Mexican Mafia, including information about the planning and preparation for the murder.”

With a news reporter!? He talked about a murder with a reporter!?

“On July 24, 2008, by telephone using coded language, defendant Hector Gonzalez told a confidential government informant that he delivered approximately $15,000 to $17,000 in United States currency from Mongols chapters every month to defendants Cavazos and Ruben Cavazos, Jr.; that Cavazos had directed him to

destroy the records of collecting the funds; and that the funds collected were now missing.”

Fifteen thousand to $17,000 every month. What are the chances a jury will determine that the Mongols were a for-profit criminal enterprise?

Life Is Full Of Hard Choices

In The Friends of Eddie Coyle by the late George V. Higgins, a gun runner named Jackie Brown speaks the nine truest words every imagined in the English language: “Life is hard. But it’s harder when you’re stupid.”

With all due respect to Ruben Cavazos, his Beverly Hills agent, his publisher and any admirers he may still have, with all due and sincere respect to present and former members of the Mongols Motorcycle Club, your club and your former president seemed to have behaved really stupidly.

Maybe the Feds don’t have a case. Maybe they are just making all this up.

But also, just maybe, at this very moment, Ruben “Doc” Cavazos is sitting alone in a cell at FCI Terminal Island in Long Beach, in protective custody, weighing something invisible in his hands. Moving whatever it is from hand to hand. Maybe what he has in one hand is the weight of a soul and in the other hand he holds the weight of a last chance at a life. Which is more? Which weighs more?

And at this same moment, 20 miles north of Terminal Island prison, in the Federal Building in Westwood, a committee of lawyers and politicians are weighing something, too. And, what they are weighing is even lighter than a man’s destiny.

They are weighing what will be the most important question of their precious government careers. They are weighing the question among themselves. They are asking, “Who do we want more? The Mongols Motorcycle Club or Doc Cavazos?”