A federal appeals court is separately considering an appeal of the conviction. Now the Mongols want a new trial and say their former president was a confidential informant for the ATF. For more than two decades, federal law enforcement authorities pursued the Mongols, a notorious motorcycle club whose members had a long history of murder, assault, drug dealing and robbery. agent, but they failed to persuade a judge to grant a new trial on the racketeering and conspiracy convictions against the club. Former Mongols President David Santillan continued to testify. "I've never cooperated in any way, shape or form.". After Judge Carters ruling, he declared vindication in what he said was a contrived internal political witch hunt to smear my name and to get me dethroned.. Mr. Santillan has acknowledged that he talked often with Mr. Ciccone for a period of years, usually in the presence of other Mongols members. Now the Mongols want a new trial and say their former president, David Santillan, was a confidential informant for the ATF. Black Dragon's Sunday Night Round Table discusses Insane Throttle's live interview with former Mongol's MC Nation's International President Lil' Dave. In the video, Ms. Santillan was talking to her husband on speakerphone when he told her that Mr. Ciccone was retiring. The club was ordered to pay a $500,000 fine in what prosecutors hoped would be a down payment on putting it out of business. ", RELATED: Mongols Motorcycle Club vows to fight trademark loss. David Santillan, the president of the Mongols, was ousted by the group after a video surfaced that implied he was being protected by a federal agent. There is no way hes gotten away with these incidents without more significant legal repercussions unless someone in law enforcement is in the background greasing the slides for him, Mr. Yanny said. The U.S. Attorneys Office had earlier tried and failed to force the Mongols to forfeit their rights to the clubs trademarked logo, a drawing of a brawny Genghis Khan-like figure riding a chopper while brandishing a sword, a landmark case that prosecutors felt would help weaken the club by undermining its visual identity. "I wanted him to feel kind of what I was feeling, the shame and embarrassment and betrayal. Clubs used to represent more than territory, it was about freedom and doing what you wanted. At the core of the case was a video of a conversation between Mr. Santillan and his wife that she had passed on to members of the biker club last year, accompanied by a text message in which she told them that her husband had been a confidential government informant. Mr. Santillan has acknowledged that he talked often with Mr. Ciccone for a period of years, usually in the presence of other Mongols members. Available on GOOGLE PLAY CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD FROM GOOGLE PLAY STORE. In this Oct. 21, 2008 file photo a Mongols' motorcycle gang member vest is displayed during a news conference in Los Angeles. This wasnt the case . Then the conversation, which she was. Both Mr. Santillan, a Mongols member for almost 25 years who was voted out of the club in July, and the agent, John Ciccone, who retired in December after 32 years at the A.T.F., deny that Mr. Santillan was acting as an informant during the trial, though Mr. Ciccones sworn declaration does not address whether Mr. Santillan had acted as a confidential informant in the past. In the case that led to the racketeering conviction against the Mongols, Mr. Ciccone had acted as the case agent. On Wednesday, defense attorney Joe Yanny and Santillan went back and forth over Santillan's relationship with retired Montebello police officer Christopher Cervantes and Ciccone. The text reads in part: "You guys need to see this video" and that David "has been working with the government is all [sic] entire time" and that's "why he felt so comfortable to do what he does he is simply a CI In other words he is a rat.". Now its at a point where guns, instead of fist are used to settle things. In 2018, the government scored a victory of sorts. After one year he's done and he can't protect me, so we have to have an exit strategy.". Nor do I believe that there would be, quite frankly, an acquittal in a second trial., Mr. Santillan, who led the Mongols for nearly 13 years until he was voted out of the club in July of last year, vehemently denied that he had ever betrayed the group. Jesse gave other Mongols more of the same. Communications with Mr. Santillan, Mr. Ciccone said, were limited to such matters as ensuring public safety at Mongols events. agent who infiltrated three biker clubs. He was the guy outside all the time providing cover support in case something went wrong with the undercovers.. Santillan says he and Ciccone had a "rapport" after 25 years of dealing with one another. The indictment did not target any individuals but alleged that the club itself had engaged in an organized conspiracy of crimes such as murder, attempted murder and drug dealing. After testifying briefly in court Monday, Annie told Eyewitness News that her husband has never been a confidential informant and that she only sent the text message because she wanted to destroy him in the eyes of the Mongols. If you've been paying attention the last couple of years, the Mongols have been on a sort of federal probation and that's the club as a whole. Lil Dave is the former International President of the Mongols Motorcycle Club. Yanny played a clip from a National Geographic show segment on the Mongols in court as evidence of their relationship. Former Mongols Biker Club Leader Denies He Was Ever a Rat The Mongols Motorcycle Club allege that their former president David Santillan was a confidential informant during their RICO. David Santillan, the president of the Mongols, was ousted by the group after a video surfaced that implied he was being protected by a federal agent. Mr. Santillan walking into a federal courthouse in Santa Ana, Calif., during the 2018 racketeering trial against the Mongols. The California motorcycle group had claimed that its former president, David Santillan, was a government informant. Self-Improvement. Now the Mongols want a new trial and say their former president, David Santillan, was a confidential informant for the ATF. The government, in its own appeal, is making another run at the Mongols logo, renewing an earlier request for a narrower forfeiture order that would take away the clubs right to trademark exclusivity over the emblem. He and his wife, Annie, were estranged after he had an affair. The biker group hopes to set aside a $500,000 racketeering conviction, alleging that its former president cooperated with the government during a trial. In one of them, according to their court papers, Mr. Santillan crashed his Mercedes in 2017 while driving impaired, damaging numerous cars parked on the street. Michael Tyrone Delaney for The New York. In my opinion, the only reason the government brought this RICO case was to take another run at the patch, having failed each time in the past, said George L. Steele, a lawyer for the Mongols who is handling a separate appeal in the case. The explosive allegations come after a secretly recorded video surfaced of Santillan talking to his wife about the lead ATF agent on the case -- John Ciccone. Subscribe to our Insane Throttle YouTube channel for a wide range of biker shows and news Two years after a federal jury found the notorious Mongols Motorcycle Club a criminal organization, lawyers for the club are asking a judge for a new trial accusing its former president of being a secret government informant and [] Former Mongols President David Santillan continued to testify. In court testimony and in an earlier interview, Ms. Santillan said she had shared the video and the text with the Mongols in an attempt to destroy her husband but had since regretted it; she said she was not being truthful when she claimed he had been an informant. "I assumed it was going to be her, so we videotaped," Annie Santillan tells Eyewitness News. Prosecutors convinced a jury in California that these crimes were not just the result of individual bikers behaving badly, but the work of an organized criminal enterprise that had participated in a campaign of mayhem. She also said in a text message to other Mongols, now filed with the court, that her husband had acted for a time as a confidential government informant. He raps off at the mouth like he actually knows what this scene is all about. The Mongols are now claiming that throughout their attempt to defend the club in the long-running criminal case, their own leader was secretly talking to the government. David Santillan says he was thrown out of the Mongols after a "closed door" meeting where he did not get a chance to refute the allegations against him. Ms. Santillan said that she now felt horrible about disclosing the communications and that her husband was not, in fact, an informant. You can now listen to full episodes of the podcast right from the app. Mr. Santillan provided records from the cases to show he had been convicted of offenses including driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an accident and disturbing the peace, and that he had been arrested, fined and put on probation. Jonathan Turley, a constitutional law expert at George Washington University, said that if a federal agent was seeking confidential information about a criminal defense, that would be an extraordinary transgression.. The judge will most likely consider a series of procedural matters on Monday, lawyers said, with additional hearings expected before any final ruling. T wo years after a federal jury deemed the notorious Mongols Motorcycle Club a criminal organization, attorneys for the club are asking a judge for a new trial accusing its former president of . There's a new twist in a federal case already marked by murder and mayhem. The saying 99% and 1% is very true at this moment in time- Most bikers who are the 99% and majority can care less about motorcycle clubs anymore- Its fading and fading fast. Testimony resumed for a hearing in which a judge will decided if the Mongols Motorcycle Club will get a new trial after being convicted of conspiracy and racketeering in 2018. A jury ordered the forfeiture, but Judge Carter reversed the order, concluding that it infringed on the groups constitutional rights. There is no way hes gotten away with these incidents without more significant legal repercussions unless someone in law enforcement is in the background greasing the slides for him, Mr. Yanny said. Mongols attorney Joe Yanny says his clients want their 2018 racketeering conviction thrown out or at the very least a new trial. Michael Tyrone Delaney for The New York Times. But the group that was once the most powerful biker organization in the West other than its archrivals, the Hells Angels, is returning to court next week, hoping to set aside the racketeering and conspiracy convictions based on what it says is new evidence about its previous leader, David Santillan. In one of them, according to their court papers, Mr. Santillan crashed his Mercedes in 2017 while driving impaired, damaging numerous cars parked on the street. Mongols Motorcycle Club Says Its Leader LIL DAVE Was an Informant For more than two decades, federal law enforcement authorities pursued the Mongols, a notorious motorcycle club whose members had a long history of murder, assault, drug dealing and robbery. And he was tireless, Mr. DAlesio said. Both Mr. Santillan, a Mongols member for almost 25 years who was voted out of the club in July, and the agent, John Ciccone, who retired in December after 32 years at the A.T.F., deny that Mr. Santillan was acting as an informant during the trial, though Mr. Ciccones sworn declaration does not address whether Mr. Santillan had acted as a confidential informant in the past. 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This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register. On the stand, Mr. Santillan called the claims about his daily meetings with Mr. Ciccone an absolute lie. (He acknowledged encountering Mr. Ciccone by chance at a Starbucks near the courthouse once during the trial.). Anyone can read what you share. It became clear that Dave had betrayed the club, his oath and everything we hold sacred, the club said in a statement. One of the clubs defense lawyers during the original trial, Stephen Stubbs, testified that Mr. Santillan had told him during the trial that he was regularly meeting with Mr. Ciccone as the proceedings were going on, even as he was overseeing the clubs defense team.
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