“This indictment sends a message that we will continue to work diligently together to address any person or organization that would like to bring harm to our communities,” Parker said.
Racketeering and assault with a dangerous weapon carry a sentence of up to 20 years and violent crimes in aid of racketeering and attempted assault carry a sentence of up to three years.
Juan Anthony Robles, Joey Allan Marshall, Jared Tyler Peters, Brandon Whylee Fisher, John Allan Smith, Norman Dale Beach and Michael Seth Henry were charged with racketeering, according to federal court records.
Those facing assault with a dangerous weapon are Matthew John Hawkins, Fisher and Smith.
Marshall, Peters, Fisher, Justin James Baker, Cody Dale Hughes, Henry, Beach, Daniel Brian Hutten, Michael Lee Reese and Joseph Michael Rader are facing violent crimes in aid of racketeering.
Robles, Marshall, Fisher, Henry and Brent Allen Egleston were charged with attempted assault with a dangerous weapon.
Members of the Thug Riders Motorcycle Club are accused of operating a criminal enterprise that includes murder, arson, extortion and identity fraud, according to Parker. Incidents reportedly included blowing up a former member’s vehicle in Huber Heights, a homicide in Harrison Twp., assaults at Dayton bars and a shootout at another motorcycle group’s clubhouse in Springfield.
Credit: Jim Noelker
Credit: Jim Noelker
According to the indictment, Fisher and Smith were involved in a fatal shooting near Neva Drive in Dayton on Sept. 26, 2021 which resulted in the death of a man, Joseph Nicholson, 43.
Robles was allegedly also in the area at the time — attending and annual Dayton chapter event with Fisher and Smith and other club members— and fled before police arrived.
The shootout happened after Nicholson and others were denied entry to the annual event and “engaging in a confrontation,” according to the indictment. Nicholson was a passenger in the vehicle his group left in, and Fisher and Smith allegedly tracked down the car and shot it 40 times.
On Thursday, about 300 law enforcement officers from federal, state and local agencies executed multiple search warrants and arrests in multiple parts of the country, U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Special Agent John Nokes said.
Investigators seized hundreds of items of evidence, including approximately 100 guns and 15,000 rounds of ammunition, he added. Digital evidence was also retrieved, which will assist in the prosecution of the 14 men and could result in additional charges being filed against co-conspirators, Nokes said.
ATF agents, Ohio State Highway Patrol and Xenia police were at a house in the 1000 block of Colorado Drive. Huber Heights police confirmed a search warrant was served on state Route 202 near Needmore, but no arrests were reported.
“This case shows that they are working diligently to make the streets of this community and others safe as possible,” Parker said.
People were arrested in four states Thursday, including Ohio, Kentucky, Arizona and Pennsylvania, as part of the investigation, Parker said.
The Thug Riders Motorcycle Club was founded as a motorcycle gang in 2003 and has chapters in the U.S., Canada, Australia, Morocco, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Germany and United Kingdom, according to federal court records.
The club’s Midwest region consists of chapters in Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Dayton’s chapter was reportedly established in 2019.
The Dayton chapter had clubhouses on Lodge Avenue in Harrison Twp. and on Stanley Avenue in Dayton, according to court records.
Robles was reportedly instrumental in the creation of the Dayton chapter and is currently the “boss” of the Midwest chapter, according to investigators. Marshall served as the sergeant at arms for the Midwest chapter.
Peters, Fisher and Smith were respectively the president, sergeant at arms and enforcer of the Dayton chapter.
The 14 men indicted this week do not make up the entirety of the Dayton chapter, Parker said. But the operation serves as a blow to the organization.
“By taking out the leadership, the decision makers, it’s going to send a ripple effect to them,” Parker said.
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