Former VP of Modesto Hells Angels gets five years in prison on drug conviction
A former vice president of the Hells Angels in Modesto was sentenced to five years in prison Friday for conspiring to distribute marijuana and heroin, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California announced Monday.
Michael Shafer, 34, was arrested as part of a years-long investigation into the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club, according to a press release. He pleaded guilty in July to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute heroin and marijuana.
Investigators obtained a court-authorized wiretap for Shafer’s phone. Calls and messages revealed Shafer conspired with an incarcerated former Hells Angels member in April 2019 to smuggle heroin into Pleasant Valley State Prison in Fresno, according to the release.
Several agencies worked on the investigation, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, the Modesto Police Department, the Turlock Police Department, the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation and the California Highway Patrol, according to the release.
Multiple other Hells Angels officers and members were arrested and have faced charges over the past two years in relation to the extensive investigation.
Club member Ricky Blackwell was sentenced to six and a half years for possession with intent to distribute cocaine and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking offense.
This story was originally published February 14, 2022 at 11:15 AM.
