Michael O'Farrell (biker)

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Michael O'Farrell
File:Michael "Irish" O'Farrell.jpg
O'Farrell at a Hells Angels event in Colorado on August 3, 1986
Born
Michael Vincent O'Farrell

(1949-06-02)June 2, 1949
California, U.S.
DiedJune 6, 1989(1989-06-06) (aged 40)
San Leandro, California, U.S.
Cause of deathMurder (gunshot and stab wounds)
Resting placeEvergreen Cemetery, Oakland, California
Other names"Irish"
OccupationOutlaw biker, gangster
Known forPresident of the Oakland Hells Angels chapter
PredecessorSonny Barger
SuccessorSonny Barger
AllegianceNight Riders MC
Hells Angels MC
Conviction(s)Conspiracy to transport and receive explosives in interstate commerce with intent to kill and damage buildings

Michael Vincent O'Farrell (June 2, 1949 – June 6, 1989), nicknamed "Irish", was an American outlaw biker and gangster who served as the vice-president and acting president of the Oakland, California chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club (HAMC). O'Farrell was alleged by law enforcement officials to be the second-in-command to Sonny Barger, the reputed leader of the Hells Angels' West Coast faction.[1]

Hells Angels

While a member of the Night Riders motorcycle gang in Glendale, O'Farrell, along with members of the Straight Satans of Venice, the San Bernardino chapter of the Hells Angels and the Glendale Mongols chapter, committed a sexual assault against a fifteen year-old girl in August 1972. He was among eleven biker gang members convicted of rape and sex perversion in Los Angeles on April 5, 1973.[2]

Known for his prowess as a street fighter, O'Farrell is alleged to have beaten New York City Hells Angels chapter sergeant-at-arms Vincent "Big Vinny" Gerolamo while Gerolamo was visiting O'Farrell's Oakland chapter in 1979. Upon returning to the East Coast, Gerolamo reported to New York chapter president Sandy Alexander that he had in fact been beaten by not just O'Farrell, but by several members of the Oakland chapter, prompting Alexander to travel to California to make inquiries. Alexander, a former professional boxer, reportedly returned to New York satisfied that O'Farrell was indeed solely responsible for Gerolamo's beating after a fight with O'Farrell at the Oakland chapter clubhouse. Gerolamo died weeks later of complications from a ruptured spleen, believed to have been sustained in the beating.[3]

While Oakland Hells Angels president Sonny Barger was recovering from an operation for throat cancer in the 1980s, O'Farrell served as acting president of the chapter – the club's unofficial "mother chapter" – making him the club's de facto leader on the West Coast.[4] During his tenure as president, he denied to the Los Angeles Times in 1983 that the Hells Angels were involved in organized crime,[1] and called Operation Roughrider, a nationwide Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigation that resulted in the arrests of 133 Hells Angels members and associates in May 1985, "an ongoing conspiracy by the government".[5] O'Farrell continued as the Oakland chapter's vice-president after Barger returned as president.[6]

On November 10, 1987, O'Farrell and Barger were among thirteen Hells Angels arrested on narcotics, weapons, explosives and conspiracy charges during a series of raids carried out by the FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and California State Police personnel in the San Francisco Bay Area, which also resulted in the seizure of over a hundred weapons, more than $1 million in cash and drugs, and three methamphetamine laboratories.[7] The operation in the Bay Area was executed in synchronization with raids on various other HAMC chapters in four other states – producing a total of thirty-eight arrests – and concluded a two-year FBI investigation of the club, which commenced in 1985 after Anthony Tait, an officer in the Anchorage, Alaska Hells Angels chapter, volunteered to become a paid informant. Travelling the country at government expense, Tait made documented purchases of weapons, explosives and drugs from the Hells Angels.[8] He also covertly recorded club meetings by wearing a wire.[9] O'Farrell, Barger and eight other Hells Angels from California and were Alaska extradited to Louisville, Kentucky to face trail for conspiring to transport firearms and explosives across state lines in order to kill members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club in retaliation for the death of John Cleave Webb, the Anchorage HAMC chapter president who was shot and killed by two Outlaws members outside a biker bar in Jefferson County, Kentucky on August 12, 1986.[10] O'Farrell and Barger were convicted of conspiracy on October 28, 1988.[11]

Murder

While awaiting sentencing on the conviction, O'Farrell was murdered by two men during a bar fight at the Halfway Club in San Leandro, California on June 6, 1989. He was stabbed in the neck, chest and back, and was also shot four times from behind. Powdered methamphetamine was found on the bar's patio, where the killing occurred.[12] Michael Musick, another Hells Angels member, was wounded in the attack.[1] O'Farrell was laid to rest at Evergreen Cemetery after approximately a thousand people, including his wife Teddy and son, attended his funeral in East Oakland on June 11.[13] Police stated that O'Farrell may have been killed as a result of a power struggle between the Hells Angels and the Aryan Brotherhood in the East Bay.[14] Two Aryan Brotherhood members charged with O'Farrell's homicide, Aaron "Jerry" Marsh and Michael Bruce "Tank" Shepherd, were arrested in the following weeks. Marsh was taken into custody in Manteca, California on June 27, and Shepherd was apprehended by San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department deputies and California Highway Patrol troopers on Route 60 on July 26 after a high-speed chase through Chino and Ontario.[6] Shepherd allegedly admitted his guilt in the killing to his lawyer Steven Gore.[15] Marsh was strangled to death in Pelican Bay State Prison on July 25, 1997 by cellmate Gary J. Littrell after refusing an order from the Aryan Brotherhood leadership to murder another inmate,[16][17] and Shepherd committed suicide by hanging himself in his cell at Santa Ana Central Jail in December 2004 shortly after pleading guilty in a RICO case.[18][19]

References

  1. ^ a b c Hells Angels Stage Funeral for Leader Killed in Bar Fight Los Angeles Times (June 11, 1989) Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ Gang Members Convicted on Rape of Girl The San Bernardino Sun (April 6, 1973) Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ Updates, Anecdotes and Untold Stories George Christie, georgechristie.com (January 13, 2018)
  4. ^ Hell's Angels Haven't Gone Sweet On Us Bill Walker, Orlando Sentinel (September 1, 1986) Archived November 3, 2022, at archive.today
  5. ^ Hells Angels arrested in drug raids United Press International (May 3, 1985) Archived November 3, 2022, at archive.today
  6. ^ a b Man sought in slaying arrested in West End Tommy Li, The San Bernardino Sun (July 28, 1989) Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Five-state sweep produces arrests of 32 Hells Angels Ray Means, United Press International (November 11, 1987) Archived November 3, 2022, at archive.today
  8. ^ FBI report says informant uncovered Hells Angels crimes United Press International (December 5, 1987) Archived March 26, 2022, at archive.today
  9. ^ United States of America v. Ralph Hubert Barger Justia (October 5, 1990) Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  10. ^ Louisville trial gives bikers an easy ride Michael York, The Washington Post (October 23, 1988) Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ Jury Finds National Hells Angels Leader Guilty of Conspiracy Associated Press (October 29, 1988) Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Hells Angels bury murdered leader Alleghany Times (June 11, 1989) Archived November 3, 2022, at archive.today
  13. ^ 1,000 gather for gang funeral The Press Democrat (June 11, 1989) Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ^ Killing Laid to Power Battle The Los Angeles Times (July 16, 1989) Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ The Process Behind Michael Connelly's Mickey Haller Steven Gore, The Strand Magazine (March 2, 2015) Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ Eliot Scott Grizzle v. Robert Horel casetext.com (September 12, 2011) Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  17. ^ Prison plots become more common among white supremacist groups Mark Potok, Southern Poverty Law Center (December 18, 2002) Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ Who'll Stop The Reign? Matthew Duersten, LA Weekly (February 3, 2005) Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ Members of prison gang go on trial Orange County Register (March 13, 2006) Archived November 3, 2022, at the Wayback Machine

External links

  • "Michael O'Farrell". Find a Grave. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
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