Gilroy Indian Motorcycle CEO To Prison - Harley Forum

Buzz Kanter · #1 07-21-2009, 06:41 PM

The Gilroy Dispatch is reporting that Gilroy-era Indian Motorcycle CEO Rey Sotelo has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic stolen motorcycles parts in a federal racketeering case.

Sotelo faces a maximum sentence of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. Defense attorney Albie Jachimowicz says that said he expects Sotelo to serve six months or less of home detention.

Sotelo was arrested in July 2008 on federal charges of conspiring with an alleged Northern California chop shop to falsify the paperwork of a bike being sent to Sweden.

Federal prosecutors had alleged that Sotelo assisted two others in the exportation of the Harley-Davidson by supplying false Manufacture Statements of Origin and a false VIN.

Sotelo's arrest was part of wider case against Robert and Brent Holloway, the father and son co-owners of Road Dog Cycles in Denair, Calif., in which they were charged with racketeering, witness tampering, extortion, making violent threats and trafficking in stolen parts.

There are eight other defendants in the case that centers around the Holloway's shop and their relationship with a number of outlaw motorcycle clubs, including the Hell's Angels and the Alky Haulers.

Robert Holloway and a number of the other defendants have law enforcement backgrounds, including two men actively employed by the Stanislaus County sheriff's department charged with making false statements about the case while being questioned by federal investigators.

The federal indictment alleged that Road Dog Cycles was a gathering place and a commercial supplier for the clubs. In addition to operating as the owners of a chop shop and in trafficking in stolen parts and motorcycles, the filing said that the defendants protected their enterprise through intimidation, threats of violence, violence and assaults.

Sotelo's role in the operation, the indictment shows, was limited to the efforts to alter the VIN and conceal the true manufacturer of the motorcycle being shipped overseas.

frisco-rigid · #2 07-21-2009, 10:32 PM

There was a time when Horse Thieves & Cattle Rustlers got hung..

They all should be happy I am Not the High Sheriff..

sgtcowboyusmc · #3 07-21-2009, 11:21 PM

Amen brother frisco!

JCourneyaP · #4 07-22-2009, 12:03 AM

We had a fellow here recently that stole a bunch of cows a few weeks back. I was wondering if that hangin law was still in affect.

Seems Sotelo learned from goverment on how to steal from the common folk.

Whom is worse?