Federal and state authorities in Houston announced on Wednesday that 14 members of an international motorcycle gang, originally from Texas, have been charged in connection with a large-scale racketeering conspiracy.
Prosecutors identified the defendants as current and former members of the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang and the Mascareros Motorcycle Club, a Bandidos support club. A 22-count indictment, unsealed in the Southern District of Texas, accuses the members of participating in a racketeering conspiracy tied to various criminal activities, including murder, attempted murder, arson, robbery, and assault.
Nicholas Ganjei, who was recently appointed U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said the charges stemmed from a turf war with rival motorcycle gangs. At least one person was killed as part of the clash, according to Ganjei.
“The Bandidos sought to establish a monopoly over motorcycle clubs and gangs in the Houston area, with only those approved by them to operate. This superseding indictment alleges that the Bandidos enforced this monopoly through violence,” said Ganjei, adding that the alleged criminal acts spanned from The Woodlands to Katy, Texas.
As of Wednesday, 10 of the defendants had been arrested, according to Ganjei. Most are expected to appear in court on Thursday, according to authorities.
“Make no mistake. Members of this Bandidos chapter are not the glamorized characters you’ve seen on TV shows and in movies,” said Doug Williams, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Houston field office, during Wednesday’s press conference in downtown Houston. “These are vicious, violent men who regularly put innocent people in life-threatening situations to further a senseless turf war.”
The alleged assaults and shootings mentioned in the indictment occurred in public areas, including bars, restaurants, a motorcycle dealership, and public roads, according to Ganjei. “In other words, innocent people, innocent motorists, could have been injured or killed by the actions alleged in this indictment,” the area’s top federal law enforcement official said.
Among those charged are John Sblendorio and Darvi Hinojosa, who were arrested in October for the attempted murder of a rival gang member. At Sblendorio’s detention hearing in November, FBI agent Joshua Lyons testified that Sblendorio was the driver of a Ford F-150 that pulled up alongside a member of the B*EAST (Brothers East) motorcycle club on the night of June 3, 2023. As the vehicle stopped, a fellow Bandido, Stephen Alms, shot the victim seven times, according to Lyons. Alms was not named in Wednesday’s indictment.
In October, Alms pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy and illegally possessing a firearm, court records show. The charges stemmed from an October 2023 search of Alms’ Texas City home, where federal authorities found a tan Taurus G2C handgun, according to a complaint. Authorities also found a yellow, spiralbound notebook with Alms’ name on the front. Inside were handwritten notes that said “joined a gang,” “shot someone,” and “robbed a lot of people.” Alms is scheduled to be sentenced in the coming months, though court documents related to the separate case remained sealed as of Wednesday.
Hinojosa is accused of being in contact with Alms and Sblendorio on the night of the shooting in Pasadena, Texas, which occurred after the rival gang member had left Winter’s Bar.
The 31-page indictment also charges John Pfeffer, identified by Ganjei as the leader of the “Welcome to Hell” Bandidos chapter. Bandidos national leadership allegedly issued an order to “smash on-site,” instructing Bandidos members to assault or kill any B*EAST member they encountered, according to Ganjei.
A culture of violence
The Bandidos’ history dates back to 1966 when Houston dockworker Donald Chambers founded the club. State and federal authorities claim the Bandidos have been involved in numerous robberies, assaults, and other crimes. Lyons testified in November that the Bandidos’ culture encourages violence as a means of gaining status and credibility within the group. Motorcycle gangs such as the Bandidos and Hells Angels are referred to as “One Percenters,” a term stemming from a statement by a former president of the American Motorcyclist Association who said that 99% of motorcyclists are law-abiding, while the remaining 1% are outlaws.
According to the indictment, Bandidos chapters are spread across the U.S., with each chapter typically led by a president, vice president, sergeant at arms, and secretary or treasurer. Lyons previously testified that Hinojosa was the sergeant at arms for the “Welcome to Hell” chapter in Houston, where he enforced club rules and administered discipline.
The organization is estimated to have between 1,500 and 2,000 domestic members in the U.S. and up to 1,500 international members. The club’s emblem depicts a man carrying a pistol and a machete, referred to by members as the “Fat Mexican.”
Among the acts of violence associated with the Bandidos is the December 2023 arson of the County Line Ice House in Montgomery County. Brandon Luntz, whom authorities say went by “Loco” or “Gun Drop,” is accused of igniting the blaze, which, according to other media outlets, destroyed the bar.
The indictment also charges David Vargas, whom authorities say went by the nicknames “Brake Check” and “First Time,” with the murder of Michael Zimbrich in November 2021. The 26-year-old B*EAST member was fatally shot after an SUV pulled up alongside him on an Interstate 10 feeder road. Vargas is accused of the attempted murder of Demarius Moore and Kevin Cicero, two other BEAST members who survived the attack.
Though Vargas was arrested by Houston police and charged with murder shortly after the shooting, the state case against him was dismissed in May due to a missing witness, court records show.
The standard for RICO charges
The racketeering charges fall under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO). They are the first RICO charges brought by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of Texas since 2022 when 10 alleged MS-13 gang members were charged in connection with seven homicides that occurred between 2015 and 2018. A status conference for the case is scheduled for late March, court records show.
Originally designed to dismantle organized crime groups like the Italian-American mafia, the RICO Act allows the government to prosecute individuals as part of a broader criminal enterprise rather than targeting each member individually. It also enables prosecutors to target the leaders of an enterprise, even if they did not directly commit the crimes attributed to their associates.
Federal RICO charges are among the most serious the government can pursue and are exceptionally rare. According to the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, fewer than 500 people were charged under RICO in a four-year period ending in September 2024, representing less than 0.2% of the 352,000 people charged nationwide. In Texas, between 2018 and 2022, only 90 individuals were convicted under the law, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.
Establishing a RICO conspiracy is no simple task. The government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that an enterprise existed, that it impacted interstate commerce, that the defendants were connected to or employed by the enterprise, and that they participated in a pattern of racketeering activity — committing at least two illegal acts within a ten-year period. The Bandidos members face anywhere from 20 years to life in prison if convicted.
Perhaps the most high-profile RICO case in the Southern District of Texas was the 2012 indictment of 36 alleged members of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. The case was part of a larger prosecution effort against the white supremacist criminal gang that ultimately resulted in nearly 100 convictions across five federal jurisdictions. In 2014, the last of the 36 defendants pleaded guilty. Prosecutors had linked the defendants to multiple killings, kidnappings, and drug trafficking activities. A recently released four-part documentary on Max chronicles the extensive law enforcement effort against the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, which originated in federal prisons in the 1980s.
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