This article is out of the paper of my hometown where I just moved from. I had several friends who owned Harley bikes that were seized by the FBI about two and half years ago related to this case. One of my buddies who bought a bike a couple years before this investigation began had his seized. I was there when the local State Police and FBI came and took his keys to it and loaded it up and took it away. In that local area approx 30 bikes were seized due to the bikes having stolen Harley parts on them. It was very upsetting to many and this is the end results to the whole story!
***Here is the Article from the newspaper***
***Ashland,Kentucky***
LONDON — The federal government has released additional details about a criminal case involving stolen motorcycles and money-laundering that last week resulted in the arrests of two Ashland men.
Those two, Richard “Dickie” Meade and George Ferguson, along with another defendant, Robert W. “Trader Bob” Harris, were arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court in London, according to court records unsealed that same day. All three entered pleas of not guilty.
Meade, Ferguson and Harris were indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury sitting in London. Meade is charged with conspiracy to commit money-laundering, two counts of aiding and abetting money-laundering, possession of vehicles and vehicle parts with altered vehicle identification, or VIN, numbers and aiding and abetting same, according to a redacted copy of the indictment.
Ferguson is charged with conspiracy to commit money-laundering and aiding and abetting money-laundering; Harris with conspiracy to commit money-laundering and making a false statement to authorities.
The defendants could face up to 20 years in prison if they are convicted. However, application of federal sentencing guidelines likely would result in them receiving shorter terms.
In addition, the government is seeking forfeiture of roughly $2.5 million cash — the amount it alleges the defendants derived from its criminal activities — along with numerous pieces of property in Boyd County owned by Meade, including his business, Hertz Car & Truck Rental, 1001 Winchester Ave.
The three defendants and others were allegedly involved in a theft ring that stole motorcycles and motorcycle parts. The case has been under investigation for several years by the FBI and the KSP’s London post. The group’s alleged crimes began in January 2000 and continued through “on or about” Feb. 1, 2008, in Bell, Knox, Boyd, Greenup and Campbell counties in Kentucky, among other locations, according to the indictment.
According to authorities, the alleged operation included a motorcycle chop shop on Meade Springer Road, where stolen bikes were taken, disassembled and then put back together on new frames with new VIN numbers so they could be sold.
Meade and Ferguson were arrested Friday by Boyd County sheriff’s deputies, KSP troopers and agents from the FBI’s Huntington field office. Meade was arrested at his business; Ferguson at his home in the 1900 block of Central Avenue. Both were taken to the Laurel County Correctional Center.
Magistrate Judge Hanly A. Ingram allowed all three defendants to be released on unsecured bonds following Monday’s arraignments. Ingram also set a trial of Oct. 17 in London before District Judge Gregory F. VanTatenhove.
The indictment alleges that on Sept. 20, 2006, Ferguson and Meade, “aided and abetted by each other,” knowingly and willingly conducted a financial transaction that affected interstate commerce, specifically the transfer of the title of a Big Dog motorcycle the two knew “represented the proceeds of illegal activity.”
The true bill also alleges Meade sold a Harley-Davidson comprised of stolen components on Dec. 21, 2006, and a stolen Thunder Mountain cycle on March 12, 2007.
Also, the indictment alleges Meade did “knowingly possess, purchase and take control of” a Harley-Davidson with an obliterated VIN in August 2007.
No additional information about Harris, including his city of residence, was immediately available. However, the document states that in May of this year in Campbell County, Harris told FBI agents he had only assembled 10 to 12 motorcycles since January 2000, and that he knew the information was false because he had previously certified to the Campbell County Clerk’s Office and the Kentucky Department of Transportation that he and two others had assembled more than 50 bikes since then.
Harris also allegedly told the agents one of those other individuals had no involvement in assembling the motorcycles.
Additional defendants are listed in the indictment, but their names are redacted. It’s likely those names will be made public after the suspects are arrested.
A grand jury indictment is a formal accusation of a crime and does not establish guilt.:mgun
***Here is the Article from the newspaper***
***Ashland,Kentucky***
LONDON — The federal government has released additional details about a criminal case involving stolen motorcycles and money-laundering that last week resulted in the arrests of two Ashland men.
Those two, Richard “Dickie” Meade and George Ferguson, along with another defendant, Robert W. “Trader Bob” Harris, were arraigned Monday in U.S. District Court in London, according to court records unsealed that same day. All three entered pleas of not guilty.
Meade, Ferguson and Harris were indicted Thursday by a federal grand jury sitting in London. Meade is charged with conspiracy to commit money-laundering, two counts of aiding and abetting money-laundering, possession of vehicles and vehicle parts with altered vehicle identification, or VIN, numbers and aiding and abetting same, according to a redacted copy of the indictment.
Ferguson is charged with conspiracy to commit money-laundering and aiding and abetting money-laundering; Harris with conspiracy to commit money-laundering and making a false statement to authorities.
The defendants could face up to 20 years in prison if they are convicted. However, application of federal sentencing guidelines likely would result in them receiving shorter terms.
In addition, the government is seeking forfeiture of roughly $2.5 million cash — the amount it alleges the defendants derived from its criminal activities — along with numerous pieces of property in Boyd County owned by Meade, including his business, Hertz Car & Truck Rental, 1001 Winchester Ave.
The three defendants and others were allegedly involved in a theft ring that stole motorcycles and motorcycle parts. The case has been under investigation for several years by the FBI and the KSP’s London post. The group’s alleged crimes began in January 2000 and continued through “on or about” Feb. 1, 2008, in Bell, Knox, Boyd, Greenup and Campbell counties in Kentucky, among other locations, according to the indictment.
According to authorities, the alleged operation included a motorcycle chop shop on Meade Springer Road, where stolen bikes were taken, disassembled and then put back together on new frames with new VIN numbers so they could be sold.
Meade and Ferguson were arrested Friday by Boyd County sheriff’s deputies, KSP troopers and agents from the FBI’s Huntington field office. Meade was arrested at his business; Ferguson at his home in the 1900 block of Central Avenue. Both were taken to the Laurel County Correctional Center.
Magistrate Judge Hanly A. Ingram allowed all three defendants to be released on unsecured bonds following Monday’s arraignments. Ingram also set a trial of Oct. 17 in London before District Judge Gregory F. VanTatenhove.
The indictment alleges that on Sept. 20, 2006, Ferguson and Meade, “aided and abetted by each other,” knowingly and willingly conducted a financial transaction that affected interstate commerce, specifically the transfer of the title of a Big Dog motorcycle the two knew “represented the proceeds of illegal activity.”
The true bill also alleges Meade sold a Harley-Davidson comprised of stolen components on Dec. 21, 2006, and a stolen Thunder Mountain cycle on March 12, 2007.
Also, the indictment alleges Meade did “knowingly possess, purchase and take control of” a Harley-Davidson with an obliterated VIN in August 2007.
No additional information about Harris, including his city of residence, was immediately available. However, the document states that in May of this year in Campbell County, Harris told FBI agents he had only assembled 10 to 12 motorcycles since January 2000, and that he knew the information was false because he had previously certified to the Campbell County Clerk’s Office and the Kentucky Department of Transportation that he and two others had assembled more than 50 bikes since then.
Harris also allegedly told the agents one of those other individuals had no involvement in assembling the motorcycles.
Additional defendants are listed in the indictment, but their names are redacted. It’s likely those names will be made public after the suspects are arrested.
A grand jury indictment is a formal accusation of a crime and does not establish guilt.:mgun
