SAN FRANCISCO – Three distinguished members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club have been sentenced to life in prison in a case involving murder, assault, secret cremations and secret government informants.
Santa Rosa residents Jonathan “Jon Jon” Nelson, 46, and Russell “Rusty” Ott, 70, in addition to Tulare resident Brian Wendt, 45, all received life sentences for his or her involvement within the murder of Joel Silva, a Hells Angels sergeant-at-arms who disappeared 10 years ago. Prosecutors allege Silva was lured to Fresno, where Wendt shot him behind the top and illegally cremated him at a close-by funeral home.
The three men were convicted in 2022 in a trial based on the testimony of two former Hells Angels who left the gang after suffering beatings which have develop into typical of the biker gang. Other key government witnesses included former colleagues and members of lower-level biker clubs, in addition to the Fresno funeral director who claimed he was intimidated into burning several bodies of murder victims on the behest of a Fresno Hells Angel.
Nelson, the previous president of the Sonoma club, was convicted of helping to murder Silva, whose increasingly erratic behavior and drug use had raised concerns on the club. The turning point got here when Silva threatened a friend of the Salem/Boston club's president, Christopher “Rain Man” Ranieri, who was convicted in a separate trial last yr for his role within the murder conspiracy.
Wendt – a Fresno Hells Angel who has a “Filthy Few” tattoo, which prosecutors say is an emblem of murder – shot Silva within the Fresno clubhouse under the pretense of showing him marijuana, in keeping with prosecution witnesses. He later reportedly described it as “one of my better kills.” Before Wendt was sentenced, a friend of his named James Arce wrote a letter to the court describing him as a warm and generous man stuffed with compassion for others.
“Brian's caring nature has had a positive ripple effect in my life and I am eternally grateful for his presence. In both good times and bad, Brian is a pillar of reliability and warmth,” Arce's letter reads. “His friendship is a treasure and I feel fortunate to have him by my side.”
Ott was convicted of luring Silva to his death, as he was certainly one of the few men Silva trusted on the time. His defense, briefly, was that he was too drunk to have been involved in a murder conspiracy.
Last yr, Merl Hefferman, a member of the Fresno group, was sentenced to 4 years in prison for cremating Silva's body. Prosecutors alleged that he was accountable for disposing of the bodies of murder victims for the Hells Angels and that he had blackmailed the funeral director. They held him accountable for three other secret cremations of missing individuals Robbie Huff, Arthur Carasis and Juan Guevara, all of whom were members of the club. Hefferman denied participating in greater than certainly one of them.
Ranieri and Raymond “Ray Ray” Foakes are still awaiting sentencing. Foakes was convicted of organized crime and assault for beating a former member who later testified for the prosecution but was not involved within the conspiracy to kill Silva.
The U.S. Attorney's Office announced the verdicts in a press release on Friday.
“The record in this case describes a brutal brotherhood whose actions should shock the consciences of all of us,” U.S. Attorney Ismail Ramsey said in a written statement. “While the life sentences cannot undo the harm done to the defendants' victims, our communities should take some comfort in knowing that these three defendants will never again have the opportunity to continue their destructive activities on our streets.”
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