RICO ACT PRAISED IN BIKER ARRESTS

U.S. Attorney Says Anti-Racketeering Legislation Is Working

PEORIA - A four-year investigation into the statewide activities of the
Hells Angels motorcycle club is exactly the type of investigation lawmakers
intended when they devised the racketeering laws.

"Organizations like this pose a concrete danger to a community," said U.S.
Attorney Jan Paul Miller during a news conference in Peoria in which he and
others announced a wide-ranging indictment against four Hells Angels leaders.

The four bikers stand accused of conspiring for more than a decade to
traffic drugs and use intimidation and force to protect their criminal
enterprise, in this case, the club. Authorities allege the bikers moved
more than 40 pounds of cocaine and methamphetamine, worth an estimated
$624,000, in that time frame.

"This type of criminal enterprise is exactly what Congress had in mind when
they enacted the RICO act," Miller said. "I hope the word goes out that we
will not tolerate this type of activity."

RICO, or the Racketeer-Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act, was passed
into law in the early 1970s as a tool against the Mafia. Since then, it's
been used against biker and street gangs. Locally in Peoria, RICO charges
were last levied against 18 members of the Grim Reapers motorcycle club in
1998. The 59-count indictment resulted in all pleading guilty to various
charges.

The Hells Angels case involves Melvin "Road" Chancey, 35, of Alsip; James
"J.W." L. White, 50, of Belvidere; David G. "Pulley" Ohlendorf, 39, of New
Lenox; and Richard A. Abrams, 40, of Rockford, all of whom are or were
leaders in the club.

Chancey was the president of the Chicago chapter from 1997 to 1999. White
has been president of the Rockford chapter since 1998. Ohlendorf headed the
Spring Valley chapter for the past two years while Abrams held leadership
roles in both the Rockford and the Spring Valley clubs.

All stand charged with narcotics distribution conspiracy, racketeering
conspiracy and violating the RICO Act. If convicted, each faces up to life
in prison.

The allegations include:

- The June 25, 1994, shooting of a river club president in Cook County by
Chancey and Ohlendorf while the other man was riding his motorcycle on an
expressway.

- Chancey allegedly going to Kankakee in March 1995 with guns and pipe
bombs threatening to blow up a rival gang's clubhouse.

- The threatened bombing of a Cook County lounge unless Hells Angels
members could enter without paying a cover charge.

- Two murders being planned in Peoria and other places. One of the murders
was to occur in Peoria while the other was to happen at the Route 66
Speedway in Joliet.

Miller said no one was actually murdered as a result of the conspiracy.

All four men appeared Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Peoria, where
they were ordered held pending a bond hearing next week.