Five tied to Hells Angels are indicted

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Five current or former members of the Hells Angels motorcycle club were indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday on racketeering charges that involve a previously unsolved Snohomish County slaying, robbery, extortion, kidnapping and trafficking in stolen motorcycles.

Those arrested and charged include Richard Allen Fabel, 48, of Spokane, a president of the Hells Angels Washington Nomads Chapter. Fabel is accused of directing other gang members to engage in the criminal activity, which was traced to the killing in July 2001 of 47-year-old Michael Eugene Walsh of Arlington.

Two of the men are charged with the Walsh slaying: Rodney Lee Rollness, 45, of Snohomish and Joshua Binder, 30, of North Bend.

Also charged were Ricky Jenks, 28, of Spokane and Paul Foster, 49, of Arlington. Jenks, a current Hells Angels member, is charged with racketeering, robbery and extortion. Foster, a former member, is charged as an accessory in helping to cover up the Walsh killing.

The case began with information obtained by the Monroe Police Department about stolen Harley-Davidson motorcycles and motorcycle parts connected to the Hells Angels, said Mike Lang, assistant U.S. attorney in Seattle. That led to the Walsh death, which a 15-page indictment says was planned between December 1999 and July 2001.

Lang said Walsh was not a member of the Hells Angels, and the murder case had gone unsolved until it was traced to the motorcycle club with the assistance of the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office cold-case homicide squad, the State Patrol, the FBI and other federal authorities. Walsh was last seen alive in Foster's Arlington home.

P-I reporter Angelo Bruscas can be reached at 206-448-8010 or angelobruscas@seattlepi.com.

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