 | |
| Abbreviation | DMC |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1961 [1] |
| Founder | Jack Baltas [1] |
| Founded at | San Bernardino, California, United States [1] |
| Type | Outlaw motorcycle club |
Region | United States |
The Diablos Motorcycle Club is an outlaw motorcycle club founded in San Bernardino, California in 1961 that has chapters in cities across the United States.
Originally known as Los Diablos Motorcycle Club, the club was founded in San Bernardino, California in 1961 by John J. "Cadillac Jack" Baltas, a native of Meriden, Connecticut. [1] Baltas, who served as the club's national president and was once a candidate for Meriden city council, and died in Leominster, Massachusetts on April 22, 2012, aged 70. [2] [3] Although the Diablos originated in California, the club established its most significant presence in New England. [1] [2]
The Diablos' insignia consists of a bearded, top hat-wearing devil and features a red-and-black color scheme. [1] [4] This logo, together with geographic and optional emblems, are worn by club members on their "colors". [5] Club mottos include "Diablos Forever, Forever Diablos" ("DFFD"). [1] The Diablos are a "one percenter" club. [2]
The Diablos have multiple chapters in California, Connecticut, Indiana, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Massachusetts. l Club. [1] Membership in the club is through invitation only and is open only to White males. [2] Diablos members are required to own firearms. [1] [2]
On August 6, 1977, a group of Diablos members were attending a festival held at the Renaissance Community Center in Gill, Massachusetts. When two members of the party, a biker and a female associate, went to a package store to replenish the group's liquor supply, they were involved in an altercation with four men who were attending a company picnic which was being held a short distance from the festival. In retaliation for the beating suffered by the two, a group of Diablos traveling in three automobiles hunted down and attacked three members of the picnic, Francis M. Golembeski, Richard Melnick, and Thomas Yestramski. Yestramski was beaten and stabbed, Melnick was stabbed six times, and Golembeski was shot in the elbow. Diablos members John J. "Cadillac Jack" Baltas, John L. Meadows and Oscar Mineau were convicted of assault and battery in 1978. [5]
John E. Irvin, president of the Diablos' San Fernando Valley chapter, and Thomas E. Pastor, a former Connecticut chapter member, were convicted of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime after they were found to be in possession of two loaded weapons and eight packages of methamphetamine when they were stopped and searched by Illinois State Police officers while traveling in a Ford Bronco near Collinsville, Illinois on January 5, 1995. [6]
On September 24, 1998, Diablos club member Raymond "Stoney" Stone and seven other members were charged with various crimes (including Stone's confession in his involvement in the 1992 murder of rival gang member Mike D'Amato of Wallingford, Connecticut's James Gang MC for which he would be sentenced to 20 years' imprisonment). [7]
Keith Gallagher, the vice president of the Diablos' national chapter, was indicted in Massachusetts on charges of cocaine trafficking on January 24, 2006. [8]
Diablos member Jerry Louis Fantauzzi was arrested on December 7, 2005, following a long-term investigation into the Diablos in Waterbury and Meriden, Connecticut. On November 20, 2006, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment on charges of drug dealing. [9]
On April 22, 2012, the national leader and founder of the Diablos, Jack Baltas, died at the age of 70, two days after being released from prison after being incarcerated for trafficking drugs.
Diablos were involved in a mass brawl with members of the Outlaws at a bar in Plainville, Connecticut in May 2019, leaving two outlaws injured. [10]
The Outlaws Motorcycle Club, incorporated as the American Outlaws Association or its acronym, A.O.A., is an international outlaw motorcycle club. Founded in McCook, Illinois in 1935, the Outlaws MC is the oldest outlaw biker club in the world. With 275 chapters located in 23 countries, and a membership of over 3,000, the club is also the third-largest in the world, behind the Hells Angels and the Bandidos.
An outlaw motorcycle club, known colloquially as a bikie gang, biker gang or motorcycle gang, is a motorcycle subculture generally centered on the use of cruiser motorcycles, particularly Harley-Davidsons and choppers, and a set of ideals that purport to celebrate freedom, nonconformity to mainstream culture, and loyalty to the biker group.
The Warlocks Motorcycle Club, also sometimes distinguished as the Phoenix Warlocks or the Florida Warlocks, is an international outlaw motorcycle club that was founded in 1967 in Florida, United States by ex-US naval servicemen serving on the aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La. It is a "One Percenter motorcycle club" with chapters in various parts of the United States, Canada, England, and Germany. Established by Tom "Grub" Freeland, an ex-US Navy veteran in Orlando, Florida, in 1967. The Mother Chapter is still located there. The club's founder, Tom "Grub" Freeland, died in 2019.
The Sons of Silence Motorcycle Club (SOSMC) is an international outlaw motorcycle club. Founded in Niwot, Colorado in the United States in 1966, the club has a membership of over 250, with 35 chapters based in 12 U.S. states and in Germany. The Sons of Silence are the sixth-largest motorcycle club in the world, behind the Hells Angels, the Bandidos, the Outlaws, the Pagans and the Mongols.
The Breed Motorcycle Club was a one-percenter motorcycle club that was formed in Asbury Park, New Jersey in the United States in 1965. The club disbanded in 2006 after numerous prominent members were indicted on racketeering and drug trafficking charges.
The Brother Speed Motorcycle Club is an American outlaw motorcycle club that was formed in Boise, Idaho in 1969, and is active in Idaho, Washington, and Oregon. It once was referred to by the Oregon Department of Justice as one of the nine "motorcycle clubs" active in their state.
The Devils Diciples Motorcycle Club (DDMC) is an outlaw motorcycle club that was founded in Fontana, California in 1967. Such clubs are not sanctioned by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and do not adhere to the AMA's rules. The club originally had six members, there is a misconception that the word "disciples" was intentionally misspelled to distance themselves from any type of religion. However, in the early days of the club, some founding members went to Mexico to have their patches made, and the misspelling was unintentional, but stuck. Their insignia is a motorcycle wheel with two tridents crossing over it. In the United States, the club has chapters in Alabama, Arizona, California, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Nevada, and Ohio.
The Iron Horsemen Motorcycle Club (IHMC) is an American outlaw motorcycle club that was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1967. Their insignia consists of a winged, metallic horse's head while their motto reads "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if it weren't for the Iron Horsemen, the highways would rust".
El Forastero Motorcycle Club (EFMC) is a one-percenter motorcycle club which was established after being turned down for a chapter by the Satan Slaves MC. The El Forasteros are well known for their criminal activities, and are considered by law enforcement to be among the many first-tier, after the "Big Four", outlaw motorcycle clubs.
The Black Pistons Motorcycle Club is an international outlaw motorcycle club and official support club for the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, another group of motorcycle enthusiasts. Established in Neuwied, Germany in 2002, the Black Pistons have expanded throughout Europe, North America and Asia. The Outlaws use the Black Pistons chapters as a recruitment source for prospective Outlaws members.
The Warlocks Motorcycle Club, also distinguished as the Harpy Warlocks or the Philly Warlocks, is an American outlaw motorcycle club that was formed in Philadelphia in 1967. The club is most prominent in the Delaware Valley, including Philadelphia, Delaware County and South Jersey, as well as in the nearby Lehigh Valley.
Numerous police and international intelligence agencies classify the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) as a motorcycle gang and contend that members carry out widespread violent crimes, including drug dealing, trafficking in stolen goods, gunrunning, extortion, and prostitution operations. Members of the organization have continuously asserted that they are only a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who have joined to ride motorcycles together, to organize social events such as group road trips, fundraisers, parties, and motorcycle rallies, and that any crimes are the responsibility of the individuals who carried them out and not the club as a whole. Members of the club have been accused of crimes and/or convicted in many host nations.
The Bacchus Motorcycle Club (BMC) is an Outlaw motorcycle club in Canada. Founded during 1972 in Albert County, New Brunswick. Bacchus MC has since increased its influence, opening fifteen chapters in five Canadian provinces. It is currently the third largest Canadian established 1% motorcycle club.
The Diablos Motorcycle Club is an international outlaw motorcycle club that was founded in Pattaya, Thailand, in 1999. The Diablos are a support club for the Bandidos.
The Bandidos Motorcycle Club is classified as a motorcycle gang by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in numerous countries. While the club has denied being a criminal organization, Bandidos members have been convicted of partaking in criminal enterprises including theft, extortion, prostitution, drug trafficking and murder in various host nations.
The Bandidos Motorcycle Club is classified as a motorcycle gang by law enforcement and intelligence agencies in numerous countries. While the club has denied being a criminal organization, Bandidos members have been convicted of partaking in criminal enterprises including theft, extortion, prostitution, drug trafficking and murder in various host nations.
The Dirty Dozen Motorcycle Club (DDMC) was an outlaw motorcycle club in Arizona. Founded in 1964, the Dirty Dozen became the preeminent motorcycle gang in the state, and ultimately merged with the Hells Angels in 1997.
The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC) is designated an outlaw motorcycle gang by the Department of Justice. There are an estimated 92 Hells Angels chapters in 27 U.S. states, with a membership of over 800. Due to the club's designation as a "known criminal organization" by the State Department and Department of Homeland Security, the United States has a federal policy prohibiting its foreign members from entering the country. The Hells Angels partake in drug trafficking, gunrunning, extortion, money laundering, insurance fraud, kidnapping, robbery, theft, counterfeiting, contraband smuggling, loan sharking, prostitution, trafficking in stolen goods, motorcycle and motorcycle parts theft, assault, murder, bombings, arson, intimidation and contract killing. The club's role in the narcotics trade involves the production, transportation and distribution of marijuana and methamphetamine, in addition to the transportation and distribution of cocaine, hashish, heroin, LSD, MDMA, PCP and diverted pharmaceuticals. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the HAMC may earn up to $1 billion in drug sales annually.
The Bandidos Motorcycle Club has been designated an outlaw motorcycle gang by the U.S. Department of Justice. The club is involved in drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, prostitution, money laundering, explosives violations, motorcycle and motorcycle-parts theft, intimidation, insurance fraud, kidnapping, robbery, theft, stolen property, counterfeiting, contraband smuggling, murder, bombings, extortion, arson and assault. The Bandidos partake in transporting and distributing cocaine and marijuana, and the production, transportation and distribution of methamphetamine. Active primarily in the Northwestern, Southeastern, Southwestern and the West Central regions, there are an estimated 800 to 1,000 Bandidos members and 93 chapters in 16 U.S. states.
The Outlaws Motorcycle Club, also known as the American Outlaws Association, or A.O.A., is classified as a motorcycle gang by various law enforcement agencies internationally. The Outlaws have been implicated in various organized crime activities, including drug trafficking, extortion, money laundering, prostitution rings, weapons trafficking, and violent acts directed at rival motorcycle clubs. Members of the Outlaws have continuously denied that the club is an organized crime syndicate, asserted that the organization is simply a group of motorcycle enthusiasts who live a nonconventional lifestyle, and described allegations by investigators and prosecutors as exaggerated.