Jury convicts biker gang leader in murder of Hells Angels member at Nevada casino in 2011

RENO, Nev. –  A biker gang leader was convicted Wednesday of murdering a Hells Angels during a 2011 shootout at a Nevada casino that prosecutors said was part of an orchestrated assassination plot to take out a high-ranking official of the rival group.
The Washoe District Court jury deliberated for only five hours before returning guilty verdicts on all seven felony counts, including first- and second-degree murder, for Ernesto Gonzalez, ex-president of the Vagos motorcycle gang's chapter in Nicaragua.
The panel rejected claims he was acting in self-defense when he fatally shot Hells Angels San Jose boss Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew during the September 2011 melee on a busy Sparks casino floor that sent gamblers diving for cover behind slot machines and blackjack tables.
The defendant's lawyer, David Houston, said he was "exceptionally surprised" the jury acted so quickly and vowed an appeal.
"I can't see it. I'm flabbergasted. I cannot understand this verdict," Houston told reporters on the courthouse steps in Reno.
Jurors were to return to court Thursday to begin hearing more evidence in the penalty phase of the trial that will determine whether Gonzalez gets the maximum of life in prison without parole. Gonzalez, 55, was also convicted of conspiring to commit murder, challenging to fight resulting in death, illegally carrying a concealed weapon and discharging a firearm inside a structure.
Chief Deputy District Attorney Karl Hall declined immediate comment after the verdicts were read.
Pinning all his hopes on an acquittal, Gonzalez told the judge earlier Wednesday that he wanted to take off the table the possibility of a lesser manslaughter conviction.
"It's either going to be one way or another, rather than meeting in the middle," Houston told Washoe District Judge Connie Steinheimer. He said they were "specifically not asking for a manslaughter charge."
Steinhiemer described it as a "strategic decision" and asked Gonzalez if he agreed.
"Definitely, I do, yes," Gonzalez told the judge.
Prosecutors maintain Gonzalez shot Pettigrew, 51, five times in the back in a "hit" approved by international leaders of the Vagos during their national convention at John Ascuaga's Nugget hotel-casino just east of Reno. He's seen on dark casino surveillance video coming around the corner of a fish-tank bar and shooting Pettigrew five times in the back as Pettigrew and another Hells Angel kicked a Vagos on the ground between slot machines.
Witnesses from both gangs — including one long-time Vagos-turned-federal informant who testified under a pseudonym — said Pettigrew was an "icon" who was considered the "Godfather" of the Hells Angels in San Jose and the fifth-ranking member nationally.
Gonzalez he shot Pettigrew as a last resort because Pettigrew and another were kicking another Vagos on the floor and he feared they would kill him.
Hall told the jury Gonzalez couldn't argue self-defense because he was part of the gang that instigated the fight that led to Pettigrew's death.
"They started the fight and he finished the fight," Hall said.
Houston is a prominent defense lawyer in Reno whose past clients have included Hulk Hogan, "Girls Gone Wild" video empire founder Joe Francis and Liberace's ex-lover, Scott Thorson. He told reporters after the verdicts were read he had felt comfortable the jury's quick work meant they'd found him innocent.
"I'm still somewhat flummoxed that we could have resulted in a guilty verdict without so much as reviewing what I thought was a great deal of evidence" including hours of surveillance videotape from more than a dozen different camera angels, he said. "There simply wasn't the time."
Prosecutors apparently were successful in using a "very broad brush" to argue "the Vagos did this, the Vagos did that," Houston said. "I think it might have been lost in the translation that this was a case of the state vs. Ernesto Gonzalez. It had nothing to do with the Vagos."

SAN BERNARDINO: Charges dismissed against Vagos president

San Bernardino County prosecutors dismissed charges against the Vagos Motorcycle Club President Tuesday, stemming from an October raid.
Pastor Fausto Palafox, 47, was charged, along with two other Vagos members with stealing a motorcycle, possession of stolen property and participating in a gang.
Palafox and the other club members, Cesar Joaquin Rodriguez, 35, and Scott Randall Rivera, 46, appeared in a San Bernardino courtroom Tuesday morning.
Rivera and Rodriguez were both ordered to attend a preliminary hearing Feb. 14, but prosecutors moved to dismiss the charges against Palafox “in the interest of justice.”
The three men were among 10 people arrested during a raid by the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office and Department of Justice at multiple locations throughout the county. Authorities served 52 search warrants and also seized drugs and weapons.
Following the raid, San Bernardino County prosecutors charged five people in the raid. One person has pleaded guilty to felony marijuana possession for sale. Another charge for possession of body armor was dismissed.
Joseph Yanny, an attorney for Palafox and the Vagos club, said the raid wrongfully labeled the club as a gang. He said Palafox had no criminal record and was “a decent man.”
“It’s unfortunate things have gone as far as they’ve gone. It would be better if this had not happened at all,” Yanny said. “But sometimes these things have to occur for people to see what’s going on or what’s not going on.”
San Bernardino County district attorney’s officials did not comment on Palafox’s case specifically. They stood by the raid as a success that took unrelated drugs and weapons off the street. Prosecutors previously described the club as a violent gang, when the arrests were announced.
Yanny said none of the drugs or weapons was related to the club, which does not condone violence or illegal activity. He said the stolen motorcycle charge was a result of a civil dispute following a sale between members and the victim did not want to press charges.
Vagos members were previously targeted in a March 2010 raid in Riverside County. The Vagos filed a lawsuit claiming defamation of character in that case, prompting an apology by Riverside County officials.
Yanny said San Bernardino County was following a similar course, but did not say a lawsuit was planned.

Suspected Vagos gangmembers arrested

      Seven suspected gangmembers with the Vagos Motorcycle Club were arrested in South San Francisco Saturday night for a variety of gang enhancement and weapons charges, according to police.

Police pulled over two vehicles that were in a large caravan of motorcycles after about 30 bikers on Harley Davidsons rode down Grand Avenue downtown just around 7:30 p.m. Saturday, according to police.
The occupants of both vehicles were dressed in “outlaw” motorcycle gang attire and a search of the vehicles revealed that the occupants possessed several loaded firearms, including a loaded shotgun, according to police.
They were likely pulled over for probation or parole violations, said South San Francisco police Sgt. Bruce McPhillips.
They were all dressed in full leather that prominently displayed Vagos Motorcycle Club patches, he said.
The caravan was driving through the city and fueling up at a gas station before departing to attend an event in another city, McPhillips said.
One of the vehicles was pulled over as it was about to drive onto Highway 101 out of the city, he said.
The seven were charged with possession and likely all posted bail, he said.
Later that night, a shooting in Broadmoor occurred with another group of gangmembers affiliated with the Vagos club called Wanted, according to police.
Police responded to a shooting on the 7400 block of Mission Street and located multiple shell casings on the ground near a restaurant there and canvassed the area for those responsible and to look for any potential victims.
Police were unable to locate any victims or suspects at that time, However, at about 10:30 p.m., the Broadmoor Police Department was contacted by San Francisco police, who were aware of the incident in Broadmoor and advised that two gunshot victims had arrived at a San Francisco hospital.
One victim, a 37-year-old man, had suffered a gunshot wound to the abdomen and was listed in critical condition. The second victim, a 41-year-old man, suffered a gunshot wound to his arm and was listed in stable condition and both are Hells Angels club members, according to Broadmoor police.
The victims, along with witnesses at the scene, were interviewed and the case is being investigated by the Broadmoor Police Department.
Police indicated the victims were not being cooperative with the investigation.
Anyone with any information related to this incident is asked to contact Officer Pagarigan of the Broadmoor Police Department at 755-3838.
silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com
(650) 344-5200 ext. 106  

VIOLENT BIKER TRICKS OLD MAN

The "Pawn Star" patriarch known as The Old Man was unwittingly lured into helping a violent motorcycle gang beat serious criminal charges ... so claims The Old Man's son.

The Old Man recently hosted a Valentine's Day party for the infamous Vagos biker gang at his Vegas home.  The gang wanted The Old Man to host because of his fame, banking on the fact that lots of people would attend and plunk money down to win various raffles.

Now here's the alleged scam.  Sources say the proceeds from the raffle went right into a slush fund used to pay for lawyers for members of the gang that commit crimes.  And the Vagos crew gets into LOTS of trouble.

A 4-year federal investigation resulted in the arrests of 32 gang members -- mostly Vagos -- for crimes ranging from gun and drug trafficking to robbery.

Rick Harrison, "Pawn Stars" star and also son of The Old Man, tells TMZ the gang took advantage of his 72-year-old dad who had no idea he was fronting a party for nefarious purposes.

Rick also knows exactly how is father got bamboozled.  Rick's brother, Joseph, is a long-time member of Vagos with a big-time rap sheet.

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2014/03/03/pawn-stars-dad-rick-harrison-old-man-vagos-gang-valentines-day-party/#ixzz2v6Rlfzth

Vagos member testifies about beating in motorcycle gang melee at Nevada casino

RENO, Nev. –  A Vagos motorcycle gang member testified Tuesday that he thought he was going to be killed by Hells Angels leaders who kicked him in the head and pointed a gun at him before one of the rivals was fatally shot in a 2011 melee at a Nevada casino.
"I was scared to death. I thought I was going to be killed. As a matter of fact, I'm lucky to be alive today," said Robert Wiggins, the vice president of the Vagos chapter in Orange County, Calif.
Wiggins told a Washoe District Court jury at the murder trial for a fellow Vagos that he didn't know until days later that Hells Angels' San Jose boss Jeffrey "Jethro" Pettigrew had been killed during the shootout on the floor of a busy Sparks casino about 11:30 p.m. Sept. 23, 2011.
Wiggins, under sometimes combative questioning from the prosecutor, said he "played possum," trying to pretend he was dead during the beating and never saw Pettigrew get shot.
Ernesto Gonzalez, then the president of the Vagos chapter in Nicaragua, is accused of killing Pettigrew.
Prosecutors say it was an organized assassination approved by the Vagos international president after Pettigrew punched another Vagos, Los Angeles chapter vice president Gary "Jabbers" Rudnick, who had been trying to pick a fight.
Gonzalez claims it was self-defense. His lawyer, David Houston, said Gonzalez will testify that he shot Pettigrew to save Wiggins' life.
Rudnick has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in a plea deal with prosecutors and also is expected to testify at the trial.
Wiggins said he had just ordered dinner with friends in Rosie's cafe just off the casino floor at John Ascuaga's Nugget when they heard "a lot of noise, a lot of ruckus." He said they joined a crowd rushing to the door leading to the casino floor.
The scene was "chaotic — women screaming, people yelling and shouting," he said. "I could hear glass breaking everywhere. It was crazy."
Wiggins was moving with a wave of people into the casino when he said he was accidentally pushed from behind, his bad knee buckled and he fell to the ground between rows of slot machines.
Next, he saw two Hells Angels approaching with guns — Pettigrew and Caesar Villagrana, who has pleaded guilty to shooting at least one Vagos that night.
But Wiggins acknowledged during his testimony that surveillance video showed only Villagrana holding a gun at that point.
The two began "kicking the (crap) out of me," he said, including blows to his throat, chest and back of the head.
"I saw the big guy (Villagrana) was standing over the top of me unloading a gun into the crowd." Wiggins said, estimating eight or nine shots were fired.
"It seemed like it went on forever," he said. "It was an automatic gun and he emptied the magazine."
Asked if Villagrana shot him, Wiggins said, "He was going to."
Hall questioned why Gonzalez shot Pettigrew if Villagrana was the one holding the gun. Wiggins said he didn't know: "I didn't see anybody shoot anybody."
Wiggins denied suggestions by Washoe County Chief Deputy District Attorney Karl Hall that he was leading a pack of Vagos chasing another Hells Angel when he was pushed to the ground.
"I'm too fat and old to chase people," the stocky longtime construction worker, who appeared to be middle-aged, said. "I've got bad knees, a bad hip and a bad back."
At one point, Wiggins said Hall had asked him the same question five times.
"Are you trying to get a rise out of me?" he asked.
"I'm trying to get the truth out of you," Hall answered.
Wiggins replied, "I told you the truth."
Later, over the objections of the defense, Judge Connie Steinheimer granted Hall's request to treat Wiggins as a "hostile" witness, placing more stringent restrictions on the way defense counsel could cross examine him.
Out of the presence of the jury, Hall said Wiggins "obviously was trying to be deceptive," had rehearsed his testimony with his legal counsel, was "clearly biased" in favor of Gonzalez and is "at the heart of their defense."
Steinheimer agreed Wiggins was "not forthcoming" during much of his testimony.
The trial is expected to continue into next week.

Guns seized, pit bull shot during raid targeting Vagos gang member in Irwindale

West Covina police arrested two men and fatally shot a pit bull early Wednesday while serving a search warrant to seize guns at the home of a known outlaw motorcycle gang member in Irwindale, authorities said.
“Known, dangerous Vagos outlaw motorcycle gang member” and ex-convict Ralph Rodriguez, 38, of Irwindale was arrested on suspicion of being a felon in possession of firearms, resisting arrest and possession of false identification, according to West Covina police Cpl. Rudy Lopez. He was the person targeted by the search warrant.

Also arrested in the 3:30 a.m. raid at a home in the 4600 block of Nora Avenue was Robert Ghiloni, 28, of West Covina, on suspicion of possession of a dagger, resisting arrest and an outstanding traffic warrant, Lopez said.
The arrests were the result of an ongoing investigation by the West Covina Police Department, officials said.
After arriving at the home and ordering the occupants out via loudspeaker repeatedly, Ghiloni eventually emerged from the home and was taken into custody, Lopez said. He had a dagger on his person.

But Rodriguez remained holed-up inside the home, police said.
“After two hours of repeated announcements, SWAT then initiated an entry into the residence,” according to Lopez. “During the search, (Rodriguez) was located hiding in the attic. He surrendered to officers without further incident.
While serving the warrant, SWAT officers encountered a pit bull, which Lopez said became aggressive toward them.
“The dog began to attack, forcing officers to fire upon it,” he said. “The dog died as a result.”

The number and type of guns sized from the home was not available late Wednesday.

According to Los Angeles County booking records, Rodriguez was being held in lieu of $30,000 bail pending a scheduled arraignment Friday in West Covina Superior Court. Ghiloni was being held in lieu of $10,995 pending his arraignment, also scheduled Friday in West Covina Superior Court.

GANGING UP ON ME: Vagos motorcycle gang infiltrator used his fists to get respect Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/vagos-gang-infiltrator-fist-respect-article-1.1253922#ixzz2v6QOBH7P

George Rowe was a private citizen with his own criminal past when he volunteered in 2003 to infiltrate the Vagos outlaw motorcycle gang, which had taken over his hometown of Hemet, Calif. He worked closely with an ATF agent, but the harrowing risk in Operation 22 Green was all his own as he worked his way up from a lowly prospect to earn his patch. “Gods of Mischief” is his account of the three-year investigation that resulted in 42 arrests and several convictions for crimes as serious as murder. Rowe is now in the federal witness protection program.
BY GEORGE ROWE
A ny brother worth his colors takes a certain pride in being a Harley-riding, hard-drinking, gangbanging sonofab----. Take away that patch and it’d be damn hard to tell one from the other — they’re all cut from the same denim. But like many families, some brothers just don’t get along.
That’s how it is, and how it’s always been, between the Vagos and the Hells Angels.
When we entered The Crossroads Bar and Grill, the Angels were already inside getting hammered and shooting pool.
There was tension in the bar that night — not unexpected given the amount of booze and testosterone — but the two sides were behaving themselves and minding their own business. I ordered a drink and shot the s--- with the bartender, careful to steer clear of the Hells Angels in the vicinity.
Unfortunately, the Hells Angels wouldn’t steer clear of me. The green bandanna around my head and the rocker on my back pegged me as a Vagos prospect, drawing unwanted attention from a scraggly bearded Angel wearing the infamous “death’s head” patch on his back. As I tried to pass him in those tight quarters, he couldn’t resist opening his mouth.
“Hey, boy,” he said scornfully. “Why don’t you get some real colors ’stead of that green s---.”
That’s all the man said. But it was enough. I might have only been a lowly prospect, but that sonofab---- was disrespecting me in front of a brother. And that just couldn’t stand — not if I was to have an ounce of credibility with the Vagos. Like I’ve said, a top requirement among one percenters (criminal biker gangs) is giving and getting respect. And that afternoon at The Crossroads, I wasn’t feeling it.
I turned to find that Angel smirking back at me. But not for long. Faster than a cat can lick its a--, I cold-cocked that f-----. The man hit the floor like a stunned mullet.
And that’s when all hell broke loose.
Angels and Vagos came flying in from all directions, ready to throw down right then and there. As I stood over that fallen Angel, daring him to stand up, powerful arms suddenly wrapped me from behind. I was in the iron grip of a man-mountain. He shoved me toward a group of rubbernecking greenies.
“Get him out of here!” the booming voice commanded. And when Rhino, the Vagos’ international sergeant at arms gave an order, people followed it.
Few men have the b---s to hit a Hells Angel, nevermind in an Angels bar.
“You two take George back to Hemet,” he instructed. “And make sure he f------ stays there.”

The Crossroads Bar and Grill, since renamed the Roadhouse, where gang infiltrator and author George Rowe showed he was tough enough to join the Vagos by cold-cocking a Hells Angel.

Then Roy turned to me with a grave look. “You really f----- up, George,” he said. “This time you f----- up good.”
Oh, s---.
Sometime around midnight Big Todd showed up at the shack in Valle Vista. He shook my hand and told me the Hells Angels were buzzing like hornets and wanted a piece of my a--. Big Roy’s orders were to stay put until Tramp figured out what to do.
I had that gnawing gut sense that something bad was coming — like a big ol’ locomotive bearing down on me. If Tramp decided to hand the Angels my a-- on a platter, I’d have to offer it up. To refuse would get me booted from the Vagos, in which case Operation 22 Green would become an early-term abortion. Course I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of being dead, either.
“What do you think’ll happen?” I asked Todd.
“Who the f--- knows?” was all he could offer. But as Todd left the apartment, I could tell that even he was worried.
Sometime before noon, Roy called to say he was coming by to pick me up. Tramp wanted to see us at his place in the High Desert, and Roy was nervous.
“We’re in trouble, George,” he said ominously before hanging up.
It was a long, quiet ride in Big Roy’s truck as we headed for Hesperia — the longest ride of my life. When we pulled into Tramp’s property about 90 minutes later, it looked like we’d stumbled on a wake.
Beyond the chain-link gate, 10 to 15 Harleys were parked in front of a gray stucco ranch. Grim-faced men in gang colors milled about, every one of them a Vagos officer.
This was some serious s---.

Roy left me standing outside the truck and headed over to speak to one of the Vagos. I lit a cigarette, tucked the lighter away, then looked up to find those outlaws gawking at me like . . . well, like I was the wake’s guest of honor. Soon Big Roy started back again, trailed by Psycho, the P of the Victorville chapter. Those desert boys were insane. I think the heat boiled their brains.
“All right, listen up,” Roy said. “Tramp, Ta Ta and Rhino are inside with the Angels.”
F---! The Angels are here?! I felt my chest grip.
“Tramp wants you to wait in the garage until you’re called,” Roy continued. “No one knows anything more than that, George.”

Author George Rowe (top), who infiltrated Vagos motorcycle gang for feds, sports “Green Nation” tattoo. Above, Rowe, whose face is blurred because he is under witness protection, with the Vagos.

Psycho shook his head. “I’d hate to be in your shoes, brother,” he said. “Just don’t let them see you shaking when you walk in.”
“I ain’t shaking,” I replied as calmly as I could.
“Oh, no? Check out your cigarette.”
Psycho was right. That Marlboro was shaking between my fingers like a dog s------’ tacks.
Right away in the garage I was looking for a way out, but the only exit was through a single door leading into the house. Beyond it, the Vagos national leadership and members of the San Bernardino Hells Angels had gathered to decide my fate — and the longer I sweated in that garage, the more convinced I was they’d gathered for a lynching.
The door to the house opened and Rhino appeared.
F--- me. This was the same brutal bastard who’d zip-tied poor Shorty, that Vagos hang-around from Berdoo, then blown his brains out.
And god---n was he big.
“Let’s go,” said Rhino, stone-faced.
I stepped into Tramp’s kitchen — sauna hot and reeking of musty sweat and body odor. Jammed inside that cramped space and the adjoining dining room were seven grim-faced outlaws flying their colors, four of them wearing the red and white. A trio of Hells Angels was seated at the dining room table, each with a revolver resting in front of him.
Not good.
The fourth Angel was leaning his shoulder against the kitchen wall with a cocky grin on his face. It was the same a------ I’d decked at The Crossroads Bar and Grill.
“Take a seat, prospect.”
Terry the Tramp was speaking. He motioned to the empty seat between him and Ta Ta. The moment I sat down, Rhino took a standing position directly behind me, blocking my exit.
Definitely not good.

Big Todd warned me about the Angels.

“You know why you’re here?” Tramp asked me right off.
I was about to open my mouth when one of the Hells Angels leaned over the table.
“F--- this a-----e. He ain’t even patched.”
“Don’t matter,” Ta Ta shot back. “He rides with us.”
“He’s a f-----’ prospect,” spat the Angel. “Give him to us and we’ll settle this right now.”
I felt my heart jump. The Angels were going to drag me into the Mojave and do me right there. But I wouldn’t go easy. Hell, no. Not without a fight. Now my brain went into overdrive. I needed an escape plan. I’d have to take Rhino down first. No easy trick. Maybe a quick upward thrust into that thick neck might pop the carotid. And if the man-mountain falls . . .
“You ain’t takin’ our brother nowhere,” came Rhino’s voice like a bullhorn above my head.
Man, I could’ve kissed that mullet-headed sonofab----.
The kitchen grew pin-drop quiet. Strike a match in that tension and the whole damn room might’ve gone off like Mount St. Helens.
“Everybody just calm the f--- down.”
This was the biggest and hairiest of the Hells Angels who spoke.
“All right, prospect,” he said to me, “why’d you hit him?”
I nodded toward the smirking Angel leaning against the wall.
“That dude said, ‘Why don’t you get some real colors.’ I took that as disrespect, so I popped him.”
All eyes now swung toward my accuser.

Rhino, sergeant at arms of the Vagos.

“That how it happened?” the big Angel asked.
“F--- no. Like I told you. That p---- swung for no good reason.”
“You lyin’ sack of s---!” I exploded.
“F--- you, prospect!” he barked back.
“We ain’t gettin’ nowhere like this,” interrupted Tramp.
“Let’s just stick ’em both in the backyard and let ’em fight it out.” Rhino clapped a meaty paw on my shoulder.
“What about it, prospect? You good with that?”
“Yeah, I’m good with that,” I said without hesitation.
“What about you?” Tramp asked my opponent.
The smirk was already wavering on that lying bastard’s face. He squirmed for a moment, then shifted a nervous glance toward his brothers at the table.
“Check it out,” said Rhino with contempt. “He’s a g------ pussy.”
“I’ll fight him,” volunteered the Angel who wanted me buried in the desert.
“F--- you will,” bellowed Rhino. “If that’s the way it’s gonna be, let’s just go four on four and settle it that way.”
The Hells Angels weren’t so hot on that idea, especially with Rhino fighting for the other team, so the two clubs bickered for the next few minutes — just like the good old days — until my gutless opponent finally caved under pressure and copped to the lie.
Now his three amigos were p-----. They’d put their a---- on the line and been embarrassed.
As the Angels mounted their choppers and rumbled off toward San Bernardino, Rhino, Ta Ta and Tramp were grinning clear back to the molars. Tramp even wrapped me in a bear hug and asked if I wanted a drink.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/vagos-gang-infiltrator-fist-respect-article-1.1253922#ixzz2v6QYkOui

Los Santos Vagos (HD Universe)

For the gang in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, see Los Santos Vagos (3D Universe)

GANG Los Santos Vagos
Games:	Grand Theft Auto V
Locations:	Rancho Central Cypress Flats
Leader:	Edgar Carlos (GTA Online)
Type:	Mexican Street Gang
Enemies:	Families Ballas The Lost MC (GTA V only)
Affiliations:	The Lost MC (GTA Online only)
Colors:	Yellow
Vehicles:	Baller BMX Buccaneer Manana Peyote Rancher XL Tornado Vigero
Weapons:	Knife Pistol Micro SMG
Businesses:	Drug Trafficking Weapons Trafficking
Fronts:	Rancho Projects
Members:	Edgar Carlos Esteban Jimenez (deceased) Gustavo Mota (formerly) Alphonse (deceased) Jose (deceased) Luis Francesco (possibly)

The Los Santos Vagos, also known as LSV or the Vagos, are a large Mexican street gang appearing in Grand Theft Auto V.  They are said to be the largest hispanic street gang in Los Santos and are rumored to have connections with some Mafia groups, according to The Underbelly Of Paradise TV program. The Vagos are also known to be heavily involved in drug trafficking.

Contents

[show]

Territory

The Vagos control almost the entire neighborhood of Rancho. However, Varrios Los Aztecas are sometimes seen in northern Rancho. Jamestown St. and the housing projects in the southern part of Rancho are particular hotspots for Vago activity, as well as various backalleys like Cypress Flats. In the storyline mission, Repossession, Vagos are found in Vespucci Beach. However, after the mission is completed, Vagos will be replaced by Marabunta Grande.
Los Santos Vagos members are seen driving cars and hanging out in groups on the sidewalk, smoking cigarettes and drinking Pißwasser. They are easily identified by their mostly yellow attire. Vago clothing style is more modern than the traditional 90's cholo-style, which the Varrios Los Aztecas and the Marabunta Grande still use.

Events of GTA Online

Prior to the events of GTA V, the Vagos are heavily involved in drug trafficking with several gangs around the state. They are mostly the main enemies as seen in the missions given by Gerald, they negotiate with The Lost MC and other unnamed professional drug-dealing crews. They show a rivarly to The Families during the mission No Hay Bronca where they kidnap Stanley. During this mission, the Vagos suffer their most grievous massacre, where several members died, their cars are destroyed, and their unnamed leader is killed, everything on orders by Gerald.
Besides the drug trafficking, they appear during the missions No Smoking and Gassed Up, where they possess trailers full of gasoline, and during the mission El Burro Heists, where Simeon Yetarian gave credit to one Vagos member but he refused to pay back.

Events of GTA V

The Vagos have a short appearance in GTA V. They appear during the mission Repossession, where the member Esteban Jimenez hasn't made a payment for the bike that Simeon gave credit. Lamar and Franklin go to the location where the member usually parks the bike, but both realize that the bike isn't parked in the garage. Around five Vagos members show up irritating Franklin and Lamar and asking what they are looking for. Lamar points a gun at one member and kills him. A shootout between the both and a huge wave of Vagos. After all the members are dead, Lamar prefers to keep the bike for him and Franklin instead of giving back to Simeon, as Lamar felt upset when Franklin has been awarded Employee of the Month, and not him.

Members

• Edgar Carlos
• Esteban Jimenez †
• Alphonse †
• Jose †
• Gustavo Mota - former member.
• Luis Francesco (possibly)

Mission appearances

GTA V

• Repossession

GTA Online

• Flood in the LS River
• Pier Pressure
• No Hay Bronca
• Gassed Up
• El Burro Heists
• No Smoking
• Chumash and Grab
• Dish the Dirt

Gallery

Inside the world’s deadliest biker gangs

Every second for five years he risked discovery and certain death – being beaten until he was nearly dead, a bullet to his head and his body dumped in the desert.
Charles Falco lived undercover inside America’s deadliest biker gangs among murderers, sociopaths and “meth heads.”
He risked his life infiltrating three outlaw biker gangs, bringing violent criminals to justice.
“Sometimes I was wearing a wire and I didn’t have any back up,” he told News.com.au.
“There were times when I was searched and I didn’t have a wire on me.
“By wearing a wire and getting these guys to admit the crimes they committed [we got] criminal convictions.
“I didn’t have any experience with biker gangs. I could have been uncovered at any time.”

Modal Trigger

Andrew Lozano, a member of the Vagos motorcycle gang, talks to the police after being arrested.

But going deep undercover as a means of escaping a prison sentence for drug dealing and addiction, Falco in turn became addicted to life inside the gangs.
Falco has written a book about his experiences, “Vagos, Mongols, and Outlaws: My Infiltration of America’s Deadliest Biker Gangs”.
Three years after his ordeal as an informant for the US Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Falco says outlaw clubs which are fronts for organised crime gangs are in global expansion.
Falco described the brutal Outlaws as ”a war machine”, the Vagos as “mafia on wheels” and the Mongols as ”way, way more ruthless … because they aren’t afraid to go to prison – forever – so they walk right up, around children, and blow people away”.

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A police officer shows the Vagos motorcycle gang patches confiscated in a raid at a command post in San Bernardino, California.

It was to the Vagos in San Bernardino, California, that Falco went first.
In the 1990s he became addicted to the methamphetamine he was trafficking for Bulgarian mob dealers and was arrested for conspiracy to manufacture and distribute a commercial quantity of the drug.
He was given an ultimatum: serve a 22-year minimum jail sentence, or become an undercover agent.
After two years as a street informant for the Drug Enforcement Agency, he “wanted to step up and do something even bigger.”
He hung around bars and was eventually accepted as a trainee, or prospect in the San Bernardino chapter of the Vagos, also known as the Green Nation or the Green Machine.
Within months, Falco was living a double life as a fully fledged Vagos biker and an undercover ATF informant.
The Vagos had fights every week and Falco became know as “Quickdraw” for his rapid fisticuffs.

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Police officers arrest Andrew Lozano, a member of the Vagos motorcycle gang.

“I was in the Vagos two-and-a-half years, I got into a lot of bar fights,” he said.
“There was violence, there were serious crimes, every type of organised crime, murder, embezzlement, drug dealing.
“I had to hold back, be observant, because if I committed a crime I would be [locked up] too.
“Two of the members did a home invasion and a murder.
“They bought a lot of drugs and guns.”
Falco’s secret wire taps and testimony led to 25 Vagos members going to prison for firearms, drug, assault and murder convictions.
He ended up in hiding in the witness protection program.
“But I started to miss doing something I saw as important,” he said.
With two other undercover agents, Falco infiltrated a Mongols chapter in Virginia on the east coast.
Inside the Mongols from 2004 to 2005, he found similarities with the Vagos, “but they were much, much more violent.”

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Dozens of burly, tattoo-covered Mongol motorcycle gang members were arrested by federal agents in six states.

“The difference between the Mongols and all other biker gangs is they brought in outside Hispanic street gang members,” he said.
“They were 18, 19, 20 years old and they were willing to go to prison, they expected to.
“So they would go where the Hells Angels were. There might be cameras, but they’d walk right up and blow them away.
“They almost stabbed a Hells Angel to death at a Chucky Cheese pizza joint … in front of children.
“They don’t care if they get caught.”
The Mongols were at war with the Mexican mafia.
Falco’s chapter concentrated on dealing in methamphetamine and cocaine, and “planning and hunting down Hells Angels.”
“That’s what they live for,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter where they are, they have to continue the war against the Angels.
“It’s the same with the Outlaws.
“They’d get files on [Hells Angels]. They’d investigate where they lived and worked.”
Falco entered the Outlaws as a prospect in late 2008.
He spent a brutal few months undergoing beatings and watching the Outlaws beat their women.
“The Mongols are very old school and treat their women as second class citizens, their property to serve them,” he said.

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A Mongols’ motorcycle gang member vest.

“But the Outlaws are worse. They give their old ladies, who are their slaves, black eyes and beatings.”
Falco suffered serious injuries to his shoulder and spine coming off his bike while riding with the Outlaws.
As an Outlaw, he was “being hunted the whole time by Hells Angels”.
As a result of his testimony and an ATF investigation of Outlaws in seven states, 27 gang members were locked up.
He now works in the corporate world and keeps his identity concealed, accepting he could one day be shot by a bikie gang member.
His undercover work resulted in more than 60 arrests for serious crimes.
“The RICO laws [crimes under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act] have reduced the amount of violence among these gangs.
“Infiltrations by the ATF has destroyed their power, but it hasn’t destroyed their numbers.”
Falco said the global spread of gangs, which includes the expansion of Australian-based outlaw club the Rebels into the US and Europe, was ongoing.
Outlaw gangs looked for new opportunities in all regions, including increasing numbers in Asia, for criminal activity, principally drug trafficking.

“It doesn’t matter where they are in the world, they will have to continue with the war.”

Vagos Motorcycle Club

The Vagos Motorcycle Club, also known as the Green Nation, is a one percenter motorcycle gang that formed in 1965 in the unincorporated community of San Bernardino, California.^[5][1] The club originally was called "the Psychos". The club's insignia is Loki, the Norse god of mischief, riding a motorcycle. Members typically wear green.^[7]
The Federal Bureau of Investigation as well as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the California Attorney General have named the Vagos as an outlaw motorcycle club, claiming that they are involved in criminal activities such as producing, transporting and distributing methamphetamine and marijuana, as well as assault, extortion, insurance fraud, money laundering, murder, vehicle theft, witness intimidation and weapons violations.^[8] The Vagos have approximately 4,000 members among 47 chapters located in the states of Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Missouri, Several Canadian chapters Peterborough, Ontario,Chapters throughout Europe and ten chapters located in Mexico (Baja California, Jalisco and Mexico City).^[3][9] Two hundred members are in Inland Empire (California), where the club was started in the late 1960s.^[3][10]
In 2013, the Vagos expanded to Sweden and Australia.

In 2002, members of the Vagos turned in the estranged wife of a Pomona, California police detective after she attempted to hire a hit man from the Vagos to kill her husband.^[11]

History

During World War II, many military service men rode motorcycles and grew attached to them, and could not leave them after the war. The motorcycle enthusiasts formed clubs around the time hot rods were in style. In 1948, the Hells Angels formed a motorcycle club; their first chapter was in Fontana, California. They shared the streets with another motorcycle club named the Psychos. In 1965, a feud occurred among a few Hispanic members of the Psychos; they left the group and created their own club, which is now known as Vagos MC. Their colors pay homage to their founders' Mexican heritage. The club expanded to the Riverside, California and the California high desert areas, and later to Mexico, and also Europe.^[12]

A member from the Berdoo chapter (slang for San Bernardino) created a patch while he was in prison. It was Loki, the Norse god of mischief. Vagos is Spanish for "traveling Gypsy", or a streetwise person always up to something. Their denim jackets sport their top rockers with their club name integrated into the middle patch,^[13] and bottom rockers with their chapter's region or state, as with "SO. CAL",^[13] "California", or "Arizona".^[14] The middle patch "depicts a muscle-bound caricature of the Norse god of mischief, Loki, set against a green field".^[14] Loki is colored red on top of a bike with his hands holding up their club name.^[15] One patch the club wears is the number 22 which stands for the 22nd letter of the alphabet, V, standing for Vagos.^{[clarification needed]} They also wear two different patches which are a Loki head (do not confuse Loki Head with Loki on the back, two entirely different patches) and a MF patch they are like badges they wear on the front along with a 22 Patch.The MF patch means Motherfucker it is said they receive it by doing something in defense for the Club, as does the Loki head^[12]

Membership

Vagos Membership primarily consists of Caucasian and Hispanic males.^[12][16]

Official Chapters

The Vagos have Chapters all throughout Southern California. They have Chapters in the High Desert (California),^[3]Inland Empire (California) which includes both Riverside County, California and San Bernardino County, California where they Started, Los Angeles and San Diego.^[17] They also have chapters in the states of Hawaii, Oregon, Nevada, and Utah as well as the country of Mexico,^[18] the continent of Europe.^[2] and Australia.

Vagos MC criminal allegations and incidents

Members of the Vagos Motorcycle Club have been convicted of involvements in criminal acts, some of them very serious, and regularly face allegations of more.

Hemet Traps

On March 17, 2010, amid allegations that Vagos members had fabricated home-made booby traps to maim and kill police detectives in Hemet, California,^[19] police arrested at least 30 Vagos members in a multi-state raid Utah, Nevada, Arizona, and California, involving 400 police officers from 60 law enforcement agencies. The police raided 73 locations in Southern California, seizing weapons and drugs, and discovered a meth lab.^[3][20] The raids were the result of several incidents involving booby traps where the club was implicated as responsible:

• On December 31, 2009, the unmarked headquarters of the Hemet Gang Task Force was filled with natural gas, which had been routed into the building through a hole drilled in the roof. Two task force members had detected the gas and backed away without triggering the explosion. The day before that attack, a Vagos funeral was held at a church next to the office.
• On February 23, 2010, a task force member opened a security gate outside the building, causing a homemade zip gun attached to the gate to fire, nearly hitting his head.
• On March 5, a task force member who had parked an unmarked police car in front of a convenience store in Hemet found a homemade pipe bomb hidden underneath the vehicle.

California and federal authorities announced a $200,000 reward for information on these cases.^[21] California Attorney General Jerry Brown called the attempts "urban terrorism."^[22] Riverside County District Attorney Rod Pacheco said that Vagos members posed an "extreme threat" to law enforcement officers and were notorious for trying to "infiltrate" public safety agencies, by obtaining sworn or non-sworn positions and working undercover to obstruct and dismantle police investigations.^[3][23]
In March 2011, the club sued Riverside County law enforcement for defamation and damages caused by implicating the group to the attacks on the Hemet police officers.^[24] On August 1, Riverside County settled the lawsuit, and cleared the club of any involvement with the attacks on the officers. Meanwhile, they had arrested two men that had no ties to the club. The club's attorney, Joseph Yanny, stated he was pleased with the result: "This was never about money. What was important was that the club clear its name and take this shadow off them."^[25][26]

Nugget Casino Shooting

On September 23, 2011, Vagos members were involved in a shooting at John Ascuaga's Nugget in Sparks, Nevada, where Jeffrey Pettigrew, the president of the San Jose, California chapter of Hells Angels was killed, and Vagos members were wounded. The next day, a Vagos member was wounded at a rally from a drive-by shooting. On September 29, police later arrested Ernesto Manuel Gonzales, a Vagos member, at University of California San Francisco, for killing Pettigrew.^[27][28] On December 7, police announced they arrested Gary Rudnick, the vice-president of the Los Angeles chapter of Vagos, since he had instigated the fight that led to the shooting.^[29] Rudnick later pleaded guilty to second degree murder in a bargaining agreement.^[30] The trial for the two Vagos members, as well as a Hells Angels member who fired at a crowd, was held on October 29, 2012.^[31]

Other incidents

In 1974, four Vagos members were convicted and sentenced to death for murdering University of New Mexico student William Velten. The four, Richard Greer, Ronald Keine, Clarence Smith and Thomas Gladish, spent 17 months on death row, but during the appeals process, Kerry Rodney Lee confessed to the murder.^[32]
In October 1998, police arrested more than a dozen Vagos members for kidnapping, drug and weapons crimes, following a two-year undercover investigation. In September 2004, state police arrested 26 members and seized more than $125,000 in cash, drugs and guns. On March 9, 2006, law enforcement conducted "Operation 22 Green", which involved 700 personnel from Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and local police and sheriff's departments. The operation resulted in the arrest of 25 Vagos members and associates for violating firearms and drugs policies. It was "one of the largest coordinated law enforcement probes ever conducted in Southern California". The investigators seized 95 illegal firearms, illegal drugs, $6,000 cash, and two stolen motorcycles.^[33] An ATF agent called the group a “ruthless criminal bike gang” that deals in “guns, drugs, and death.”^[20]
In December 2007, police arrested six Vagos members for "charges of first-degree burglary, second-degree robbery, coercion and second-degree kidnapping" that occurred in August 2007. The victim had announced he was leaving the club, but suffered a beating at the Custom Motorcycle auto shop in Grants Pass, Oregon, and was then taken to his home where he was robbed.^[34] In February 2010, the ex-president of the chapter involved was acquitted of all charges relating to robbery assault and kidnapping.^{[citation needed]}
Three Vagos members were arrested on June 9 and 10, 2009, and charged with sexually assaulting a woman in San Jose, California.^[35] Police investigators told the San Jose Mercury News that the victim met the three men in a nightclub on May 4, 2009, and that they had offered to drive her home, but instead they took her to the Vagos clubhouse on Kings Row where she was beaten and sexually assaulted.^[36][37]
On August 13, 2011 law enforcement authorities reported that the Vagos Motorcycle Club and the Galloping Goose Motorcycle Club were involved in a shootout which shut down traffic on I-44 near Lebanon, Missouri. The local 911 Center received about 20 calls, which reported that approximately 20 men were fighting, and that shots had been fired.^[38]

References

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