Hells Angels organized crime trial begins in Spain

MADRID (AP) — Prosecutors on Monday sought a 13-year jail sentence for a former chief of the Hells Angels in Europe who’s accused of operating a chapter of the bike membership linked with organized crime on the Spanish island of Mallorca.

German nationwide Frank Hanebuth appeared in court docket alongside 49 alleged collaborators from quite a few nations, a minimum of 34 of whom agreed to a plea deal permitting them to pay fines as an alternative of serving time. Hanebuth didn’t search a deal.

A number of the defendants had been of German, Greek, or British origin, and wanted an interpreter to comply with the developments, which had been performed in Spanish. Three of the accused took half by way of video name from Germany.

Spanish prosecutors have charged Hanebuth with membership in a legal group, cash laundering and unlawful possession of firearms. They’re additionally asking the choose overseeing the trial to advantageous him $4.5 million (€4.2 million) for the cash laundering cost.

Along with belonging to a legal group, different defendants have been charged with operating a prostitution ring and drug trafficking, and resist 38 years in jail.

The Hells Angels performed unlawful actions in Mallorca from 2009 to 2013 below Hanebuth’s management, in keeping with the legal indictment. Hanebuth appointed members who then carried out crimes together with extortion, pimping, buying unlawful firearms and theft in fashionable vacationer spots, prosecutors stated.

In addition they moved into actual property on Mallorca and close by island Ibiza, prosecutors stated. The accused didn’t restrict themselves to using Harley-Davidsons: One in every of Hanebuth’s fellow defendants was cited for driving a Bentley at 125 mph (200 kph) in a 75-mph (120-kph) pace zone.

The Hells Angels in Europe are believed to have chosen Mallorca for his or her unlawful actions due to the excessive presence of international residents and the existence of different cash laundering and drug trafficking schemes on the island, prosecutors say within the indictment.

The Mallorca chapter of the gang was strongly worldwide, with recruits from as distant because the Dominican Republic and Morocco, in keeping with the indictment.

One of many defendants who took a plea deal was Paul Witworth, a British affiliate of Hanebuth’s who prosecutors say maintained hyperlinks with the Adams Household, a infamous U.Okay. gang often known as The Clerkenwell Crime Syndicate.

Hanebuth additionally stored up together with his German base in Hannover, prosecutors stated.

The trial is anticipated to final a number of weeks.

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A earlier model of this story was corrected to point out that Hanebuth is not a frontrunner of the Hells Angels.

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