Sonny Barger

Ralph Hubert "Sonny" Barger, Jr. (October 8, 1938 – June 29, 2022) was an American outlaw biker, author and actor who was a founding member of the Oakland, California chapter of the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club in 1957. After forming the Oakland chapter, Barger was instrumental in unifying various disparate Hells Angels chapters and had the club incorporated in 1966.Notable Deaths in 2022
CBS News (November 28, 2022) He emerged as the Hells Angels' most prominent member during the counterculture era and was reputed by law enforcement and media to be the club's international president, an allegation he repeatedly denied.Hell Hasn't Frozen Over Yet
Susan Carpenter, ''Los Angeles Times'' (May 17, 2000) The author Hunter S. Thompson called Barger "the Maximum Leader" of the Hells Angels,How Hell's Angels 'maximum leader' Sonny Barger got convicted in Louisville and still 'won'
Andrew Wolfson, ''The Courier-Journal'' (July 6, 2022) and Philip Martin of the ''Phoenix New Times'' described him as "the archetypical Hells Angel", saying he "didn't found the motorcycle club...but he constructed the myth".Look Homeward Angel: Cycle Icon Sonny Barger Kick-Starts Life As A Free Man By Violating Parole
Philip Martin, ''Phoenix New Times'' (December 2, 1992) He authored five books, and appeared on television and in film.

Barger served a total of 13 years in prison, following a conviction for heroin trafficking in 1974, and a 1988 conviction for conspiracy to bomb the clubhouse of a rival motorcycle gang, the Outlaws.Sonny Barger, counterculture force and face of the Hells Angels, dies
Christopher Goffard and Steve Marble, ''Los Angeles Times'' (June 30, 2022) He was also acquitted of murder in 1972, and of racketeering in 1980.Hells Angels founder Sonny Barger dies after cancer battle
Chris Bradford, ''New York Post'' (June 30, 2022) Barger refuted accusations from law enforcement characterizing the Hells Angels as an organized crime syndicate, and maintained that the club should not be held accountable for the actions of individual members.

Early life

Ralph Hubert Barger, Jr. was born in Modesto, California, on October 8, 1938, the son of Kathryn Carmella (née Ritch) and Ralph Hubert Barger. His father had German and Dutch ancestry, and his mother was of Italian descent. His mother left the family when Barger was four months old, leaving him and his older sister Shirley to be raised by their Pentecostal docks.Sonny Barger, biker outlaw and founder of Hells Angels, dies at 83
Paul W. Valentine ''The Washington Post'' (June 30, 2022) Barger grew up in Oakland in the post-war era, during which time the city's shipbuilding and automobile industries went into decline, leading to a significant rise in unemployment.Compelling And Captivating Accounts In Hells Angels Sociology
ukessays.com (January 1, 2015) Growing up, Barger was suspended from school several times for assaulting teachers, and he often fought with other boys. He dropped out of school in the tenth grade. Although many of his school friends became drug addicts, Barger worked at a grocery store and enlisted in the U.S. Army, aged sixteen in 1955, but was given an honorable discharge fourteen months later when it was discovered that he had forged his birth certificate in order to be able to join. After his return from the Army, Barger drifted between menial jobs and lived with his father in a single residence at a hotel, later moving in with his sister and her children.''Hell's Angels Criminal Enterprise''
Albert De Amicis, University of Phoenix (August 14, 2009)

Hells Angels

In 1956, Barger joined his first motorcycle club, the Oakland Panthers, which he founded with a group of fellow military veterans. After that club disbanded, he started riding with another group of bikers, one of whom, Don "Boots" Reeves, wore a patch that belonged to a defunct Nomads chapter of the Hells Angels in North Sacramento. Founding their own Hells Angels club on April 1, 1957, each member wore the patch – a small skull wearing an aviator cap set within a set of wings, later copyrighted as the Hells Angels' "Death's Head" logo – after having replicas made at a trophy store in Hayward.''Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and The Hell's Angels Motorcycle Club''
Ralph 'Sonny' Barger, with Keith and Kent Zimmerman (2000) Barger was not the founder of the Hells Angels as is often claimed – the group was founded in 1948 – but he became its best known member to such an extent that he is often misidentified as the club's founder. He and the Oakland Hells Angels were initially unaware that there were several other, loosely affiliated, clubs using the same name throughout California. The founding members of the Oakland Hells Angels were "basically honest blue-collar or unskilled workers looking for excitement", according to George "Baby Huey" Wethern, who became the chapter vice-president in 1960. Unlike the World War II veterans who formed the early Hells Angels chapters, many of the founding members of the Oakland chapter were former servicemen with disreputable military records. After a chance encounter a member of a pre-existing Hells Angels chapter, Barger learned of the club's history, rules, regulations and procedures. He was appointed president of the Oakland chapter in 1958 following a series of meetings with Hells Angels from southern California. With Barger as president, the Oakland Hells Angels traveled around California and amalgamated with the other Hells Angels chapters, dividing territory and forming club bylaws. While infighting did take place between the chapters, conflicts predominantly arose with other clubs such as the Gypsy Jokers. When Otto Friedli, the founder of the original San Bernardino Hells Angels chapter, was imprisoned in 1958, Barger was proclaimed ''de facto'' national president. One of his first actions was to relocate the club's "mother chapter" – the national headquarters – from San Bernardino to Oakland. Later that year, Barger suffered a fractured skull during a fight with Oakland police. Although the basic organization was in place when Barger took over leadership of the club, he introduced additional rules pertaining to new members, club officers, and the establishment of new chapters. Under Barger's leadership, the club's membership began to increase. By 1960, the Oakland Hells Angels had established an extensive narcotics network within the club.

According to George Wethern – who later testified against the club and entered the Federal Witness Protection Program – in his 1978 book ''A Wayward Angel'', Barger convened a meeting of the leaders of the Hells Angels and other California motorcycle clubs in 1960 in which the various clubs parleyed over the mutual problem of police harassment. The clubs voted to ally under a " 1%er" patch to be worn on their respective "colors". The term refers to a comment allegedly made by the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) that 99% of motorcyclists were law-abiding citizens, implying the last one percent were outlaws. The Oakland chapter, with Barger serving as its president, assumed an informal position of authority within the Hells Angels that began following a standoff with local police and the California Highway Patrol in the aftermath of an outlaw motorcycle meeting in Porterville in September 1963. Although always a predominantly male organization, the Hells Angels had female members until 1964 when Barger imposed a rule making the group male only. Barger justified the male only ruling under the grounds that female Hells Angels were less able to defend themselves against rival bikers looking to steal their patches. The Oakland Hells Angels maintained a preeminent position as "first among equals" by having the largest membership of any U.S. chapter and because of Barger's esteem among club members internationally.''Outlaw motorcycle gangs – USA overview''
National Institute of Justice (1991) The author and journalist Hunter S. Thompson wrote in his 1967 book '' Hell's Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga of the Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs'' that "in any gathering of Hell's Angels, there is no doubt who is running the show", describing Barger as "a 6-foot, 170-pound warehouseman from East Oakland, the coolest head in the lot, and a tough, quick-thinking dealer when any action starts", and saying of him: "By turns he is a fanatic, a philosopher, a brawler, a shrewd compromiser and a final arbitrator." Barger continually denied that he was the Hells Angels' leader or that Oakland was the club's headquarters, however, saying: "There’s no charter that's the boss. That's all cops and newspapers."

Barger was employed as a machine operator from 1960 to 1965, when he was dismissed due to extended absences. His criminal record began in 1963 after he was arrested for possession of marijuana. He was arrested again on the same charge the following year, and for assault with a deadly weapon in 1965 and 1966.Hell's Angels on Trial: Tales of Drugs & Death
Tim Findley, ''Rolling Stone'' (December 21, 1972) Barger and the Hells Angels, many of whom were military veterans, considered themselves anti-communist and anti-subversion. When students at the University of California, Berkeley announced an anti-Vietnam War rally, the Oakland Hells Angels denounced the rally as "a despicable un-American activity". On October 16, 1965, Barger led a group of Hells Angels in an attack on anti-war demonstrators marching from Berkeley to the Army Terminal in Oakland to protest against munitions shipments. The Oakland police reportedly stood aside and let the attack commence, whereas the Berkeley police intervened to stop the bikers from assaulting the protesters.U.S. Drug Investigation Brings a Round of Arrests for Hell's Angels
Wallace Turner, ''The New York Times'' (June 18, 1979) Six Hells Angels members were arrested and a Berkeley police sergeant suffered a broken leg in the brawl.Hells Angels vs. Allen Ginsberg: The unlikely Vietnam War-era confrontation
Bill Van Niekerken, ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (May 15, 2018) The Angels maintained that the attack was carried out "in the interest of public safety and the protection of the good name of Oakland, California." The incident led to a collection of students, left-wing political groups, and labor unions led by Allen Ginsberg and Jerry Rubin meeting with motorcycle club representatives, headed by the president of the Sacramento Hells Angels chapter, in a cafeteria at San Jose State College, seeking assurance that a planned Vietnam Day Committee protest march in Oakland on November 20, 1965 would go undisturbed. Ginsberg invited Barger and the Oakland Hells Angels to a party where he provided the bikers with free alcohol, drugs and sex in exchange for their guarantee that the rally would not be attacked. On November 19, 1965, five Hells Angels led by Barger held a press conference at their bail bondsman's office, announcing that the club would not attend the protest the following day as "Any physical encounter would only produce sympathy for this mob of traitors", according to Barger. He went on to read out a telegram sent to President Lyndon B. Johnson, reading: "I volunteer a group of loyal Americans for behind the line duty in Vietnam. We feel that a crack group of trained guerillas could demoralize the Viet Cong and advance the cause of freedom." President Johnson did not reply to the letter.

After the spate of publicity the Hells Angels received in 1965, Barger had the club's name copyrighted. The Hells Angels were incorporated as a nonprofit corporation in 1966. Barger and the Hells Angels became associated with the counterculture phenomenon of the 1960s. Between 1966 and 1973, the majority of his legitimate personal income was derived from advising various film projects. Onscreen, Barger was identified but did not speak in ''Hells Angels on Wheels'' (1967) and was one of several members of the Angels who had speaking parts playing themselves in ''Hell's Angels '69'' (1969); he appeared in several additional films. Barger features prominently in Hunter S. Thompson's book, ''Hell's Angels''. He was unimpressed with Thompson, and said of the writer: "When he tried to act tough with us, no matter what happened, Hunter Thompson got scared. I ended up not liking him at all, a tall skinny, typical hillbilly from Kentucky. He was a total fake." Barger and the Hells Angels are also depicted in Tom Wolfe's ''The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test'' (1968), during Ken Kesey's La Honda encampment.

For at least five years beginning in 1967, Barger and the Hells Angels turned over weapons acquired on the black market or locations of weapons, which could otherwise be used by Black Panther Party and Weather Underground radicals, to the Oakland Police Department in exchange for the release of jailed Hells Angels members. Oakland police sergeant Edward "Ted" Hilliard testified in 1972 that he accepted guns, dynamite, and grenades from Barger personally in return for deals on arrests during at least fifteen separate meetings, the most recent of which took place in the spring of 1971.Angels in Court: The Strange Tale of Baby Huey
Tim Findley, ''Rolling Stone'' (February 15, 1973) Hilliard also testified that Barger had offered "to deliver the bagged body of a leftist for every Angel released from jail". He denied, however, that authorities permitted crimes committed by the Hells Angels.

The first internal murder of a Hells Angels member sanctioned by the club was allegedly carried out when Paul "German" Ingalls was forced to ingest a large quantity of barbiturates until he suffered a fatal overdose. Ingalls, a member of the Hells Angels' Oakland chapter who had previously transferred from the Omaha, Nebraska charter, was found guilty of burglarizing Barger's valuable coin collection by a six-man kangaroo court at another member's home on February 1, 1968 and subsequently killed. In the late 1960s, Barger began selling heroin and also developed an addiction to cocaine.Jail Terms Deplete Ranks of Hell's Angels
Wallace Turner, ''The New York Times'' (March 18, 1973) He was among 33 members of the Oakland chapter arrested on drug charges after police raided a bar and a duplex apartment in the city on August 30, 1968. $7,000 worth of heroin and $2,500 worth of other narcotics were confiscated, as were firearms — including an M16 rifle, two shotguns, and an M1 carbine – and a large cache of ammunition, knives, chains, and suspected stolen merchandise.

Altamont Free Concert

Barger was one of the Hells Angels present at the Rolling Stones' Altamont Free Concert on December 6, 1969, at which the bikers were reportedly paid $500 worth of beer to provide security. Concert goers and musicians alike were subjected to violence from the Hells Angels, including Marty Balin of Jefferson Airplane, who was knocked unconscious, and audience member Meredith "Murdock" Hunter, who was stabbed to death. Barger claimed to have been sitting on stage drinking beer when the violence was taking place. As a result of critical media attention given to the HAMC after the concert, he went on KSAN, a local Bay Area radio station, to justify the actions of the Hells Angels and to present their side of the story. He asserted that violence only started once the crowd began vandalizing the Angels' motorcycles. Barger would later state that Hunter fired a shot that struck a Hells Angels member with what he described as "just a flesh wound." Barger maintained that the Rolling Stones were ultimately responsible for the violent events that took place at the concert, saying: "They agitated the crowd, had the stage built too low, and then used us to keep the whole thing boiling. They got exactly what they wanted – a dark scary atmosphere to play 'Sympathy for the Devil'...Just because you sing well doesn't mean you can act like a bunch of assholes to your fans – and that's what they did that night at Altamont". He blamed the Rolling Stones' extended delay before making an onstage appearance for worsening the hostility of the crowd, and said the Hells Angels refused to act as bodyguards for "a bunch of sissy, marble-mouthed prima donnas" when the band asked the bikers to escort them to the stage.Just a Shot Away: Peace, Love, and Tragedy With the Rolling Stones at Altamont
Saul Austerlitz, ''Vulture'' (August 3, 2018) He also claimed that he stuck a gun into Keith Richards' side, to force the Rolling Stones to keep on playing through the riot despite the band's misgivings. Barger took umbrage with what he felt was the Stones' refusal to take responsibility for the catastrophe and he said in the days after the concert: "...Mick Jagger, like, put it all on us. He used us for dupes". He appears in the documentary film about the Altamont Free Concert: ''Gimme Shelter'' (1970). Reflecting on the Altamont concert, which has been referred to variously as "the end of the hippie dream" and "the day the Sixties died",In search of Altamont, 50 years after the hippie dream died
Chris Leadbeater, ''The Daily Telegraph'' (December 6, 2019) Barger wrote in his 2000 autobiography ''Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club'': "All that shit about Altamont being the end of an era was a bunch of intellectual crap. The death of Aquarius. Bullshit, it was the end of nothing...Altamont may have been some big catastrophe to the hippies, but it was just another Hells Angels event to me".

After Altamont, Barger sought to expand the Hells Angels and improve the club's image. Members who were of little value to the Hells Angels were drummed out, and intravenous drug use was banned by the club. Barger also stripped the Hells Angels' "colors" of offensive patches, such as Nazi regalia and various colored wings awarded to members as a reward for sexual adventures performed in the presence of other members. The club also hired public relations specialists and began participating in charity fund drives.

The dispute between the Hells Angels and the Rolling Stones was compounded when the band refused to compensate the Angels for $50,000 in legal fees accrued by the club in the trial of Alan Passaro, who was acquitted of Hunter's murder on the grounds of self-defense.The Rolling Stones Vs. The Hells Angels: Mick Jagger Dodged Murder Contract From Mad Bikers In 1970s
Scott Burnstein, GangsterReport.com (September 7, 2019) In March 1983, Clarence "Butch" Crouch, a founding member of the Hells Angels' Cleveland chapter, testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee that the club had an "open contract" on members of the Rolling Stones and had made two failed attempts on the life of Mick Jagger. Barger denied the claims of a murder contract on Jagger in an interview with the ''Phoenix New Times'' in 1992, saying: "I personally don't like the guy, but that doesn't mean I want him dead. There are seven ells Angelschapters in England and he comes over here a lot. If there was a contract out on him, then he'd be dead. It's that simple, he wouldn't still be singing."

"Gangster era"

Barger referred to the 1970s as "a gangster era for" the Hells Angels, writing in his autobiography: "The other clubs tried to take our eputationfrom us. The blacks and Latinos didn't like us. White people were scared of us. Hippies no longer dug us. Rednecks couldn't stand us either. Everybody hated us. We became isolated".Sonny Barger, fearsome leader of the Oakland Hells Angels, dies at 83
Sam Whiting, ''San Francisco Chronicle'' (June 30, 2022) During this period, Barger's main lieutenants were Sergey Walton, James "Jim-Jim" Brandes and Kenneth "K.O." Owen.Hell's Angels: Masters of Menace
Howard Kohn, ''Rolling Stone'' (April 5, 1979)

On April 11, 1970, Barger was arrested on narcotics charges after Donald Howarth, a film studio property manager and 1967 Mr. America from Studio City, was apprehended while walking towards Barger's home with 17 ounces of cocaine and 30 ounces of heroin (with an estimated retail worth of $350,000) in a suitcase. Barger temporarily resigned as president of the Oakland chapter in June 1970 to fight the charges, but returned to the position within months after his successor, John "Johnny Angel" Palomar, was sentenced to a ten-year prison term for shooting a bartender. The drug charges against Barger were later dismissed, although Howarth was convicted and sentenced to serve five years-to-life in prison.''Wayward Angel: The Full Story of the Hells Angels''
George Wethern and Vincent Colnett (1978) Barger was, however, sentenced to ninety days in jail after walking out of a court session.

On January 22, 1972, Barger and four other Hells Angels – Russell Beyea, Bobby "Durt" England, "Oakland" Gary Popkin and Bert Stefanson – were traveling through Redwood Regional Park in two cars, a Pontiac and a Cadillac, when they were pursued in a high-speed chase by park rangers, who suspected the occupants of the vehicles of poaching. The Pontiac struck a tree after its tires were shot out by pursuing park rangers, and England and Stefanson fled into the brush only to be apprehended later. Discovered in the trunk of the Pontiac were three club "prospects" – William Hood, Russell Huddleston and Danny Jarman. Hood and Jarman had been bound, gagged and beaten, while Huddleston had survived having his throat cut. Barger, Beyea and Popkin were arrested after the Cadillac was chased for four miles by converging police. Various objects were thrown from the Cadillac during the pursuit, including four handguns, a shotgun, surgical gloves, and a belt with an ammunition pouch and a silver buckle engraved with the caption: "Sonny Barger Jr., 1957–67 president, Hells Angels Oakland."Four Hell's Angels Plead Not Guilty
''Oakland Tribune'' (March 10, 1972) Barger and the others were charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and assault with a deadly weapon. Hood and Jarman told police that the incident was merely an initiation hazing. Amidst claims by the Hells Angels' attorneys, Jack Berman and Herman Mintz, of insufficient evidence and an illegal search by arresting officers, all five defendants pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of unlawful imprisonment.

Along with fellow Hells Angels members Sergey Walton, Donald Duane "Whitey" Smith, and "Oakland" Gary Popkin, Barger was charged with the May 21, 1972 murder of Servio Winston Agero — a drug dealer from McAllen, Texas who had traveled to Oakland with a consignment of narcotics for sale – which allegedly occurred following a dispute over an $80,000 cocaine deal. A prosecution witness, Richard Ivaldi, testified that he witnessed Barger shoot Agero dead as he slept at the home of an absent acquaintance, and that Barger subsequently ordered the others to set fire to the residence.Death Scene Told at Angel Trial
Del Lane, ''Oakland Tribune'' (November 22, 1972) Barger and his three co-defendants were acquitted on December 29, 1972, following a seven-week trial after Ivaldi's credibility came under scrutiny. Barger was also provided with an alibi from his girlfriend, Sharon Gruhlke, who claimed she was in bed with him at the time of the murder. According to Barger's chief attorney James Crew, Ivaldi himself was involved in the conspiracy to kill Agero and, knowing he was a prime suspect and fearing retaliation from the "Texas Mafia", he tried to shift the blame to the Hells Angels. The killing of Agero was one of five possibly linked murders committed in the area around that time. Three men — drug dealers Kelly Patrick Smith, Willard Thomas and Gary Kemp, an acquaintance of Ivaldi — were found shot to death in a house near San Leandro the day after Agero's murder, and the body of a woman, Karen S. Long, was discovered in the trunk of a car in Oakland on May 26. An informant had led investigating detectives to the location of the automobile in which Long's corpse was found. John Joseph Devaney, Long's former husband, was found dead in a car in Hayward on June 14 in an apparent suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning.

On March 16, 1973, Barger was sentenced to a prison term of ten years-to-life after he was convicted of possession of narcotics for sale (37 grams of heroin), and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. His future wife Sharon was a co-defendant; her case ended in a mistrial when a jury failed to reach a verdict. As a result of his imprisonment, Barger was forced to relinquish his presidency of the Oakland chapter for the first time since its inception. According to police intelligence reports, he had designated San Jose chapter president Fillmore Cross as his international successor during a motorcycle run at Bass Lake prior to his imprisonment. Cross was also imprisoned, for possession of amphetamines in 1975, however, and Barger allegedly continued to lead the Hells Angels from his cell at Folsom State Prison. During his incarceration, a bikers' magazine ran a "Free Sonny Barger" campaign, selling T-shirts and bumper stickers, which helped pay his legal expenses.Barger Uncertain Of His Future
''Santa Cruz Sentinel'' (November 4, 1977) Barger gave a series of interviews, including one with Geraldo Rivera for his ''Good Night America'' television program, in which he portrayed himself as a model prisoner and said: "They got to let me out sometime." He also began studying sociology at Folsom. In April 1977, Barger won an appeal to face a retrial on a prior marijuana possession conviction. His acquittal in that case made him eligible for parole as the California Supreme Court ruled that a five-year waiting period – attached to his sentence due to the prior marijuana conviction – was unconstitutional. He was paroled on November 3, 1977, after serving four-and-a-half years of his sentence. On December 5, 1977, Barger opened the first Hells Angels chapter in Canada and awarded the Canadian Hells Angels national president Yves Buteau the right to wear a Hells Angels jacket with the word "International" written on the bottom – a great honor within the world of the Hells Angels where jackets normally list only the state in which the Hells Angel lives in.

Barger was arrested on a parole violation charge of possession of firearms when police officers discovered a 9 mm semiautomatic pistol, a .38 caliber revolver, and a rifle after arriving at his Oakland home on March 27, 1978, to serve a subpoena and to conduct a parole search. The case was dismissed when Barger's wife Sharon testified that the guns belonged to her, not her husband.

RICO trial

Barger and his wife were among 33 members and associates of the Hells Angels' Oakland, San Francisco, Marin County, San Jose, Los Angeles, and Vallejo chapters indicted on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) statutes on June 13, 1979.Hell's Angel racketeering defendants reduced by two
''Santa Maria Times'' (October 6, 1979) He and fifteen others were arrested during a series of raids carried out in the Bay Area by around 200 Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agents. The indictments followed two car bombings targeting law enforcement officers in northern California, which were blamed on the Hells Angels. The bombings prompted the California Department of Justice to issue a warning to police departments that the Angels were engaged on a campaign to eliminate law enforcement personnel who investigated their drug activities. The RICO case against the Hells Angels was the most substantial effort in federal history against the club at the time, and charged the defendants with various crimes dating back to 1971, including manufacturing and distributing methamphetamine; conspiring to commit murder; assault; use of false identification; intimidation; and bribery.The Case Against Harley's Angels
Cynthia Gorney, ''The Washington Post'' (October 26, 1979) Barger was held on a $1 million bail and spent 14 months in San Francisco County Jail before and during the trial. In a jailhouse interview with Cynthia Gorney of ''The Washington Post'' in October 1979, he stated: "I can tell you why they want to get rid of the Hells Angels, what I think. First of all we're a virtual army. We're all across the country, and now we're in foreign countries also. And they have no idea how many of us there are...We have money, many allies that are outlaw bikers that are not Hells Angels, that would probably do anything we asked them to, if something happened".

Barger and 17 of his co-defendants went on trial in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California at the San Francisco federal courthouse beginning on October 4, 1979.‘They Are Not Club Activities’: The Hell’s Angels and the Early Struggles of the RICO Statute
David Kurlander, CAFE.com (November 11, 2021) The prosecution team, representing the federal government, attempted to demonstrate a pattern of behavior to convict Barger and other members of the Hells Angels of racketeering offenses related to illegal weapons and drugs. According to U.S. Attorney William Hunter, the "cornerstone" of the Hells Angels' drug enterprise was the "large‐scale manufacture and mass distribution of methamphetamine". Prosecutors claimed that the Angels accumulated $160,000 per day in street sales of the drug. The defense maintained that the club should not be held accountable for crimes committed by individual members. Barger himself admitted during the trial that he had used and sold narcotics in the 1960s, but asserted that his actions did not involve the Hells Angels. On July 2, 1980, following an eight-month trial in which 194 witnesses testified, a mistrial was declared when a jury failed to reach a verdict on counts against eighteen defendants. Of the remaining twelve, nine were convicted and three — including Sonny and Sharon Barger — were acquitted.

War against the Outlaws

The Hells Angels declared war on the Outlaws during a summit of various chapter presidents in Rochester, New York in November 1978. The feud between the two clubs began in 1974 when Outlaws bikers in South Florida murdered three members of the Hells Angels' Lowell, Massachusetts chapter as retribution for an Outlaw being beaten by Hells Angels at a party in New York City.Legendary Hells Angels-Outlaws Biker War Can Be Traced Back To 1974 Triple Murder In South Florida
Scott Burnstein, GangsterReport.com (April 23, 2017) According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Hells Angels and the Outlaws were engaged in a conflict over control of the methamphetamine trade in the United States and Canada. Authorities accused the Angels of dominating the production of the drug in the U.S.Five-state sweep produces arrests of 32 Hells Angels
Ray Means, United Press International (November 11, 1987) Barger addressed such allegations by saying: "I'm sure there are some individual Angels who've sold methamphetamines. Just like I'm sure some cops have sold methamphetamines. I'm sure some of our members own guns, whether legal or not. And I'm sure the government makes a living off of us." In the late 1970s, Barger and other senior Hells Angels ordered James "Buddy" Caronite, the president of the club's East Coast faction, to organize a peace conference with Outlaws leaders. The supposed peace meeting, scheduled to be held in an eastern state, was in fact an opportunity for the Hells Angels to assassinate their rivals' leadership, according to investigators. Having gave his word to the Outlaws that they would be safe at the meeting, Caronite – who characterised himself as a "man of honor" – reportedly warned the Outlaws, who avoided the meeting, when he learned of the assassination plot. The warning angered the Angels hierarchy, and Caronite was demoted from his position as a national officer.Police search spectators in area Hell's Angels trial
''Akron Beacon Journal'' (November 1, 1982)

In October 1982, Barger was part of a large group of Hells Angels from across the country who attended the murder trial of Jack "Jack-O-Lantern" Gentry, a member of the club's Cleveland chapter accused of shooting Outlaws member Ralph "Real Time" Tanner behind the Outlaws' Toledo clubhouse on November 30, 1980.''United States of America v. Charles T. Pasciuti''
Justia (August 24, 1992) Cleveland Hells Angel-turned-government witness Clarence Crouch testified for the prosecution that Gentry had murdered Tanner as part of an initiation process into the Hells Angels.Hell's Angel trial continues
''Daily Kent Stater'' (October 28, 1982) The trial took place in Lucas County circuit court in Toledo, a city considered Outlaws territory.Biker War Hit The Heartland In 1980s: Outlaws’ Murder In Toledo Brought Hells Angels To Town En Masse For Trial
Scott Burnstein, GangsterReport.com (April 24, 2017) Barger and his Oakland contingent rented a house on Toledo's Sylvania Street, and the Angels showed a significant presence in the city throughout the court case. Wearing their "colors", the bikers rode their motorcycles past the residence of assistant county prosecutor James Bates, visited the neighbors of jurors after obtaining a list of prospective jurors in the case, and circled the courthouse in black vans with "Hells Angels" painted on the side.Daughter says life in hiding led to father’s death
Taylor Dungjen, '' The Blade'' (July 26, 2013) A female juror was excused from duty after her son was threatened by a group of Hells Angels at a downtown Toledo bar that he would have "lots of problems" if his mother did not "vote the right way".Gang's terror aimed at police, FBI report says
''Akron Beacon Journal'' (April 22, 1984) When Gentry was acquitted after a four-day trial, Barger sent invitations to the jurors to attend a party he threw for Gentry at a local Sheraton Hotel. He denied that jurors were intimidated by the Hells Angels' presence at the trial, saying: "The only ones that are intimidated are the ones the feds tell to be".

In 1983, Barger was diagnosed with throat cancer and temporarily handed control of the club over to his second-in-command, Michael O'Farrell, while he received and recovered from treatment.Hells Angels Stage Funeral for Leader Killed in Bar Fight
''Los Angeles Times'' (June 11, 1989)

Operation CACUS

Anthony "Taterhead" Tait, the sergeant-at-arms of the Hells Angels chapter in Anchorage, Alaska, volunteered to become a paid informant for the FBI in 1984, commencing a three-year nationwide Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation known as Operation CACUS.''United States of America v. Ralph Hubert Barger''
Justia (October 5, 1990) Traveling the country at government expense, Tait made documented purchases of firearms, explosives, and drugs from various Hells Angels chapters.FBI report says informant uncovered Hells Angels crimes
United Press International (December 5, 1987) He also covertly recorded club meetings by wearing a wire. During one such meeting, Barger admiringly told Tait that he represented the "Hells Angel of the '90s" – clean-cut, articulate, and capable of carrying out club business.Angels in Arizona
Karen Brande, ''Tucson Weekly'' (August 15, 1996) On August 12, 1986, John Cleave "J.C." Webb, a member of the Anchorage Hells Angels, was shot and killed by Outlaws outside a biker bar in Jefferson County, Kentucky, prompting Barger to say that it was "time to start killing Outlaws again".

Barger sent a stolen copy of a government document prepared by the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC), which contained the identities and personal data of Outlaws members and associates, via express mail to Webb's sister in Louisville, Kentucky, who then turned it over to Hells Angels members. He also displayed another copy of the EPIC manual and explained how to use it to fellow Hells Angels at an Oakland chapter meeting. When another chapter member suggested calling the Outlaws to inquire whether Webb's killing was an isolated incident, Barger replied: "Call them collect." He lent the EPIC manual to Tait for photocopying after Anchorage chapter president Edwin Hubert, who also expressed retaliatory sentiment after Webb's killing, instructed Tait to acquire a copy of the manual in September 1986. When Tait informed Barger in a phone conversation that the FBI was investigating the package he had mailed to Webb's sister, Barger proposed the alibi that the package contained sympathy cards. Barger also circulated a photograph of the two Outlaws who killed Webb, firstly at an Oakland chapter meeting on November 30, 1986, and again at a summit of West Coast chapter officers on January 3, 1987. He and Tait discussed retaliation against the Outlaws on several occasions, and Tait encouraged Barger to travel to Alaska to provide guidance to the Anchorage Hells Angels chapter on retributive action. After Cleveland chapter president Kenny Yates was shot and wounded by Outlaws in Joliet, Illinois on September 18, 1987, Tait told Barger that he had been to Chicago and Milwaukee to carry out reconnaissance on Outlaws clubhouses there and that he would require an alibi if he was to carry out an attack, to which Barger responded: "That would be no problem." On October 18, 1987, Tait informed Barger of a fictitious plot to bomb the Outlaws' Chicago headquarters, which he purported would likely kill five or six people, and Barger replied: "That'll be really nice after that Joliet thing." Barger then made plans to provide an alibi for Tait. Between October 20 and 23, 1987, Michael O'Farrell periodically stayed in a Hyatt hotel room booked by Tait and drove Tait's rental car. Tait called Barger on November 9, 1987, and reported that he had accomplished his mission.

Operation CACUS concluded on November 10, 1987, when 38 Hells Angels members and associates in Alaska, California, Kentucky, North Carolina and South Carolina were arrested on various narcotics, weapons, explosives, and conspiracy charges.38 Hells Angels Arrested In ‘Operation Roughrider’
Kathleen MacLay, Associated Press (November 11, 1987) Barger was among thirteen people taken into custody in the Bay Area, where over 400 FBI, ATF, and California State Police personnel carried out 26 raids on homes and other properties, seizing more than 100 weapons, approximately $1 million in cash and drugs, and three methamphetamine laboratories. Two EPIC manuals and a homemade explosive device were discovered in Barger's home by federal agents. A Hyatt hotel room key and a handwritten note — deemed to have been written by Barger after evaluation by a handwriting expert — listing Anthony Tait's hotel room number and rental car license plate number were also found at Michael O'Farrell's residence. While most of the Hells Angels arrested in northern California were charged with drug offenses, Barger and O'Farrell were accused of conspiring to violate federal firearms and explosives laws. U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese stated that Barger's arrest had averted five murders. Barger was formally indicted on December 15, 1987, along with twenty others.

Barger and nine other Hells Angels from California and Alaska were extradited to Kentucky to stand trial for conspiring to transport firearms and explosives across state lines. The ten defendants went on trial at Louisville federal court beginning in July 1988, accused of plotting to bomb the clubhouse of the Outlaws' Louisville chapter, located in the city's Portland neighborhood, in retaliation for the killing of John Cleave Webb. Barger was represented by defense attorney Stephen Miller, and Barger's wife worked on the defense team as a paralegal. Around a hundred Hells Angels wearing full "colors" attended the trial, as did the country singer Johnny Paycheck, a friend of Barger.Louisville trial gives bikers an easy ride
Michael York, ''The Washington Post'' (October 23, 1988) The U.S. Marshals Service provided security, and the assistant U.S. attorneys assigned to the case were deputized by the Marshals, allowing them to carry guns inside the courthouse. The prosecutors asserted that the Hells Angels were a highly organized criminal organization ruled by a "code of silence" involved in drug trafficking, shootings and bombings. Anthony Tait, the government's key witness in the case, was housed in a safehouse in the Louisville suburb of Prospect during the trial, where he was guarded by an FBI SWAT team. The defense team endeavored to expose the government's "outrageous" investigative conduct and discredit Tait, whom the government acknowledged was paid $300,000 in salary and expenses for the information he provided. Tait's estranged wife, Brenda Lee Fowler, gave evidence for the defense, calling her husband a "liar, a scum and a cheater" and alleging that he dealt drugs. Leonard "Cool Ray" Mullen, the Outlaws member convicted of killing Webb, testified that he shot Webb over a personal feud and that there was no war between the Outlaws and the Angels. He also attested that the FBI had asked him to fake his own death in order to further their investigation against the Hells Angels, to which he refused. The defendants shook hands with Webb and thanked him for his testimony. Under a special arrangement approved by U.S. District Judge Edward H. Johnstone, defense attorneys subpoenaed each of the codefendants as witnesses, entitling them to ''per diem'' witness fees. The total cost of the case was estimated at $1 million. Barger reportedly celebrated his 50th birthday in the midst of the trial by partying and smoking marijuana at the home of Thomas Clay, Michael O'Farrell's lawyer, in Goshen, Kentucky. Following a three-month-trial, the longest ever in the history of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Barger and O'Farrell were convicted on October 28, 1988, on the felony charge of conspiracy to transport and receive explosives in interstate commerce with intent to kill and damage buildings. Barger and three other defendants were also convicted on the misdemeanor charge of knowingly converting a copy of a government document, while five others were acquitted of all charges. He stated following his conviction: "I think we won very handily in there. It was just too bad that Irish ’Farrelland I were convicted, but we will probably win an appeal. I think it was a devastating blow to the government, and I couldn’t be happier with the verdict except if I had been found innocent myself."Jury Finds National Hells Angels Leader Guilty of Conspiracy
Associated Press (October 29, 1988)

On March 10, 1989, Barger was sentenced to 57 months' imprisonment at the Federal Correctional Institution, Phoenix in Arizona. He took up running for exercise in prison, saying: "I'm slow but I can go on forever". While imprisoned, Barger received dozens of requests for interviews every month but continuously turned them down as he was collaborating with a screenwriter at the time to have his life story turned into a film and was unwilling to compromise the commercial viability of the project. At Christmas 1989, he sent one of the prosecutors in the case, assistant U.S. attorney Cleve Gambill, a card from prison, showing him posing on a towel as if he were on the beach, with the message: "Nice weather. Wish you were here." Barger appealed his convictions, contending that the government's investigative conduct had deprived him of his Fifth Amendment right to due process, that he had been incited to commit crimes by Anthony Tait and the government, and that the district court erred when it sentenced him pursuant to the Sentencing Reform Act guidelines. He said of the government's case against him: "There never was a crime thought up by the Hells Angels. It was thought up by the FBI. It was paid for by the FBI. And I went to jail for it. That's the way it goes." On January 23, 1991, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit upheld Barger's convictions, stating that granting him amnesty "would greatly intrude into the law enforcement functions of the executive branches of federal and state governments". The Appeals Court agreed with the government's position that its conduct was necessary due to the Hells Angels' violent history, and rejected Barger's argument that the government had committed entrapment because it deemed the conspiracy to have been originated by the Hells Angels themselves. Furthermore, the Appeals Court ruled that the district court did not act in error to sentence Barger under the federal guidelines.

Later years

Barger was released from prison in Arizona on November 6, 1992, after serving three-and-a-half years of a four-year sentence.Inmate locator
Federal Bureau of Prisons On the day of his release, Barger took a flight to Oakland International Airport and attended a homecoming party at the Mountain House, a bar at Altamont Pass in Livermore, at which Johnny Paycheck performed. To celebrate the end of his parole, he held another private party in Livermore on November 6, 1994, which was attended by approximately 700 guests, including the politicians Gary Condit and Ben Nighthorse Campbell. Colorado state senator Nighthorse Campbell had allegedly tried to use his influence to have Barger released from prison earlier.

The conflict between the Hells Angels and the Outlaws saw a resurgence following Barger's release from prison as a result of his longstanding rivalry with Outlaws president Harry Bowman. Philip Reich of the Detroit Police Department motorcycle gang unit described the feud as "an ongoing thing over who had the better club", saying: "It was like the Hatfields and McCoys. They hated each other."'Taco' Bowman, ex-head of Outlaws biker gang, dies at 69
George Hunter, ''The Detroit News'' (March 6, 2019) In an attempt to quell the increasing tensions between the clubs, Bowman twice hosted peace talks with Ventura Hells Angels chapter president George Christie in Florida, firstly in December 1992 and again in May 1993. According to Christie, he and Bowman were working towards a peace treaty when the Outlaws leader withdrew from the negotiations. Christie believed Bowman was persuaded to abandon a truce with the Hells Angels by one of his lieutenants, Kevin "Spike" O'Neill, who thought agreeing to a ceasefire would make the Outlaws appear weak.Ex-Biker Boss: Outlaws MC Power “Spike” O’Neill Put Wrench In Potential Peace Treaty With Hells Angels In ’93
Scott Burnstein, GangsterReport.com (August 11, 2018) Bowman allegedly placed a $100,000 bounty on Barger's life when he made a speech to hundreds of his followers on December 31, 1993 announcing an escalation of hostilities against the Hells Angels.The Lancaster National Speedway Slayings: Hells Angels-Outlaws Biker War Peaked In 1990s With Racetrack Fight
Scott Burnstein, GangsterReport.com (April 28, 2017) The Angels' November 1994 "patch over" of the Hell's Henchmen biker gang in the Outlaws' home base of Chicago resulted in a number of shootings and bombings. In another New Year's Eve speech on December 31, 1994, Bowman declared that the Outlaws would in turn attack the Hells Angels in California. A team of Outlaws members were sent to California in early 1995 to carry out surveillance ahead of the assassination of either Barger or Christie.
FindLaw (August 20, 2002) The Legend of Taco Bowman: Beloved Outlaws MC Leader’s Biker Empire Began Crumbling In Summer Of ’97
Scott Burnstein, GangsterReport.com (August 4, 2017) Although the Outlaws failed to kill either man, a number of Hells Angels-owned businesses in southern California were firebombed.

In 1997, the government of Denmark contemplated banning all outlaw biker clubs in response to the Great Nordic Biker War. To forestall this possibility, Barger attended the peace talks in Seattle representing the Hells Angels along with Thomas Möller of the Angels Malmö chapter who was in charge of all the Hells Angels in Europe. The Bandidos were represented by their international vice president George Wegers, Charles "Jaws" Johnson of their Houston chapter and Jim Tinndahn of the Helsingborg chapter. The meetings ended with the American leaders imposing a truce on their Scandinavian chapters as neither the Bandidos nor the Hells Angels wanted to see a biker ban. The Canadian journalist Yves Lavigne wrote that Barger's ability to impose a truce on the Scandinavian branches of the Hells Angels showed that his power over all of the Hells Angels chapters around the world was real, not nominal, and it was significant that he only took action in response to the possibility of a ban on outlaw biker clubs.

On October 18, 1997, the five-chapter strong Dirty Dozen biker club of Arizona "patched over" to became Hells Angels chapters. The Angels' amalgamation of the Dirty Dozen was promulgated during a meeting in Oakland.Chico Mora Led the Dirty Dozen Into the Hells Angels' Camp, Claiming Arizona for the Red and White
Stephen Lemons, ''Phoenix New Times'' (June 24, 2015) Barger transferred over from the Oakland chapter to the newly formed Cave Creek charter in October 1998. In 1999, Lavigne wrote: "The Hells Angels obviously have big plans for Arizona. Sonny Barger would not pull up roots, after forty years in the Bay Area, on a whim. Talks of his retirement are premature. His move to Arizona will allow Hells Angels Ventura chapter president George "Gus" Christie to take over the political reins of the gang, but Barger will help legitimize the gang in the business world from the dry desert state. The Hells Angels Motorcycle Club is Sonny Barger's life. He will retire only when he dies. He has nothing else to live for". Barger's role within the Arizona Hells Angels was reportedly an advisory position, as he did not hold officer status and he rarely attended rallies or public events.Hells Angels Shootout
''Phoenix'' (October 1, 2011) He founded a motorcycle repair company in Arizona named the Big Red Machine, a reference to a popular nickname for the Hells Angels. Barger was later a member of the Yavapai County chapter.

In 1998, peace talks were opened to end the long-standing biker war with the Outlaws, which was largely because the conflict was bringing down too much police pressure on both clubs. Mel Chancey, the president of the Hells Angels Chicago chapter who served as their lead negotiator, met with Barger in the spring of 1998 to discuss the negotiating terms. The talks began on July 18, 1998 in the Copacabana strip club in the Illinois town of Alsip with Edward "Shock" Anastas, the president of the Outlaws Milwaukee chapter, serving as their lead negotiator. Under the terms that Chancey and Anastas struck, the ''status quo'' was preserved as the Hells Angels recognized Chicago as within the territory of the Outlaws in exchange for being allowed to keep their chapters in the Chicago suburbs. The Angels capitulated in their attempt to establish a chapter within the Chicago city limits, founding a clubhouse in the suburb of Harvey instead.Ex-Outlaws biker boss speaks out, sees trouble with Hells Angels
Robert Herguth and Frank Main, ''Chicago Sun-Times'' (November 28, 2016) The agreement also applied to Canada with the Outlaws agreeing to provide no assistance to the Rock Machine in return for peace with the Hells Angels in the United States. Barger attended the last negotiating session with the Outlaws between January 23 and 25, 1999 in Indianapolis, where in a joint press conference with Anastas it was warned that any Outlaw or Hells Angel who violated the peace agreement "would be dealt with".

In 2000, Barger became a bestselling author with his autobiography, ''Hell's Angel: The Life and Times of Sonny Barger and the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club''. In his autobiography, he divided the history of the Hells Angels into four eras, namely the First Era (1950s and 1960s) characterized by drug use and sex, the Second Era (1970s) characterized by organized crime, the Third Era (1980s) which he depicts as a period of persecution by the U.S. government, and the Fourth Era (1990s), which he characterized as a return to the original values of the club in the 1950s and 1960s. He subsequently wrote several biker-related novels. In later years, Barger worked to promote motorcycle safety: he co-authored a book on the subject with Darwin Holmstrom (the author of ''The Complete Idiot's Guide to Motorcycles'' (1998)) titled ''Let's Ride: Sonny Barger's Guide to Motorcycling'' (2010).

Barger was present at the Hellraiser Ball, a tattoo and motorcycle trade exposition in Plainview, New York sponsored by the Long Island chapter of the HAMC, which was ambushed by dozens of members of the rival Pagans motorcycle gang on February 23, 2002, resulting in one biker being killed and at least ten injured. A Hells Angels member was charged with second-degree murder and seventy-three Pagan members were indicted on federal racketeering charges in the aftermath of the incident. Increasing tensions between the Hells Angels and other motorcycle clubs led to Barger organizing a peace conference scheduled to be held in the Arizona desert following the April 2002 Laughlin River Run motorcycle rally in Laughlin, Nevada. The meeting was canceled, however, as a result of the River Run riot, a confrontation between members of the Hells Angels and the Mongols biker gang at the rally which ended with three deaths.

On November 30, 2010, Barger made a guest appearance as Lenny "The Pimp" Janowitz on the season 3 finale of the FX television series ''Sons of Anarchy'', about a fictional outlaw motorcycle club, allegedly based on the Hells Angels. Show creator Kurt Sutter spent time with Barger and other members of Hells Angels researching for the show, and acted opposite Barger in his scene. Barger returned on November 29, 2011, in the season 4 finale, part one. Barger's third guest appearance on ''Sons of Anarchy'' was during season 5, episode 10, which aired on November 13, 2012.

Barger left Arizona in October 2016, returning to the Oakland chapter.Open Road?
Craig Outhier, ''Phoenix'' (February 21, 2018) On May 3, 2018, he testified in the racketeering trial of Bandidos former national president Jeffrey Fay Pike and former vice-president Xavier John Portillo after being called as a defense witness by lawyers for Pike. Unable to travel to the trial in San Antonio, Texas due to medical reasons, Barger testified via video link from the federal courthouse in San Francisco, denying that the Hells Angels and the Bandidos were enemies. Barger's testimony challenged earlier assertions by government witnesses who testified that Anthony Benesh, a motorcyclist who was shot dead in Austin on March 18, 2006, after attempting to establish a Hells Angels chapter in the city, was killed by Bandidos members because he had ignored the club's warnings to not set up a HAMC chapter in Texas.

Personal life

Barger's first wife Elsie Mae (née George) died on February 1, 1967, from an embolism in her bloodstream after undergoing an illegal abortion. In 1969, he began a relationship with Sharon Gruhlke, a former beauty queen from Livermore. Barger married Gruhlke while he was incarcerated at Folsom State Prison in 1973.The Rough Rider: Entrepreneur. Philanthropist. Hell's Angel Sonny Barger is just a regular guy. Unless you cross him.
Bob Sipchen, ''Los Angeles Times'' (December 14, 1994) The marriage ended in divorce.

In 1983, Barger was diagnosed with throat cancer after years of heavy smoking. His diagnosis and treatment took place at Fort Miley VA Hospital in San Francisco. Having stage III laryngeal cancer, he underwent a total laryngectomy with bilateral functional neck dissections. Consequently, due to his vocal cords being removed, Barger learned to vocalize using the muscles in his esophagus.

In 1998, Barger moved to Arizona, where he had previously served a prison sentence, with his third wife Beth Noel (née Black) and stepdaughter Sarrah. He joined the Hells Angels' Cave Creek chapter, and operated a motorcycle repair shop.

On March 7, 2003, Barger was arrested by Maricopa County Sheriff's Office deputies after a reported domestic dispute with his wife and stepdaughter at their home in New River, Arizona. Noel suffered a broken rib and back, and a lacerated spleen. Barger was sentenced to an eight-day jail term for aggravated assault. He and Noel later divorced.

He married his fourth wife, Zorana (née Katzakian), on June 25, 2005. Barger remained married to Zorana until his death in 2022. He had no biological children.Alleged kidnapping ‘mastermind’ apparently fabricated family ties to Hell’s Angels founder
Jeff Lehr, ''The Joplin Globe'' (January 15, 2010)

Barger underwent surgery as a result of prostate cancer in 2012. His prostate was removed and he was subsequently declared free of cancer.

Death

On June 29, 2022, Barger died of liver cancer aged 83 at his home in Livermore, California. His death was announced in a Facebook post reading:

In July 2022, the Hells Angels made a request to hold a memorial service for Barger at the Oakland Coliseum in East Oakland the following month. Instead, Barger's funeral was held at a motorsports racetrack in Stockton on September 24, 2022. An estimated 7,000 people attended, and the event was peaceful. Fox News host Tucker Carlson spoke at the funeral. Carlson said that he had been a fan of Barger since his college years, quoted Barger as saying "stay loyal, remain free, and always value honor", and adding "I want to pay tribute to the man who spoke those words". Barger was laid to rest at Sacramento Valley National Cemetery in Dixon.

Selected works

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Filmography

* ''Hells Angels on Wheels'' (1967)
* ''Hell's Angels '69'' (1969)
* ''Gimme Shelter'' (1970)
* ''Hell's Angels Forever'' (1983), featuring Sonny Barger, Jerry Garcia, Scott Barnes, Johnny Paycheck, Willie Nelson
* ''Sons of Anarchy'' television series, (2010–2012), played recurring character Lenny "The Pimp" Janowitz
* ''Dead in 5 Heartbeats'' (2012)

References

Bibliography

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Further reading

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