Hells Angel in Drug Case Is Denied Bail

SAN FRANCISCO — In a courtroom packed with a dozen Hells Angels, U.S. Magistrate Joan Brennan on Wednesday ordered Werner F. Sohm, a member of the group’s Oakland chapter, held without bail on charges of selling methamphetamine.

At the hearing, FBI officials set up a display of paraphernalia seized in raids last week on 26 club strongholds around the country that resulted in nearly 40 arrests, 13 in the Bay Area.

Sohm, known among racers as a builder of world-class motorcycle dragsters, is also a holder of a 1986 world record in an EVG, or “evolution gas”-class dragster, from the Motorcycle Drag Racing Assn., according to Marvin Cahn, his attorney.