Hells Angels leader arrested in Las Vegas court

The reputed president of the Las Vegas Hells Angels was arrested during a court hearing on Monday, as officials continued to search for two suspects recently indicted on racketeering and gang charges in connection with a shooting that injured members of the rivals Vagos Motorcycle Club.

Richard Devries, 67, was booked into the Clark County Detention Center, prosecutor Michael Dickerson said. Devries is one of eight men recently indicted on racketeering charges in connection with the May shooting on a Henderson highway, according to a copy of the previously sealed indictment obtained by the Review-Journal.

Dickerson said officials were still searching for two of the recently indicted men — Taylor Rodriguez and Rayann Mollasgo.

Records show that Aaron Chun, 32, Cameron Treich, 34, and Russell Smith, 27, were all booked into the jail on Sept. 26. Stephen Alo, 46, was booked into the Henderson Detention Center on Sept. 27. Alo also faces a domestic battery charge in Henderson, jail records show.

Roneric Padilla, 39, who was booked into the Clark County Detention Center in August, faces charges of racketeering and accessory to a felony, according to the indictment.

Devries, Alo and Smith initially faced 36 counts including conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, battery and discharging a firearm at or into an occupied structure.

Adding charges

The superseding indictment, which was filed Sept. 22, added two additional counts of racketeering and assault with a deadly weapon for the initial three suspects and Chun, Treich, Rodriguez and Mollasgo. Prosecutors also added an enhancement of promoting or assisting a criminal gang to 36 of the charges, according to the indictment, which was written by Dickerson.

Devries was initially arrested in May alongside Smith and Alo, who prosecutors have described as “prospects” for the Hells Angels. They were released from custody following their first arrest after posting a $75,000 bail.

Defense attorneys for Devries, Smith and Alo did not immediately reply to request for comment.

According to the indictment, Treich and Rodriguez are also full-patch members of the group, Chun is another “prospect,” and Mollasgo and Padilla are associates of the organization, also called “hangarounds.”

Prosecutors have accused Hells Angels members of opening fire and injuring six Vagos motorcyclists on May 29 on U.S. Highway 95, west of Wagon Wheel Drive. A seventh person, who prosecutors said was a Hells Angels member, also arrived at a hospital with injuries following the confrontation.

The shooting happened after a Memorial Day weekend ride from Hoover Dam to the Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Boulder City, police have said.

Prosecutors have said the gunfire may have been in retaliation for a San Bernardino, California, shooting that left a Hells Angels motorcyclist dead, although a Vagos member challenged the claim during a grand jury hearing in June, according to court transcripts.

‘Criminal syndicate’

The indictment accused the Las Vegas chapter of the Hells Angels of acting as a “criminal syndicate” over the past three years. Dickerson wrote in the indictment that the eight men were involved in “intentionally organizing, managing, directing, supervising, or financing a criminal syndicate.”

The motorcyclists were also accused of “knowingly inciting or inducing others to engage in violence or intimidation to promote or further the criminal objectives of the criminal syndicate,” according to the indictment.

Dickerson wrote that the men incited violence or induced others to commit violence in order to be promoted within the Hells Angels’ hierarchy, “and/or to target rival Vagos Motorcycle Club” members and associates.

On Monday, District Judge Tierra Jones denied a motion from Devries’ defense attorney, Richard Schonfeld, to recall an arrest warrant for Devries that was issued as a result of the indictment. Schonfeld had argued that a judge who approved the arrest warrant issued bail conditions that were previously denied by Jones.

Jones ordered Devries to be remanded into custody during Monday’s hearing, according to court records, and set his bail at $250,000. Another hearing in the case is scheduled for Thursday.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.