Pagan's Motorcycle Club, or simply The Pagans, is an outlaw, one-percenter
motorcycle club and an alleged organized crime syndicate formed by Lou Dobkin in
1959 in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. The club
rapidly expanded and by 1965, the Pagans, originally clad in blue denim
jackets and riding Triumphs, began to evolve along the lines of the
stereotypical one percenter motorcycle club.
The Pagans are categorized as an outlaw motorcycle gang by the Federal Bureau of
Investigation. They are known to fight over territory with the Hells Angels
Motorcycle Club and other motorcycle clubs, such as Fates Assembly MC, who
have since merged with the HAMC. It is active in thirteen US states: Delaware,
Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Michigan, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Early history The Pagans were established in Prince
George's County, Maryland by then president Lou Dobkin, in 1959. The group
started out by wearing denim jackets and riding Triumph Motorcycles. Originally
they were a comradeship of 13 motorcyclists. In the 1960s they adopted
a formal constitution and formed a governing structure choosing a national
president. They were a fairly non-violent group
until 1965, when the Pagans evolved into an outlaw biker gang with ties to other
organized crime groups such as the American Mafia. Under the leadership of
John "Satan" Marron their violence grew in the early 1970s. Their Mother Club is
not in a fixed location but has been generally located in the North East.
Pagan leaders number 13 to 18 members who are chapter presidents with the
largest chapter located in Philadelphia. The Pagans have grown through merging
with other smaller Outlaw Motorcycle gangs. Considered by law enforcement to
be almost as complex and diversified as the Hells Angels, the discipline and
structure of the Pagans is the most rigid of the Big Four OMGs. In the 1960s
the Pagans were foot soliders for George Lincoln Rockwell's American nazi Party.
Patch The Pagans MC patch depicts the Norse
fire-giant Surtr sitting on the sun, wielding a sword, plus the word Pagan's
[sic], which features a misplaced apostrophe, in red, white and blue.
Unlike most one percenter motorcycle clubs, the Pagans do not include on
their club insignia a bottom rocker indicating the geographical chapter of
the member wearing the club's full patch. It is believed the club declines
to follow this one percenter tradition because they do not want law enforcement
to know what state chapters individual Pagans belong to.
Members wear blue denim vests called cuts or cutoffs with club patches, known
as colors, on the front and back. Symbols of the Pagans also include a
black number 13 on the back of their colors, the number "4", the number "5",
the number "7" and the number "9". Nazi or White supremacist patches are also
common on the front of the cuts, as are tattoos reading "ARGO" and "NUNYA".
Membership Recently, the Pagans' membership has
begun to decline as their rival Hells Angels’ membership has grown. Pagans
have approximately 350 to 400 members and 44 chapters and are active along the
East Coast of the United States. Chapters are common in Florida, New
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia
and West Virginia. The Pagans have a Mother Club or ruling council which
ultimately rules the gang. The Pagans headquarters is currently in Delaware
County, Pennsylvania. Members must be at least 21 years old
and owners of Harley-Davidson motorcycles with engines 900 cc or
larger. The national sergeant-at-arms' responsibility is to hand-pick 13
chapter members to serve as the "enforcers" or "regulators". This body
uses violence and intimidation to prevent any and all opposition to the
Mother Club. Criminal activities
The Pagans have been linked to the production and smuggling of drugs such
as methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and PCP. The Pagans also have
had strong ties to organized crime, especially in New Jersey and
Pennsylvania. Pagans often use puppet clubs, smaller affiliated motorcycle
clubs, or small street drug trafficking organizations that support larger Outlaw
Motorcycle Gangs for distributing drugs. Pagans have also engaged in assault,
arson, extortion, motorcycle/car theft, and weapons trafficking. Most of the
violence carried out by the Pagans is directed to rival OMGs such as Hells
Angels. = New Jersey=
On July 17, 1994, at least eight members of the Pagans showed up at the annual
charity picnic fund-raiser organized by Tri-County MC in Hackettstown, NJ. The
Pagans were there to intimidate local motorcycle clubs into aligning with the
Pagans so they would have a larger power base to prevent the Hell's Angels from
getting established in New Jersey. A fight started and escalated from fist to
knives and guns. When it was all done, Pagans Glenn Ritchie & Diego Vega had
been shot dead. Pagan Ron Locke & Tri-County member William Johnson had
gunshot wounds, and Tri-County member Hank Riger had had his throat cut by Ron
Locke. = New York/Pennsylvania=
On February 23, 2002, 73 Pagans were arrested in Long Island, New York after
appearing at an indoor motorcycle and tattoo expo called the Hellraiser Ball.
The Pagans had shown up to the event to confront Hells Angels who were at the
Ball. Dozens of Pagans rushed the doors of the event and were met with violence
by the Hells Angels. Fighting ensued, ten people were wounded, and a Hells
Angel allegedly shot and killed a Pagan member. Two weeks later, a Pagans owned
tattoo parlor located in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania was
firebombed. In 2005, Pagans allegedly opened fire on
and killed the Vice-President of the Hells Angels' Philadelphia chapter as he
was driving his truck on the Schuylkill Expressway. Later that year, the Hells
Angels closed their Philadelphia chapter.
In September 2010, nineteen members of the Pagans were arrested in Rocky Point,
New York for allegedly conspiring to murder members of the Hells Angels.
Charges also include assault, distribution of cocaine and oxycodone,
conspiracy to commit extortion and weapons charges. Two federal ATF agents
infiltrated the gang, providing key evidence. One agent eventually served as
sergeant-at-arms, the second-highest position in the hierarchy. Gang members
were heard plotting to murder members of the Hells Angels using homemade hand
grenades. Dennis Katona, alleged to be the club's
"National President", was arrested by Pennsylvania State Police near
Pittsburgh in Herminie in June 2011. = Maryland=
A Pagans MC leader, Jay Carl Wagner, 66, was arrested in Washington County,
Maryland, by 60 plus officers from state, local and federal officials with
a bomb disposal robot on May 9, 2007, and later charged with possession of a
regulated firearm after conviction of a violent crime. Police and agents
recovered seven handguns, two alleged explosive devices and 13 rifles. On
March 5, 2008, Wagner pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a
firearm. On August 8, 2008, U.S. District Chief Judge Benson E. Legg
sentenced Wagner to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised
release. On 6 October 2009, the home of national
president David "Bart" Barbeito in Myersville, Maryland was raided by
police. He was arrested on firearms charges. In June, 2010 he pleaded guilty
to racketeering and other charges. He was sentenced to thirty months
confinement. = Multi-State=
In 2009, 55 Pagans members and associates were arrested from West
Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey,
Delaware and Florida. Charges range from attempted murder and kidnapping to drug
dealing and conspiracy. So far, seven defendants in the case have pled guilty.
References