U.S. District Judge Philip Simon sentenced Richard White to 17 years Thursday, saying he was a Sin City Deciples enforcer responsible for wounding a rival gang leader outside a Pittsburgh bar.
The man was trying to open a motorcycle chapter in that city.
“Maybe I’m missing something,” Simon said, of the motive. It was “unnecessary” and “pretty ruthless.”
White, 57, of Pittsburgh was convicted in November 2023 in the gang’s extensive RICO case. He faced up to 20 years. A half-dozen people testified that White was known in the Gary-based motorcycle gang as someone who used violence to enforce the gang’s behavioral code, the judge said.
“You were the muscle,” Simon said.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Toth said White was the “head national enforcer.”
Evidence showed White followed the man, who led the Outcast Motorcycle Club, on Aug. 9, 2019, across the street from the bar, then shot him twice in the chest and back, according to Simon, Toth and court documents.
The man was left with two collapsed lungs and 45 surgeries.
Days later on Aug. 12, 2019, Sin City Deciples member Curtiss “Chicken Hawk” Meeks Jr., 48, of Pittsburgh, was shot dead, likely in retaliation.
After Meeks’ death, Sin City Desciples National Vice President Marvie “Widowmaker” Gardner sent a message on Aug. 13, 2019, to all members on the Marco Polo app with a picture of a green traffic light, i.e. orders to “shoot to kill/kill on sight” in revenge, according to court filings.
“We’re going to get (them),” he said.
Gardner was sentenced to 11 years in January.
During the hearing, Simon said evidence was too weak to show White was responsible for shooting a Royal Flush Motorcycle Gang member in the leg on July 31, 2019. Nor was it enough to prove White was part of a conspiracy after Meeks’ death.
In court filings, defense lawyer John Maksimovich argued neither man identified White as the man who shot them.
White made “bad decisions,” the lawyer said in court, and found himself convicted. “It is what it is.”
White said he was not a part of a conspiracy, but admitted being an enforcer around ‘09 when he first joined.
“I didn’t do some of the things I am accused of,” he told Simon.
Indeed, the Outlaw member had been a reluctant witness, Simon said, but the overall evidence pointed to White, including a distinct BMW on the shooting video that was registered to his relative.
Also, in December 2018, authorities allege White was part of a Sin City Desceipes group that beat a fellow member after a member of the all-female Sin City Angels falsely accused him of rape.
White is scheduled to serve two years on supervised release after prison.
mcolias@post-trib.com