The Federal Bureau of Investigation issued a press release last week trumpeting the great Sacramento Vagos investigation of 2013 and 2014. The release, issued last Friday is titled “Vagos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Investigation Leads to Four Drug Trafficking Indictments.” The release was issued ten days after the FBI announced it had filed a criminal complaint July 29 that led to the arrest of two Sacramento area Vagos and two other men.
Last month, the FBI announced it had arrested James Cline, Jr., Michael Wright and Leonard Walter for allegedly selling an undercover FBI employee about 100 grams of methamphetamine on two occasions. The amount of contraband involved totaled about seven ounces. The drug buys culminated a multiyear undercover investigation of Vagos in Sacramento. Cline immediately told television station KXTV that he wasn’t a Vago.
Fridays press release announced that Cline, Wright and Walter had, indeed, been indicted. It also announced that three more men named Richard Cardenas, Quentin Stallings and David Homan had been indicted separately – so there were a total of four indictments.
The News
Cardenas, who is not a Vago, allegedly sold the methamphetamine to Cline, Wright and Walter that they then allegedly sold to the FBI infiltrator. Cardenas was arrested last month when Cline, Wright and Walter were arrested.
Stallings is described in the July 29 criminal complaint as the president of the “Northern Valley Vagos” and “the Northern California Representative for the Vagos, since there are no National officers in the area. This means he is of higher status than a regular president and he communicates directly with the National Chapter. Stallings has a criminal history to include conviction for possession of a firearm- sentenced to two years in state prison, and conspiracy to commit a crime as a gang member – sentenced to four years state prison.” In the indictment announced last Friday, Stallings is accused of “knowingly and intentionally distribute(ing) at least 5 grams of methamphetamine (actual), a Schedule II Controlled Substance” “on or about June 19, 2013.”
There are no criminal complaints or indictments against “David Homan” in any federal criminal record listed on the Public Access to Court Electronic Records website. Homan is also not mentioned in either the July 29 criminal complaint or the indictments against Cardenas or Stallings. The FBI release describes Homan as a “fugitive.”
Behind The News
The fact that the FBI has made multiple announcements of criminal cases stemming from two relatively minor drug deals more than a year ago suggests that the FBI tried long and hard to bring a racketeering indictment against Sacramento area Vagos and simply couldn’t get anything on them.
Most of the July 29 criminal complaint and most of last Friday’s press release are comprised of prejudicial statements like:
“…this investigation targeted three Sacramento-area chapters of the Vagos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (OMG). The Vagos are a motorcycle club that began in the late 1960s in California that has since evolved into one of the largest OMGs in the Western United States. They have nearly 600 members in 24 chapters located in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, and Utah. They also have chapters in Mexico. The gang uses an organized hierarchy that includes a national president, vice president, sergeant at arms, secretary, and treasurer. The regional chapters also have the same structure in place as the national chapter. The chapters report to the national leadership and have mandated meetings and events and monthly dues.”
“This investigation confirmed that the Sacramento-area Vagos are involved in illegal activities. Such activities include distributing methamphetamine, purchasing illegal weapons, and handling stolen motorcycles. During this investigation, FBI used confidential sources and undercover agents to make multiple purchases of methamphetamine from Vagos members and their associates in the Sacramento area. The FBI investigation is ongoing even after this initial phase of charges.”