The Joker in the Mongols case has always been the prosecution of Christopher Bryan Ablett.
Ablett is accused of the murder of Hells Angels San Francisco Charter President Mark “Papa” Guardado on September 2nd, 2008. News reports at the time stated that Guardado, who died when he was forty-six, got into an argument with another biker about 10:30 pm outside a bar near 24th Street and Treat Avenue in San Francisco. The argument became a fight. Guardado was shot and his assailant rode away. Guardado died later that night at San Francisco General Hospital.
Context
Ablett, a 37-year-old self-employed electrician, a father of two children and a member of the Mongols Motorcycle Club was soon named as a suspect. He turned himself into police in Bartlesville, Oklahoma on October 7, 2008. In the early morning hours of the next day a Mongol named Manual Vincent “Hitman” Martin was shot off his motorcycle on the connector road between the 2 and the 210 Freeways in Los Angeles. The day after that the United States Attorney for the Central District of California sought and got an indictment of the Mongols from a grand jury.
The morning after Martin’s murder there was widespread speculation that he had been shot by vengeful Hells Angels. He was not. In July 2009 Los Angeles police blamed Martin’s murder on a mostly Latino local clique named Toonerville. Coincidentally, Toonerville was being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives at the time. Also coincidentally, three Under Cover ATF Agents posing as Mongols were with Martin the night he died.
Ablett was extradited to California to face state murder charges. He had an initial appearance in state court in November then disappeared for seven months. The murder became a federal case on July 29, 2009.
A Racketeering Murder
Ablett is charged with “murder in aid of racketeering.” The racketeering enterprise for which he murdered is described as the “‘Mongols’ biker gang…a criminal organization whose members engaged in, among other things, murder, conspiracy to commit murder, attempted murder, conspiracy to traffic in narcotics, narcotics trafficking, robbery, extortion, money laundering and witness intimidation.” About two thirds of the Ablett Indictment describes the Mongols “racket.”
In addition to murder in aid of racketeering Ablett is charged with using a firearm in a murder and using a firearm in commission of a crime of violence. He faces the death penalty if he is convicted.
Ablett changed lawyers on September 23rd, 2009 and around that time the government provided the defense with 88 pages of written material and 102 autopsy photographs.
According to public documents filed today, last February 2nd , “the government provided records for eleven cellular telephones without subscriber information” and has provided “no discovery” since then. Ablett’s defense attorney, Richard B. Mazer, wrote today that the government has displayed an “unwillingness to be more forthcoming in providing discovery which counsel needs….”
In a reply also filed today, United States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello and Assistant US Attorneys W.S. Wilson Leung and Christine Y. Wong argued that: “ To date, the Government has produced over a thousand pages of discovery, including medical examiner’s report and autopsy photographs; police reports and other reports of investigation related to the murder of Guardado; defendant’s criminal history; arrest report (including defendant’s statement) and arrest photographs; and phone records.”
Related posts:
April 15th, 2010 at 4:30 pm
Did not the state of California drop capital murder charges so that the Feds could fold his case into Black Rain?
April 16th, 2010 at 10:45 am
Dear Not Surprised,
Yeah. It was a state case for eight or nine months. It turned federal about six months after Doc Cavazos flipped and just about the time Judge Cooper was telling the feds they could not steal and keep the Mongols patch.
Rebel
April 18th, 2010 at 10:09 am
He faces the death penalty now in fed court, but they will not be able to prove a case.
April 27th, 2010 at 10:48 am
Did not the state of California drop capital murder charges so that the Feds could fold his case into Black Rain?
April 28th, 2010 at 8:15 pm
Joe, is there an echo in here or are you mocking me?
April 29th, 2010 at 10:20 am
Dear Not Surprised and SVD,
Actually I suspect Joe is a kind of SPAM that is designed to get me to permit comments from this email address. No readers are endangered by this SPAM, or proto SPAM. The idea is to get me to allow this opening into the comments here which will lead to ads and links to Haitian Voodoo love potions and Bulgarian senior porn and interesting places to buy cheap Viagra, Cialis, Tramadol and so on.
I just want to see what “Joe” thinks he is going to do next. I suspect that “Joe” is actually an innocent reader and he has been botted. In any event, don’t worry. SVD, I saw that you were worried yesterday. Don’t worry. I am on it. Just want to observe where this is going.
Rebel
April 29th, 2010 at 10:33 am
Dear Rebel,
“ads and links to Haitian Voodoo love potions and Bulgarian senior porn and interesting places to buy cheap Viagra”
Uh…lets not make hasty decisions here….Bulgarian senior porn always works up my appetite for original recipe KFC.
Haitian Voodoo love potions can also be good,up to my tossing chicken blood on the floor and lighting candles made of hog penis fat,,my dawgs had learned to beg by watching me in the bedroom.
So…..go slow OK?
Yer Pal,
sled tramp
April 29th, 2010 at 5:27 pm
Gee, I wonder if this is the same Joe that set up Dave Burgess?
April 29th, 2010 at 5:53 pm
“Don’t worry. I am on it. Just want to observe where this is going.
Rebel”
“Uh…lets not make hasty decisions here….Bulgarian senior porn always works up my appetite for original recipe KFC.
Haitian Voodoo love potions can also be good,up to my tossing chicken blood on the floor and lighting candles made of hog penis fat,,my dawgs had learned to beg by watching me in the bedroom.
So…..go slow OK?
Yer Pal,
sled tramp”
So that’s where it’s going!
Hilarious to read, but I’m actually not sure whether you would want to “observe” the visual.
SVD
May 6th, 2010 at 7:34 am
sled tramp,
I’ll bite the head off the chicken if you do the blood thing.
YYZ Skinhead
May 9th, 2010 at 8:43 am
Please pardon any perceived rudeness, but you guys really degenerated into some sophomoric banter considering the ultra serious nature of the original article.
May 9th, 2010 at 9:57 am
Roy,
Among some of us, this specific subject is at best,an extremely delicate subject. I was out of line with humor in this thread, just kind of fell into the line.You will note the absence of postings directly pertaining to Poppa’s death. There’s a reason for this.
I understand and appreciate your comment but I think this one was a bit too touchy for some of us.
May 9th, 2010 at 2:37 pm
Thanks Sled. I should have well realized that, and I also should have held my tongue. I slipped on that.
May 20th, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Too touchy true but I do want to say Papa was a rare and loved man and Love and Respect goes his way, and to his Family he loved so much.
Miss Krista
May 27th, 2010 at 12:14 am
I am wondering why nobody talks about the white ivory stompin around in the room, that piece of shit HAHA had a popper and his people removed it before the LEO’s came to the party, come on man this is BS,…no one shows up to a pie eating contest without his choppers…. unless bla bla bla…bla, fill in the blanks, to slow on the draw
May 29th, 2010 at 10:02 am
The trial will be very interesting. More will be revealed. Confused: you have opened up the box, and for good or bad you stepped up to the plate.