Diablos Motorcycle Club
The Diablos Motorcycle Club, or Diablos MC for short, is a "one-percenter" outlaw motorcycle club that has chapters in cities across the United States.
Founded | 1961 |
---|---|
Founded at | San Bernardino, California, U.S. |
Type | Outlaw motorcycle club |
Region | U.S. |
John E. Irvin, president of the Diablos' San Fernando Valley chapter, and Thomas E. Pastor, a former Connecticut chapter member, were convicted of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime after they were found to be in possession of two loaded weapons and eight packages of methamphetamine when searched by Illinois State Police officers near Collinsville, Illinois on January 5, 1995.[1]
On September 24, 1998, Diablos club member Raymond "Stoney" Stone and seven other members were charged with various crimes (including Stone's confession in his involvement in the 1992 murder of rival gang member Mike D'Amato of Wallingford, Connecticut's James Gang MC for which he would be sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment).[2]
Keith Gallagher, the vice president of the Diablos' national chapter, was indicted in Massachusetts on charges of cocaine trafficking on January 24, 2006.[3]
Diablos member Jerry Louis Fantauzzi was arrested on December 7, 2005, following a long-term investigation into the Diablos in Waterbury and Meriden, Connecticut. On November 20, 2006, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on charges of drug dealing.[4]
On April 22, 2012, the national leader and founder of the Diablos, Jack Baltas, died at the age of 70, two days after being released from prison after being incarcerated for trafficking drugs.
Diablos were involved in a mass brawl with members of the Outlaws at a bar in Plainville, Connecticut in May 2019, leaving two outlaws injured.[5]
References
- United States of America v. John E. Irvin and Thomas E. Pastor Justia (January 17, 1996)
- Devito, Carlo. Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. ISBN 0-8160-4848-7
- Bauermeister, Alex (January 24, 2006), National Motorcycle Gang Vice President Indicted On Cocaine Distribution Charges (press release), Massachusetts Attorney General, archived from the original on 24 September 2006
- "Diablos Member Sentenced to 10 Years in Federal Prison". Archived from the original on 2008-10-21. Retrieved 2009-04-08.
- CT bar shut down after fight between rival motorcycle gangs Lisa Backus, Connecticut Post (May 22, 2019)