Six members of Clarksville motorcycle gang found guilty on federal charges

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) – Six Clarksville men have been convicted on several federal charges, including murder, for their involvement with the Clarksville chapter of the Mongols Motorcycle Club, prosecutors announced Monday morning.

A federal jury convicted James Wesley Frazier, 34, Aelix Santiago, 34, Michael Forrester, 34, Jamie Hern, 43, William Boylston, 32, and Jason Meyerholz, 48, all of Clarksville for charges including racketeering conspiracy. Derek Leighton Stanley, 48, of Owensboro, Kentucky, was also convicted for engaging in a drug trafficking conspiracy.

“Friday’s verdict officially ends an era of drug-trafficking, violence, and intimidation inflicted on the people of Clarksville by the Clarksville Mongols,” said U.S. Attorney Mark H. Wildasin in a media release. “I commend the investigation and prosecution teams for the enormous amount of time and resources they dedicated during the past seven years to bring every member and associate of this ruthless gang to justice. We look forward to the sentencing phase and seeking appropriate sentences, including life, for these defendants.”

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, the Clarksville Mongols were a violent motorcycle gang operating in and around Clarksville. The Clarksville Mongols were a self-described “outlaw” motorcycle club with ties to Mongols chapters nationwide and internationally, a media release said.

Members and associates of the Clarksville Mongols engaged in a host of violent criminal activities, including murder, attempted murder, assault, kidnapping, robbery, extortion, witness tampering, money laundering, interstate travel in aid of racketeering, and large-scale drug trafficking, prosecutors said.

In addition, the Clarksville Mongols engaged in widespread violence and terrorized the Clarksville area, prosecutors said, while also distributing drugs on a large scale. Violent acts included the kidnapping and murder of Stephanie Bradley, as well as the separate kidnapping and murder of Stephen Cole.

“Evidence showed that, prior to Bradley’s kidnapping and murder in May 2015, the Clarksville Mongols believed that she had information relating to stolen drugs, money, and guns, and had been speaking negatively to others about the Clarksville Mongols,” the prosecutor’s release said. “Members and associates of the Clarksville Mongols then interrogated Bradley, warning her not to speak about the Mongols again or tell anyone about the interrogation. When the Clarksville Mongols learned that Bradley had failed to accede to their demands, she was kidnapped and driven to a cemetery in Bumpus Mills, Tennessee. Despite begging for her life, Bradley was walked into the woods behind the cemetery and shot numerous times and killed.”

In November 2017, prosecutors said Stephen Cole was kidnapped, brutally beaten and murdered by the Clarksville Mongols. Cole, who had been a member of the Clarksville Mongols, was believed to have stolen motorcycles belonging to defendant, and fellow gang member, William Boylston. Boylston felt disrespected, prosecutors said. Boylston and another suspect then murdered Cole by driving a 10-inch tent stake through his head.

Other evidence elicited at trial included allegations regarding:

Setting fire to and destroying the Sin City Motorcycle Clubhouse in Clarksville on May 17, 2015;
Conducting a home invasion in Hopkinsville, Kentucky on July 4, 2015, and pistol whipping the resident and stealing his belongings while holding the victim at knifepoint;
Assaulting two individuals at a residence in Clarksville and holding them at gunpoint while they interrogated one of the victims and searched the residence for drug proceeds on Jan. 17, 2016; and
From Oct. 26, 2016, through on or about Nov. 9, 2016, kidnapping a woman from a hotel in Nashville, and physically assaulting her and threatening her while interrogating her.

The defendants and their charges are listed below:

James Wesley Frazier, 34, racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; kidnapping; kidnapping in aid of racketeering; the murder of Stephanie Bradley in aid of racketeering; firearm offenses; and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. He faces mandatory life in prison.
Aelix Santiago, 34, racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; firearm offenses; and kidnapping. He faces up to life in prison.
Michael Forrester, 34, racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce and robbery affecting interstate commerce; kidnapping; and firearms offenses. He faces up to life in prison.
Jamie Hern, 43, racketeering conspiracy; conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; firearm offenses; conspiracy to tamper with a witness and witness tampering; and kidnapping. Hern faces up to life in prison.
William Boylston, 32, racketeering conspiracy; assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; kidnapping resulting in the death of Stephen Cole; kidnapping of Stephen Cole in aid of racketeering; and the murder of Stephen Cole in aid of racketeering. He faces mandatory life in prison.
Jason Meyerholz, 48, racketeering conspiracy; assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering; kidnapping resulting in death of Stephen Cole; kidnapping of Stephen Cole in aid of racketeering; and the murder of Stephen Cole in aid of racketeering. He faces mandatory life in prison.
Derek Leighton Stanley, 48, conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine; money laundering conspiracy; distribution of, or possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine; and interstate travel in aid of racketeering. He faces up to life in prison.

Chief U.S. District Judge Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr. will separately determine each defendant’s sentence. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), the Clarksville Police Department, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, and the Kentucky State Police investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kathryn Risinger and Chris Suedekum for the Middle District of Tennessee and Trial Attorney Matthew P. Mattis of the Justice Department’s Organized Crime & Gang Section are prosecuting the case.