Bad Boys

Wegers and Winterhalder both believed that "long term, methamphetamines would eventually cause the total destruction of the club unless something was done to prevent its use by Bandidos members," Winterhalder says. But Wegers ultimately couldn't—or wouldn't—control club drug use and sales. Wegers' attorney says the Bandidos leader "has had a reputation for several years that he does not associate with people who deal in drugs and carry weapons. He was adamant about getting drugs out of the club." But according to search warrants from 2005, four handguns and 33 knives were found at one of two Bellingham homes owned by Wegers, although three other men were visiting or lived there at the time.

Eventually, Wegers and Winterhalder had a falling out. Winterhalder was replaced as national chapter officer, which, in his view, cost Wegers a trusted ally. "On the Montana [kidnapping] deal, if it would have been assigned to me, I would have gone there by myself, never taken a bunch of people to pull patches," Winterhalder says today. "That was George's mistake. They pulled guns, put them in a truck, kidnapped them, 15 crimes for something that doesn't really matter. All these big battles, including those over who's controlling the drug turf—that's all about who has the bigger dick. The Rock Machine battle in Canada, that's what that was all about." The Rock Machine joined up with the Bandidos in 2001, an assimilation overseen by Winterhalder. Within three years, the Canadian Bandidos were crippled by crackdowns, and the next year, Winterhalder retired, followed thereafter by Wegers' arrest. Both ride an unbeaten path today—Wegers as the sidelined president, Winterhalder as a semiretired biker. "Originally," says Connecticut Ed, "we were parallel. I guess we've both reached a fork in the road."

mark kaufman

mark kaufman

Details

Born to be Wild
Bandidos, Angels, Nomads, Mongols: a roundup of recent motorcycle mayhem.
By Rick Anderson

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More About

• George Wegers
• Edward Winterhalder
• Bandido George
• Gang Violence
• Crime

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