Major Methamphetamine Supply Sources Plead Guilty in Case Targeting Members of Known Outlaw Motorcycle Gang

Topics:  Aces and Eights

U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Texas
November 5, 2009

Defendants Face Lengthy Sentences; One Must Forfeit Harley Davidson Motorcycle

LUBBOCK, TX—Two defendants named in a 110-count federal indictment returned in July 2009 that charged 28 defendants, including sheriff deputies and members of a motorcycle gang that is a support club of the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (OMG), pleaded guilty today, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas.

David Lee Russell, 51, of Hughson, California, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. Russell faces a maximum statutory sentence of not less than 10 years or more than life in prison and a $4 million fine; he will also be required to forfeit his 1999 Harley Davidson motorcycle to the government. Dennis Carl Hegwood, 54, of Modesto, California, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Hegwood faces a maximum statutory sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine. U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings ordered a pre-sentence investigation report with sentencing to be scheduled after the completion of that report.

The two guilty pleas today are in addition to four defendants who have already pleaded guilty in the case. Last month, Earnest Gale Flowers, 56; Billy Charles Fuller, 52; Jason Gutierrez, 26; and Kristi Ann Quillen, 38; all of Lubbock, pleaded guilty to their roles and are awaiting sentencing. According to a motion filed by the government on October 22, 2009, all defendants have indicated their desire to plead guilty.

In October 2007, law enforcement initiated an investigation into the narcotics trafficking activities of Bobby Duwayne Froman, a/k/a “Quick,” the founder of the Aces and Eights OMG. Russell and Hegwood were two of Froman’s methamphetamine supply sources in the Modesto, California area. Russell purchased the 1999 Harley Davidson that he will be required to forfeit from Froman with proceeds from the sale of methamphetamine.

As outlined in documents filed today, from January 2003 to early July 2009, defendants Bobby Duwayne Froman, Gordon Clark Bohannon, Charity Bell Barron, Jeffrey Paul Bayer, Clifford Leroy Clark, Earnest Gale Flowers, Sharon T. Froman, Billy Charles Fuller, Bradley Gene Gore, Danny Keith Gregory, Jason Gutierrez, Dennis Carl Hegwood, Gary Duane Hegwood, Kimberly Hull, Andrew Clay Hurst, Kenneth Ray Johnson, Teddy Ralph Johnson, Stephanie Renee McKee, Keith Allen Miller, Jamie Paul Nickell, Kristi Ann Quillen, Jose Jesus Quintanilla, Hector Ramos, Perry Dean Roberson, David Lee Russell, Steven Allen Savell, Toni Jo Petska-Wood, and Marvin Lee Whittington, conspired with each other and others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine. Froman recruited other conspirators, often members of the Aces and Eights OMG, to facilitate his methamphetamine trafficking.

Froman’s co-conspirators transported large amounts of U.S. currency from Lubbock and Levelland, Texas, to Modesto to purchase large quantities of methamphetamine from Russell and Hegwood. Froman and others then distributed it in Levelland, Lubbock and throughout the South Plains area of West Texas.

Some of the conspirators maintained the following residences to store, weigh, package, and distribute the methamphetamine: (1) Froman’s residence on Cactus Drive in Levelland; (2) Bayer’s residence on North Highway US 385 in Levelland; (3) Gore’s residence on Elgin Avenue in Levelland; (4) Whittington and Petska-Wood’s residence on 53rd Street in Lubbock; and (5) Ramos’s residence on 91st Street in Lubbock County.

The investigation is being conducted by the FBI, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Marshal Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Hockley County District Attorney’s Office, the Levelland Police Department, the Lubbock Police Department, and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys C. Richard Baker, Jeffrey R. Haag, and Denise Williams, of the Lubbock, Texas U.S. Attorney’s Office, are prosecuting the case.