RE-INDICTMENTS HIT MOTORCYCLE GANG

Fourteen members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang, re-indicted by a
federal grand jury on charges of running a wide-ranging drug, murder
and robbery ring in the Midwest, were arraigned Thursday in a
Milwaukee federal court as their attorneys protested.

Defense attorneys, claiming their clients were being held unjustly
after a federal judge threw out the indictments, refused to answer
some questions or represent their clients before Magistrate Patricia
Gorence. The magistrate then entered not-guilty pleas for the defendants.

The protest stemmed from an Oct. 19 ruling by U.S. District Judge J.P.
Stadtmueller, who threw out the June 1997 indictments against the
Outlaws, saying federal authorities didn't get proper wiretap
authorization when the scope of the investigation expanded.

In his ruling, Stadtmueller, a judge in the Eastern District of
Wisconsin, also allowed authorities to keep 11 defendants in jail for
30 days while prosecutors prepared the new indictments. Defense
attorneys, contending the judge violated their client's civil rights,
appealed the ruling, but it has not yet been heard by the U.S. Court
of Appeals.

Named in the indictments were Kevin P. O'Neill, Carl J. Warneke,
Raymond L. Morgan, Robert A. Kruppstadt, Richard E. Mroch, Randy M.
Yager, Johnson F. Blake, William B. Brock, James E. Hanson, David A.
Kadlec, Allen J. McVay, James E. Meinen, Randall E. Miller, Harvey E.
Powers, James C. Rostron, James W. Schneider and Leslie John Jensen,
all members of the Wisconsin and Chicago chapters of the Outlaws
Motorcycle Club.

The indictments detail a Midwestern crime spree organized to raise
money for the Outlaws and wage war against rival motorcycle gangs. The
allegations include drug trafficking, several bombings, robberies and
six murders.

Although 17 men were indicted, only 14 were arraigned Thursday. One is
still at large. Two defendants being held in jail, Meinen and
Schneider, were absent from the arraignment. Officials would give no
reason for their absence.

Several defense attorneys said they believe Schneider is now
cooperating with prosecutors. Schneider's attorneys couldn't be
reached for comment Thursday.

Schneider and Miller were charged with racketeering in connection with
the murder of Ruth and Morris Gauger in northern McHenry County in
1993. The Gaugers' son, Gary, was convicted of the murder and spent
two years on Death Row before being freed by an appeals court.

Miller's attorney, Raymond Dall'Osto, said he expects Schneider to
testify against Miller.

"The indications from the government are Mr. Schneider will be a
witness against (Miller)," Dall'Osto said.

Paul Kanter, the assistant U.S. attorney prosecuting the case, said
Thursday he didn't know when Schneider would be arraigned, and
wouldn't explain why he was not present. Kanter said Meinen likely
would be arraigned soon. Randy Yager has eluded custody.

Thursday's hearing was undertaken under tight security as the
defendants were brought in four at a time, ankles and wrists shackled.
A U.S. marshal stood behind each defendant. The defendants were
defiant, barking out "Yes" and "No" to the magistrate's questions and
joking with each other.

Lawyers for the defendants said federal prosecutors will be hamstrung
by the wiretapping issues that caused the first indictments to be
dismissed. Any evidence obtained through the wiretaps, they claimed,
can't be used against their clients during the trial.

"It's like a tube of toothpaste, once it's out you can't get it back
in again," said Edward John Hunt, who represented Raymond Morgan.

But the U.S. attorney's office has consistently downplayed the
dismissal, characterizing it as a simple "case management" issue.

"I do not consider the case to have been weakened," Kanter said
Wednesday.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry