PRESIDENT OF BELLINGHAM BANDIDOS SENTENCED TO FOUR YEARS IN PRISON
Dealt Meth, Marijuana, Guns, Stolen Vehicles and Motorcycle Parts
GLENN MERRITT, 65 , of Bellingham, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to four years in prison and three years of supervised release for Conspiracy to Violate RICO (Racketeering Involved Criminal Organization). MERRITT pleaded guilty on May 1, 2006 following a 19 month undercover investigation of the Bandidos criminal activities. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour imposed the sentence.
According to records filed in the case, MERRITT, who was then the President of the Bellingham Chapter of the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Club, sold methamphetamine and marijuana to an undercover informant on four occasions and sold guns to the informant on one occasion. MERRITT sold the guns even after being told by the undercover informant that he was prohibited from owning firearms. When MERRITT’s home was searched after his arrest agents recovered 52 guns. MERRITT was involved in trafficking in stolen vehicles and motorcycle parts, and took part in the assault on a club “prospect” who had complained about MERRITT.
In asking for a significant sentence, Assistant United States Attorney Bruce Miyake wrote in his sentencing memo to the court that MERRITT “has a long history of a variety of illegal activity including drug distribution, trafficking in stolen motor vehicles, and violence toward others.... The defendant appears to have fully embraced the “outlaw” attitude as demonstrated by his brash behavior toward others.”
This was an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, providing supplemental federal funding to the federal and state agencies involved. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the Bellingham Police Department, and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney’s Bruce Miyake, Ye-Ting Woo and Todd Greenberg.
For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110.
