MC WARS - THE END OF THE HELLS ANGELS - THE SONOMA COUNTY INDICTMENT & THE RIVER RUN RIOT

Today’s story is centered around the death of joel silva, a member of the hells angels. In may of 2023, A federal jury found Raymond Foakes, a/k/a., Ray Ray, and Christopher Ranieri, a/k/a, Rainman, guilty of racketeering conspiracy, murder conspiracy and related crimes. Prior to this, Jonathan Nelson, a/k/a., Jon Jon, Brian Wayne Wendt, and Russell Ott, a/k/a., Rusty, was found guilty of similar crimes. We will be jumping around a little bit while detailing this story, but try to stick with us. Let’s get into it. The racketeering enterprise charged in the Indictment is the Sonoma County charter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. HASC is a violent motorcycle club with members operating in Sonoma County. It has been in existence since the 1970s. The evidence at trial showed that the enterprise was engaged in murder, assault, robbery, extortion, witness intimidation, drug trafficking, weapons possession, and fraud, among other things. HASC members display patches, or tags, such as the Filthy Few, that advertise to the world that the particular member has engaged in violence on behalf of the organization. not only does having the reputation of being skilled at fighting and inflicting violence lead to respect within the organization and fear among the public, it also enhances a member’s position because other members will be less likely to challenge that member. Among the Hells Angels charters, HASC enjoyed close relationships with the Fresno and Salem Hells Angels. Members of HASC and members of these charters, including Brian Wendt, president of Fresno, and Christopher Ranieri, president of Salem, enjoyed close personal relationships. These bonds were demonstrated, among other ways, through expressions of support and admiration, through frequent visits, through celebration of anniversaries of Hells Angels membership, and through exchange of patches distinct to particular charters, such as the Young Guns tag from HASC and the Soldier tag from Ranieri and Salem. HASC styles itself as a democracy, under the principle of one man / one vote, but it has a defined leadership structure, with officers such as president, vice-president, sergeant-at-arms, secretary, and treasurer. The president has influence over the enterprise, in organizing events, in setting the direction of the charter, in addressing potential threats from rivals, etc. Further, some members had outsized influence, such as Raymond Foakes. Foakes took the president role from russell Ott in the early 2000s, and although he had to surrender the title to Jonathan Nelson, because of several periods of incarceration, Foakes still has significant influence because he is a nationally prominent Hells Angel. Foakes is famous within the enterprise because he sparked The river run riot between Hells Angels and the rival outlaw motorcycle gang the Mongols in Laughlin, Nevada in April 2002. That incident left one Mongol and two Hells Angels dead and over a dozen victims injured. Foakes also had influence within HASC because he was an adept fighter.