Former Hell’s Angels Member Sentenced For Methamphetamine Trafficking

CONTACT:       Barbara Burns  
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ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Richard E. Riedman, 41, of Webster, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, methamphetamine, was sentenced to 37 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brett A. Harvey, who handled the case, stated that the defendant’s prosecution stemmed from a joint federal, state and local investigation, which revealed that Riedman was responsible for obtaining quantities of methamphetamine from drug suppliers, including fellow Rochester Hell’s Angels member James H. McAuley, Jr. The defendant then distributed the drugs to others in the Western District of New York between 2004 and 2010.

This case was part of a larger investigation that resulted in the indictment and arrest of members and associates of the Rochester and Monterey (California) Hell's Angels for drug trafficking and racketeering-related offenses in February 2012. Along with Riedman, Monterey (California) Hell's Angels President Richard W. Mar, Rochester Hell's Angels members James H. McAuley, Jr., of Oakfield, NY, and Jeffrey A. Tyler, of Rochester, and Donna Boon, of Oakfield, and Gordon L. Montgomery, of Batavia, NY, were charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. One other defendant, Paul Griffin, of Blasdell, NY, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute, and to possess with intent to distribute, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

McAuley, along with Rochester Hell's Angels member Robert W. Moran, Jr., a/k/a Bugsy, and Gina Tata, both of Rochester, are charged in the same indictment with assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering activity, Moran and Tata are charged with conspiracy to commit assault with a dangerous weapon in aid of racketeering activity, and Tata and Timothy M. Stone, of Gates, NY, are charged with being accessories after the fact to the assault and conspiracy.

Riedman was previously convicted following a jury trial, in an unrelated case, of conspiracy to commit burglary of a railcar and theft of interstate shipment. Those charges related to the defendant’s involvement, along with four others, in stealing more than 64 gross tons of a high-grade scrap steel from a railcar at a CSXT rail yard in Batavia, New York in June 2009. Judge Siragusa sentenced Riedman to 37 months in prison in that case in January 2014.

Today’s sentencing was the culmination of an investigation on the part of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Gary T. Maha, the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in  Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division, the New York State Police, under the direction of Superintendent Joseph D'Amico, the City of Batavia Police Department, under the direction of Chief Shawn Heubusch, and the Village of LeRoy Police Department, under the direction of Chief Christopher K. Hayward.