The former leader of an Outlaw Motorcycle Club was acquitted Thursday in a case that arose from an FBI investigation that led agents to surreptitiously let the man know a hit had been taken out on him.
Larry “Larry Mack” McDaniel, who once headed Outlaw’s operations in Georgia and Alabama, and two former club members went to trial this week, charged with obstructing and impeding an FBI investigation. But after hearing the prosecution’s case, U.S. District Judge Richard Story threw out the charges against all three defendants, finding no reasonable jury could find any of the defendants guilty.
“It’s a good day,” McDaniel, 67, said after court adjourned. “I think the judge did a real good job. He was fair to the prosecution and the defense.”
Also acquitted were former Outlaw club members Sean King and Howard Brown.
McDaniel, King and Brown were among a number of motorcycle club members charged with federal offenses after a lengthy, undercover FBI investigation. During that probe, McDaniel learned a government informant was the Cleveland, Ga., chapter president of the Black Pistons Motorcycle Club, an Outlaw affiliate. McDaniel was charged with obstruction for ordering the Cleveland clubhouse to be shut down.
McDaniel’s lawyer, Don Samuel, said Story made the right decision.
“There was no evidence he facilitated the commission of any crimes or that he shut down the club to deter or prevent the government from prosecuting crimes,” Samuel said. “He simply didn’t want an informant at one of his clubs.”
On Thursday, McDaniel said he was thankful nothing ever became of the death threat against him.
In 2012, more than a year into the investigation, agents learned national leaders of the Outlaws had put out a hit on McDaniel because he wasn’t doing enough to keep Georgia from being overtaken by rival motorcycle gangs, court records show.
To make McDaniel aware of the threat, without exposing their undercover operation, the FBI and GBI released an “Intelligence Note” to law enforcement agencies statewide, alerting them of potential violence within the Outlaw club.
An FBI informant then gave the note to Outlaw members in Alabama, telling them he got it from a corrupt cop. The note was then given to McDaniel.
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