Federal Indictment Targets Hells Angels
A federal grand jury indicted five current and former members of the Hells Angels biker gang on racketeering charges, saying the group’s leader in Washington state ordered associates to commit murder and various other crimes, according to court documents released Tuesday.
The indictment charges Richard “Smilin Rick” Fabel, president of the Washington Nomads Chapter of the Hells Angels, of directing and sanctioning murder, attempted murder, intimidation, extortion, robbery and trafficking in stolen goods.
The Washington Nomads Chapter, the only Hells Angels chapter in the state, was a highly organized criminal gang that exerted power with the use of violence, the indictment says.
The other men indicted are Rodney Rollness, Joshua Binder, Ricky Jenks and Paul Foster. Rollness and Binder were charged with murdering a man in eastern Washington in 2002; Foster was accused of being an accessory after the fact.
Jenks was charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering and the racketeering offenses of robbery and extortion.
Fabel and Jenks are also facing a separate indictment in Nevada related to a 2002 fight and shootout that resulted in the deaths of three men.
Rollness, Binder and Foster have left the Hells Angels, the indictment says.
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