In late 2018, federal prosecutors secured a decadeslong goal of convicting the Mongols—a motorcycle club whose members had a long history of murder, assault, and other crimes—of racketeering and conspiracy.
Now, nearly four years later, the collective, which was once the most powerful biker organization on the West coast other than its archrivals, the Hells Angels, is returning to court next week to request a new trial in the wake of a recent allegation that their former president, David Santillan, was working with the government as a confidential informant, according to The New York Times.
The shocking accusation arrives after a secretly recorded video of Santillan talking to his wife about a special agent from the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. In the video, Santillan mentioned that the lead agent in the RICO case, John Ciccone, had protected him over the years.
Santillan’s wife, Annie Santillan, told ABC7 that she recorded their conversation because the couple had become estranged due to his infidelity. She added that David’s mistress had been harassing her.
“I assumed it was going to be her, so we videotaped,” Annie told the station. “Because I needed evidence to show the military that they had someone having an affair with a married man.”
During the call, David, who was drunk and despondent at the time, begged for her forgiveness and said that he planned to get treatment for his drug and alcohol addictions. Then he began speaking about the A.T.F. agent.
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“John told me that I have one year, one year,” David said during the call. “He’s retiring, he’s retiring. After one year he’s done and he can’t protect me, so we have to have an exit strategy.”
Annie told ABC7 that her husband was “spinning out of control” and continued to cheat on her after the phone call. So she sent the recording along with a text message to two members of the Mongols, explaining that her husband “has been working with the government.” She explained, “In other words, he is a rat.”
But in court on Monday, Annie testified that her husband has never been a confidential informant, rather she was just trying to “destroy him” by sending the text message to the Mongols. She added that she didn’t understand what David was talking about in relation to Ciccone.
READ REST OF ARTICLE
- LIL DAVE WAS COMPROMISED AFRAID AND TURNED ON HIS CLUB
- Two Solano County members of the Hell Angels Motorcycle Club have been arraigned in a federal courtroom in Sacramento
- LIL DAVE OUT BAD MONGOLS WIFE NOW TESTIFIES HE WASN’T A RAT
- WERE THE BANDIDOS MC WERE DIRECTLY INVOLVED IN THIS HEINOUS ACT
- Three people with alleged connections to the Pagan’s Motorcycle Gang have been arrested
