The big biker drama in Detroit, United States versus Nagi et al., the Highwaymen Trial, just concluded its fifth day and so far the most interesting revelation has been the news that Billy Wadd (pictured above and bragging in the video below) is a rat.
The case began with a sealed indictment in September 2006. As often happens in biker cases the usual suspects were rounded up on charges to be determined later at the government’s leisure. That took about 30 months.
Finally, a superseding indictment filed last year accused 78 men with being members of the Highwaymen “criminal enterprise.” The purposes of that enterprise, “included but were not limited to…enforcing its authority and power by disciplining and punishing members and associates who did not comply with the (club) rules…promoting, protecting, and enhancing the authority, reputation, and standing of the Highwaymen through the use of intimidation, threats, violent acts, and possession of weapons. Maintaining control over Highwaymen territory (turf) through acts of intimidation, threats and violence. Enriching the club and its members through, among other things, the commission of crimes involving theft and the distribution of controlled substances.” And, “protecting the Highwaymen and its members from detection and prosecution by law enforcement.”
What Is A Motorcycle Club
Twenty men were charged with racketeering and six of them are now defending themselves in a trial that should last about six weeks. The case boils down to an argument over the essential nature of the Highwaymen.
In his opening statement last week, Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Graveline said, “The Highwaymen are exactly who they say they are – the evilest bastards on the highway.”
A defense attorney named Henry Scharg described the club as the “Knights of Columbus on wheels.”
The indictment specifically charges that members “combined, conspired, confederated and agreed” to: Rob and attempt to murder a man named Ruben Guzman; to kill a man named Gerald Deese and another man named Doug Burnett; to rob a man named Steve Peet and threaten a man named Anthony Barton; to burn a building in Detroit and kill members of an American Outlaws Association support club named the Black Pistons; to steal “property” from a member of the Liberty Riders Motorcycle Club and a motorcycle in South Carolina; and they combined, conspired, confederated, and agreed with each other to sell “cocaine, anabolic steroids, marijuana, Vicoden, Viagra, Ecstacy, and other controlled substances.” They are all also charged with conspiring to belong to the Highwaymen.
Scharg told the jury that the Highwaymen have hardly “enriched” themselves through crime. According to him the club struggled to pay its bills and the only people who ever became wealthy from their association with the club are the government paid, cooperating witnesses in this case.
On Trial Now
The prosecution describes Leonard “Dad” Moore as the “godfather” of the Highwaymen. According to Graveline, Moore was such a devious criminal that he intentionally avoided holding club office while secretly running the Highwaymen racket.
In the prosecution’s theory of the crime, club National President Joseph “Little Joe” Whiting was Moore’s right hand man. Graveline accuses Whiting of maintaining an enemies list of “bad peoples.”
Aref “Steve” Nagi, who has already spent years behind bars in this case, Michael “Cocoa” Cicchetti, Gary “Junior” Ball and former club President Anthony “Mad Anthony” Clark are also accused of being part of the same conspiracy.
Cooperating Witnesses
A defendant named Robert “Bobby” Burton is charged in the case with being a violent and successful cocaine dealer and the defense lawyers agree that he was. So far Burton has been paid at least $11,000 by the government for his cooperation.
Former club National President Gerald “Byrd” Peters has been paid $20,000 for his cooperation in the case. Another former club officer named Philip “Jocko” McDonald has been paid $10,000 for his assistance. And a former member named Doug Burnett whose cooperation was integral to prosecuting the case has been paid some amount more than $70,000 so far.
Also vital to the prosecution of this case as well as cases against the AOA and the Devils Diciples is former Devil’s Diciples club officer William “Billy Wadd” Smith.
Celebrity Outlaw Author
Smith may sound familiar because he appeared in an episode of Gangland earlier this year. He has also been interviewed on WDIV in Detroit and on Fox Across America and he has an autobiography to sell titled You Know Who I Am. Smith’s web site explains that, “while Wadd’s blog and MySpace page are available, due to security reasons, no personal or identifying information will be shared on these sites.” News directors are advised to, “arrange an interview with Billy Wadd (by contacting) us at interview@billywadd.com.”
Cases against these three Detroit area motorcycle clubs started when Smith allowed Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to electronically surveil his bar, the Copa Lounge. “Everybody hung out there,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Marion has bragged.
Because Smith owned the bar, ATF Agents could record conversation without a court order anytime Smith was present. None of those recordings has ever been released into the public record.
In a ruling in the Highwaymen case last month, Judge Nancy G. Edmunds wrote that “Numerous conversations about gun and drug deals were taped…. Smith dealt primarily with the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, but his friendships extended to members of other clubs as well. Smith provided information on various members of these clubs and participated in controlled purchases of narcotics and firearms.”
The extent to which that surveillance will figure in the Highwaymen case is still an official secret.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjZW_WebSqA
Related posts:
April 13th, 2010 at 4:55 pm
I am 100% convinced that upon calling the Police on his own nephew, this fuck bartered for cash.
“Answer me. Do you think I’m dangerous?”
“Yeah. Every time you open your mouth…”
April 13th, 2010 at 7:36 pm
There’s a certain breed of people, that can get close to you, become friends, family, then stab you in the heart and not think twice – with the exception of worrying about themselves.
Sometimes we call them rats, but, I’ll tell you, there’s only one animal in the world that’ll fuck you over for money. Now, it’s quite legal to kill a rat – humanely, and, where I come from, anything lower than a rat doesn’t necessarily warrant “humanely”.
Make them suffer is a song I’d join in the chorus to.
LL&R
Jabba
April 14th, 2010 at 2:22 am
I saw that episode. The guy struck me as a self-important loudmouth. His nephew? Well, anyone that murders a 12 year old boy, a 9 year old girl, and a 6 year old girl should have been put down himself.
A whole family of assholes if you were to ask me.
April 14th, 2010 at 5:16 am
He did come off as an ego maniac loudmouth. My question is why would he talk so big and bad about his status when he knew he was a rat and that it was going to come out sooner than later? I guess he is just a dipshit.
April 14th, 2010 at 5:38 am
You know with all of these cases I can’t help to feel like there is some “Chief Anti-Motorcycle Club Czar” in Washington directing all of these three ring circuses from coast to coast. Can anyone remember two of these cases going on at the same time? It is usually when one wraps up another one starts?
If there is one of these “Fed Czars” in Washington, I can only guess that he (or she) must have at one time, been a HOG member (or something) and got some sand kicked in his face on a beach by a MC member.
What drives these Gestapo tendencies? Why would an American sworn to defend the constitution, go on such a vendetta against another group of men, who only want to be free and ride their motorcycles with their friends and brothers?
I know many here have heard these questions before. And its NOT like I’m trying to defend the good name of my birth city, but Detroit’s very definition is Drama with all the news happening lately around here. She is like that favorite step-child, the world everyone likes to beat up. You know the one that has been ridden hard and put away wet?
But her motorcycle history is long, glorious and not just written in the pages of some legal journal and filed away for an episode of Gangland. Sure cities like Hollister, San Bernardino, and Oakland are the cities you might first think of when picturing a motorcycling MECCA. But we have had the burden of this crap enduced helmet legislation for over 40 years and most people on a motorcycle avoid this state like a bad road!
We have some history also, and one of these days you will hear about “The Minutemen” and others who rode the highways of “The Great Lakes State” at the same time other clubs were cutting their teeth. Remember this area was known as the “Arsenal of Democracy” and we accounted for a large amount of servicemen who went off to fight World War 2. We were known as gear heads and monkey wrenches not only for cars, but bikes too!
My great grandpa owned a florist on the east side and grandpa and dad use to deliver flowers with the old 1936 Servi-Car, it was cheaper than driving the Ford Model A truck.
I know I didn’t change anybodies mind about Detroit, but we are more than our sports teams, Motown, and a rusty ole car sitting in your backyard can embody. We are a hard working bunch of guys who like to play as hard! Too bad a bunch of Washington Dumb-O-Crats have to invade and bring with them their own sense of justice and law. Give “our” guys a fair shake and I’m sure most of them will be found innocent of the charges.
Liberty & Freedom,
Dutch
April 14th, 2010 at 6:12 am
Some of the saddest pieces of garbage have gone on GANGLAND, telling their stories, whether true or false.This BILLY”WADD’ has far surpassed anyone yet as being on that show bragging and spouting about how bad he is, I saw this segment and thought he looked worse than RUEBEN “DOC” CAVASOS who was so full of himself he was about to explode, not only did he rat on his nephew( who needed to be taken off the streets for murdering the jewelers family) but looked like a complete idiot setting there with a growl on his face trying to scare the camera. Sure are some some fools going on t.v. these day and this guy has taken the trophy home on looking stupid.
April 14th, 2010 at 7:07 am
A guy like this does more dammage to us than all the episodes of SOA put together. Not like anybody cares what they think about us, but this guy really enforces the stereotype. Would your defence lawyer show this clip to a jury.
D.D. Bikers in this part of the country don’t think any the less of Detroit or it’s biker culture on account of this guy. Bike clubs go back to before WW2 in that part of the USA.
Semper Fi
Doc
April 14th, 2010 at 8:16 am
Detroit Dutch,
“Hollister, San Bernardino, and Oakland are the cities you might first think of when picturing a motorcycling MECCA”
Well, yeah,ridden in all those, I’m from Oakland…but frankly,you east coast boys ride in some nasty ass weather.I lived in western Ohio against my will for a year and it sucked big time.If I wasn’t freezing my balls off, I was sweating like I was in Panama.And then there’s those tornado things..I’m on my bike riding along and a siren goes off.Look around…nada.So I asks this guy whadup?
“Oh, there must be a tornado within visual and we have about three minutes to seek cover”.
?!?! (WTF did he say?!)
Uh….yeaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh………
First time I ever saw a major river freeze.Same day I saw that I also saw a guy riding on a road that looked like it was covered with 2″ of resin the ice was so thick.There he was, AOA Charley on his back, slippin’ n’ a slidin’ to work.More sideways than forward.
My uncle once inserted me by parachute one starry night into a national forest on a FTX.I landed in what I’m quite sure was the wettest patch of snow ever made.My M65 field jacket was not as waterproof as I thought.Since that delightful experience, it’s been my firm belief that snow belongs in a cone.
On a beach.
In July.
My friend DocB rides in your weather.All year in fact.He has my highest respect as does anyone else out there.It takes dedication and love for what we do to endure the weather where you live.As opposed to a disgustingly large majority of riders out here that upon the onset of Fall, put their sleds in the garage. They’re the idiots with the testosterone glares on sunny days all summer.You know, the badass bikers on their 50k bikes.
And so, while I hold my beloved Oakland in deep reverence,I have nothing but the highest regard for you guys.
But the next time you find yourself watching an episode of Baywatch,with all those bikini clad wimins tossing the beachball? Remember, they film that in the “off season”.
You know….January.
April 14th, 2010 at 10:18 am
Dear DocB,
Oh, I couldn’t agree more. This guy is nuts and disrespectful.
Rebel
April 14th, 2010 at 10:21 am
Dear James,
Mr. Wadd is very telegenic. He is successful at being a carnival act. Very successful. Off the top of my head I can’t think of anybody else who has actually contributed to the investigations of three MCs.
Rebel
April 14th, 2010 at 12:11 pm
sled tramp, you are making your fellow Bay Area reader homesick for San Francisco. Riding down Lombard St on the back of my jazz musician friend’s bike. Meeting Sonny Barger for the first time at the MMA Cow Palace swap. Getting an 8143 shirt from the Vice President at the tattoo convention. Partying to Malo at the Frisco clubhouse on Tennessee St. The clean sea air, the fog, the Hetch Hetchy water I could actually drink out of the tap (as opposed to the tap water here in Long Bitch).
I gotta get out of Hell and move back up to Colma, though it’s a pretty dead town. There’s nothing like biking in the Bay Area, and this time I will be the one at the wheel.
YYZ Skinhead
April 14th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
I can think of ways of making Mr. Wadd a great deal less telegenic… ahh, the things you can do with a few gas-soaked rags and a cigarette lighter.
You can even spell out words… R… A… T…
LL&R
Jabba
April 14th, 2010 at 12:51 pm
“Colma, though it’s a pretty dead town”.
HAHAHA That’s pretty funny…..
(Colma is 93% cemeteries.The WHOLE town is cemeteries…)
April 14th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
So if Mr. Wadd got shot…..
uh, never mind……
April 14th, 2010 at 4:32 pm
I saw Mr. Wadd’s Gangland appearance. All I remember is a very high-strung guy repeatedly saying “house mouse.”
April 14th, 2010 at 4:40 pm
Sled > “So if Mr. Wadd got shot…” Careful, from past history, that’s good enough for a conspiracy charge.
LL&R
Jabba
April 14th, 2010 at 5:59 pm
JMHO but Billy Wadd is someone with an overinflated sense of selfworth. On some level he made be a competent opponent, but he has brought cops to the doorsteps of 3 legitimate MC’s in a town not known for it’s forgiving nature. Undoubtedly he has used his connections with the cops to burn others for money. Given the laws of nature I believe he is living on borrowed time. He will die of natural causes, the natural outcome of a life spent fucking over other people who will not take such matters lightly, and his cop friends won’t even send flowers to his funeral. Disclaimer to any cop/fed reading this page, the above is just supposition about possible future events and should not be interpreted as an actual threat to Mr Wadd!
Respect to all that have earned it
Si vis Pacem, Parabellum.
April 14th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
sled tramp,
Oh, did I just know you’d get that. Spoken like a true SOB (Son of the Bay).
YYZ Skinhead
April 14th, 2010 at 10:14 pm
Jabba,
If I were to be charged with conspiracy, it would be worth it to stand in court and plead not guilty to shooting a Wadd.
April 15th, 2010 at 6:25 am
Ohhh Hell Sled, did I feed you that line or what?
Should’ve seen that cumming.
LL&R
Jabba
SYLO
April 15th, 2010 at 7:43 am
I saw this piece of shit on gangland also. (what a garbage show that is) All I saw from him was bragging about shit that probably never happened and trying to justify his dispicable behavor against his brothers. He probably couldnt hang any more and wanted out so he fucked over his own blood instead of dealing with it and used that as an excuse to turn snitch. This guy is nothing but a rat born bred and true a fucking rat.
April 15th, 2010 at 8:17 am
All too many Motorcycle Clubs are, thanks to the ATF and pulsating reptiles like that malodorously decomposing sleezeball, are undergoing almost unsurmountable diffculties with their civil rights these days.
The paragraph below isn’t related to the story Rebel wrote although it does point out that patch holders and civil rights are an oxymoron and is an excellent article. Click and read.
There is no clause in the U.S. Constitution that states “Unless the person is wearing a patch on their jacket” that I have ever seen:
http://www.salem-news.com/articles/march222010/biker-sentence.php
April 15th, 2010 at 10:00 am
Billy “Wadd” Was a no-body for the very short time he was in the Diciples, he was a no-body afterward. Just another D-town dope dealer.
His excuse that the massacre his nephew carried out drove him to the waiting arms of the law and convinced him that he would allow the law bug and video his bar is complete bullshit.
Personally, I think Wadd has always been a rat. I always thought he was a fucking flake, one of the reasons why I never hung out at that dive he ran.
ahh well, such is life in the “D”
Loose lips sink ships. the OL’s should have known better than that, as should the others who hung out there, openly speaking their private business.
April 15th, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Grumbler,
“The public needs to realize that motorcycle clubs are as All-American as apple pie, whether people like it or not. Most bikers are U.S. military veterans. Many served in combat, starting with WWII, which is what launched the American biker movement.”
Great article, as if you ever post anything but.
April 15th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
XYZ Skinhead – Merci Beaucoup, mademoiselle. Enchanté.
Nobody — except another cyclist — likes a man on a motorcycle. (Hal Burton, “Most Unpopular Men on the Road,” Saturday Evening Post, 25 September 1954)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/27990917/Nostalgia-Unpopular
April 25th, 2010 at 11:55 pm
XYZ Skinhead – Merci Beaucoup, mademoiselle. Enchanté.
Nobody — except another cyclist — likes a man on a motorcycle. (Hal Burton, “Most Unpopular Men on the Road,” Saturday Evening Post, 25 September 1954)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/27990917/Nostalgia-Unpopular
April 26th, 2010 at 2:37 am
sled tramp,
Oh, did I just know you’d get that. Spoken like a true SOB (Son of the Bay).
YYZ Skinhead
April 26th, 2010 at 5:20 am
Sled > “So if Mr. Wadd got shot…” Careful, from past history, that’s good enough for a conspiracy charge.
LL&R
Jabba
April 26th, 2010 at 1:22 pm
JMHO but Billy Wadd is someone with an overinflated sense of selfworth. On some level he made be a competent opponent, but he has brought cops to the doorsteps of 3 legitimate MC’s in a town not known for it’s forgiving nature. Undoubtedly he has used his connections with the cops to burn others for money. Given the laws of nature I believe he is living on borrowed time. He will die of natural causes, the natural outcome of a life spent fucking over other people who will not take such matters lightly, and his cop friends won’t even send flowers to his funeral. Disclaimer to any cop/fed reading this page, the above is just supposition about possible future events and should not be interpreted as an actual threat to Mr Wadd!
Respect to all that have earned it
Si vis Pacem, Parabellum.
April 26th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
Wow! From a street level drug dealer to an officer in the DDMC to a full blown rat bag snitch and an author too! William “Billy Jerk-Wadd” Smith has Dobyns, Billy Queer, etc. all beat hands downs! His CUNT ol’ lady even acted like she enjoyed getting in on all the attention. I hope that loud mouth PRICK gets what all snitches deserve. I guess I’ll have to watch the hole episode – still don’t understand why he left the DD? Or was it a case of “Can’t get it; can’t stay.”
April 26th, 2010 at 6:18 pm
XYZ Skinhead – Merci Beaucoup, mademoiselle. Enchanté.
Nobody — except another cyclist — likes a man on a motorcycle. (Hal Burton, “Most Unpopular Men on the Road,” Saturday Evening Post, 25 September 1954)
http://www.scribd.com/doc/27990917/Nostalgia-Unpopular
April 27th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
Ohhh Hell Sled, did I feed you that line or what?
Should’ve seen that cumming.
LL&R
Jabba
SYLO
May 26th, 2010 at 3:49 pm
Highwaymen racketeering case goes to jury
Paul Egan / The Detroit News
Detroit — Jurors began deliberating today in the Highwaymen Motorcycle Club racketeering case after a federal prosecutor sought to refute about seven hours of closing arguments made by six defense attorneys over two days.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Graveline confronted a theme the defense hammered on repeatedly — that the worst criminals in the club were the ones who testified at trial on behalf of the government.
“These are their brothers,” Graveline said about former national president Gerald “Byrd” Peters, admitted cocaine dealer and former club member Robert “Bobby” Burton, and other government witnesses who acknowledged their own crimes while testifying about those of others. “They’re Highwaymen who the government has by the scruff of their necks.”
Advertisement
The trial that started April 1 in front of U.S. District Judge Nancy G. Edmunds has heard evidence of beatings, drug dealing and ongoing efforts to identify and locate suspected club “snitches” who were passing information to the FBI. Charges include conspiracy to murder, assault and interstate transport of stolen goods.
James C. Thomas, the Detroit attorney representing lead defendant Aref “Steve” Nagi, told jurors the government is asking them to rely on criminals to provide proof beyond a reasonable doubt that the six alleged Highwaymen leaders are guilty.
Since a reasonable doubt is defined as one that would cause a person to hesitate in making the most important decisions in their life, Thomas asked how jurors would react if Burton and three other of the government witnesses knocked on their door, said there had been an accident down the street, and asked the juror to go investigate while Burton and the others watched their home and children.
“You’d hesitate,” Thomas predicted.
But Graveline said that’s not the test jurors should apply.
“Would you trust them where they’re talking about the inside workings of the motorcycle club?” he asked. “Who else knows more?
“It’s not going to be the Cub Scouts.”
Graveline also disputed defense assertions that the government witnesses’ testimony was “bought and paid for” by way of more than $100,000 the witnesses received from the federal government.
With one exception, all the money was relocation expenses needed because the lives of the witnesses were in danger, Graveline said. Only one former Highwaymen, Doug Burnett, who made drug controlled purchases for the FBI, was paid for working on the case, Graveline said. That was so he wouldn’t need to keep a job and would have more time to hang out at the clubhouse and elsewhere to gather evidence, he said.
Burnett testified he received a $25,000 bonus after there were guilty pleas in a related drug case and said he thought he might receive another bonus if there were convictions in this case, Thomas said.
“That’s not being on the payroll,” Thomas said. “That’s not working for a wage. That’s bought and paid for testimony.”
The trial is the first phase in the government’s prosecution of more than 80 alleged Highwaymen members and associates in one of the largest indictments ever brought in the eastern district of Michigan.
From The Detroit News: http://detnews.com/article/20100526/METRO01/5260436/1409/METRO/Highwaymen-racketeering-case-goes-to-jury#ixzz0p4vQihtL
update on were the trial stands.
August 23rd, 2010 at 5:27 pm
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?pid=350881&id=100000291501543&ref=fbx_album
if this is the doug burnett invovled in these arrests as a FBI informant then he is current living fort myers fl. and works on fort myers beach.