Source: United States Department of Justice News
NASHVILLE –A federal jury convicted six Clarksville, Tennessee, men on Friday for racketeering conspiracy and other charges involving murder, kidnapping, drug trafficking, and other crimes, all stemming from their involvement with the Clarksville chapter of the Mongols Motorcycle Club (Clarksville Mongols).
A seventh man, from Kentucky, who was not a member of the Mongols, was also convicted by the same jury of participating in a drug trafficking conspiracy with the Clarksville Mongols.
After a three-and-a-half-month trial, the jury convicted James Wesley Frazier, 34, Aelix Santiago, 34, Michael Forrester, 34, Jamie Hern, 43, William Boylston, 32, and Jason Meyerholz, 48, all of Clarksville, Tennessee, for charges including racketeering conspiracy. Also convicted was Derek Leighton Stanley, 48, of Owensboro, Kentucky, for engaging in a drug trafficking conspiracy.
“Friday’s verdict officially ends an era of drug-trafficking, violence, and intimidation inflicted on the people of Clarksville by the Clarksville Mongols,” said U.S. Attorney Wildasin. “I commend the investigation and prosecution teams for the enormous amount of time and resources they dedicated during the past seven years to bring every member and associate of this ruthless gang to justice. We look forward to the sentencing phase and seeking appropriate sentences, including life, for these defendants.”
According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the Clarksville Mongols were a violent motorcycle gang operating in and around the City of Clarksville. The Clarksville Mongols were a self-described “outlaw” motorcycle club with ties to Mongols chapters nationwide and internationally. Members and associates of the Clarksville Mongols engaged in a host of violent criminal activities, including murder, attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, witness tampering, money laundering, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, and large-scale drug trafficking.
In addition, the Clarksville Mongols engaged in widespread violence and terrorized the Clarksville area while distributing more than 50 pounds of nearly 100% pure methamphetamine, worth approximately $1 million, through their drug trafficking enterprise, in an effort to establish themselves as the area’s dominant motorcycle club. Violent acts included the kidnapping and murder of Stephanie Bradley, as well as the separate kidnapping and murder of Stephen Cole.
Evidence showed that, prior to Bradley’s kidnapping and murder in May 2015, the Clarksville Mongols believed that she had information relating to stolen drugs, money, and guns, and had been speaking negatively to others about the Clarksville Mongols. Members and associates of the Clarksville Mongols then interrogated Bradley, warning her not to speak about the Mongols again or tell anyone about the interrogation. When the Clarksville Mongols learned that Bradley had failed to accede to their demands, she was kidnapped and driven to a cemetery in Bumpus Mills, Tennessee. Despite begging for her life, Bradley was walked into the woods behind the cemetery and shot numerous times and killed.
Then, in November 2017, Stephen Cole was kidnapped, brutally beaten, and murdered by the Clarksville Mongols. Cole, who had been a member of the Clarksville Mongols, was believed to have stolen motorcycles belonging to defendant, and fellow gang member, William Boylston. Boylston felt disrespected by Cole and was concerned about maintaining his standing and reputation among the Clarksville Mongols. Cole was kidnapped from a house in Clarksville, Tennessee, and transported by defendants Boylston and Meyerholz to a shed in Trenton, Kentucky, where they interrogated, tortured, and beat him for hours, and then murdered Cole by driving a 10-inch tent stake through his head.
Other evidence elicited at trial included allegations regarding:
Setting fire to and destroying the Sin City Motorcycle Clubhouse in Clarksville on May 17, 2015;
Conducting a home invasion in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on July 4, 2015, and pistol whipping the resident and stealing his belongings while holding the victim at knifepoint;
Assaulting two individuals at a residence in Clarksville and holding them at gunpoint while they interrogated one of the victims and searched the residence for drug proceeds on January 17, 2016; and
From Oct. 26, 2016, through on or about Nov. 9, 2016, kidnapping a woman from a hotel in Nashville, and physically assaulting her and threatening her while interrogating her about the death of a co-conspirator member of the Mongols Harbor Chapter in California.
“The Clarksville Mongols terrorized communities in Tennessee and Kentucky for far too long,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr. of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Today’s convictions underscore the Justice Department’s dedication to disrupting and dismantling violent criminal enterprises.”
“The criminal activities and horrendous acts of violence are dangerous and damaging to everyone involved,” said Special Agent in Charge Mickey French of the ATF’s Nashville Field Division. “We will use all of ATF’s resources to disrupt the illegal possession of firearms, distribution of narcotics, and other violent crimes. We will continue to work tirelessly with our local, state, and federal partners to combat violent crime and maintain public safety within our communities.”
The convictions are as follows:
|
Name |
Age |
Charges |
Maximum Penalty |
|
James Wesley Frazier |
34 |
racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; kidnapping; kidnapping in aid of racketeering; the murder of Stephanie Bradley in aid of racketeering; firearm offenses; and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. |
Mandatory life in prison |
|
Aelix Santiago |
34 |
racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; firearm offenses; and kidnapping. |
Up to life in prison |
|
Michael Forrester |
34 |
racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce and robbery affecting interstate commerce; kidnapping; and firearms offenses. |
Up to life in prison |
|
Jamie Hern |
43 |
racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; firearm offenses; conspiracy to tamper with a witness and witness tampering; and kidnapping. |
Up to life in prison |
|
William Boylston |
32 |
racketeering conspiracy; assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; kidnapping resulting in the death of Stephen Cole; kidnapping of Stephen Cole in aid of racketeering; and the murder of Stephen Cole in aid of racketeering. |
Mandatory life in prison |
|
Jason Meyerholz |
48 |
racketeering conspiracy; assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; kidnapping resulting in death of Stephen Cole; kidnapping of Stephen Cole in aid of racketeering; and the murder of Stephen Cole in aid of racketeering |
Mandatory life in prison |
|
Derek Leighton Stanley |
48 |
conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; distribution of, or possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. |
Up to life in prison |
As a result of this seven-year investigation, 21 Clarksville Mongols members and associates were charged with federal offenses. In addition to the seven defendants convicted Friday, 13 previously pleaded guilty and two, including Stephen Cole, are deceased.
Chief U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr., will separately determine each defendant’s sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), the Clarksville Police Department, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the Kentucky State Police investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn Risinger and Chris Suedekum for the Middle District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Matthew P. Mattis of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime & Gang Section are prosecuting the case.
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