Two more arrested in federal crackdown on biker gang

By Hector Gutierrez, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 23, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Photo by Bureau Of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms And Explosives

Guns confiscated as part of the federal investigation.

Photo by CBS4 NEWS

The house in Fort Lupton where members or associates of the Mongols were known to congregate.

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Members of the Mongols motorcycle gang may not have been the best neighbors, but according to people who lived near them in Denver and Fort Lupton, they weren't the worst either.

Given that they have been described by law-enforcement agencies as the most violent motorcycle gang in the country, they appeared to be careful not to draw too much attention to themselves.

They had parties and their revved-up motorcycles thundered down neighborhood streets, but their revelry wasn't out of control to the point that police would have been called, according to a neighbor of Benjamine Maestas, a Mongol leader from Denver.

Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Metro Gang Task Force carried out sweeps this week in the metro area, searching for 14 Mongol gang members and their associates, along with evidence, after they were named in federal indictments.

With two additional arrests Wednesday, 13 are now in custody. They face numerous criminal counts on allegations of drug trafficking, illegal firearms possession and witness tampering.

Similar operations took place in six other states, with the biggest occurring in California. Dozens have been arrested.

Agents continued to search for Steven Gonzales, 40, whose last known address was in Denver. Anyone who knows Gonzales' whereabouts should contact the ATF at 1-800-800-3855.

Earlier raid recalled

Maestas was arrested on numerous federal counts, including trafficking cocaine, methamphetamine and Ecstasy, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

A neighbor who befriended Maestas when he and his family moved into the Harvey Park neighborhood recalled federal agents carrying out a raid at the Maestas home about two years ago. But neighbors rarely saw Denver police at the house despite a lot of vehicle and pedestrian traffic.

Maestas, 34, is married with two young sons and owns a towing service.

"He seemed, to me, that he very much separated his time in the club from his home life and maybe even tried intentionally to do that," said the neighbor who asked not to be identified. "But there was a lot of activity at his house. Nobody would be home, and a lot of people I had never seen before would be going into his house, you know.

"I think there was always suspicious activity around there, but no indication to me, or just from watching, that anything would be going on."

Large presence

In Fort Lupton, where federal authorities executed a warrant at a home belonging to Ruben Bravo, the police chief said his officers noticed a large Mongols presence in the summer.

The indictment does not indicate whether Bravo, one of the two arrested on Wednesday, was a Mongols member or a gang associate.

"We had a few daily contacts - but just (because) there were a bunch of them on the weekends when it was warm and they would be riding their bikes with their colors on," Police Chief Ron Grannis said.

After checking records, the chief found just one call about six months ago on a domestic violence complaint at the home where Bravo lived.

"They did have a few parties . . . during the summer that didn't get out of hand to the point that neighbors had to call us," Grannis said.

Grannis plans to meet with federal agents on Friday to learn more about the criminal activities in which the Mongols were allegedly involved.

Others arrested

In addition to Maestas and Bravo, the 11 other Mongol members and associates taken into custody on Tuesday and Wednesday were Anthony Shippley, 41; Ernest Salas, 40; Edward Montano, 42; Adrian Sisneros, 26; Michael Hee, 44; and Thomas Hernandez, 33, all of Denver. Also, John Bertolucci, 48, of Lakewood; Cary Weinman, 64, of Centennial; and Wayne Ordakowski, 48, of Parker.

Victor Muniz, 27, and Leonard Martinez, 41, no hometowns given, already were in custody.

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