EVANSVILLE — A federal ruling this week imposed a lengthy criminal sentence on the former leader of Evansville’s notorious Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club.
On Wednesday, the Southern District of Indiana sentencing Richard Young sentenced Gary Forston to 16 and a half years in federal prison for his role in an alleged drug trade.
The former Evansville club executive pleaded guilty to 4 of the 12 charges indexed in his July indictment.
According to the agreement, Forston admitted to conspiring to distribute more than 550 grams of methamphetamine and a firearm to assist in a drug trafficking operation.
Original story: Man accused of weapons after raid on Evansville Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club
Forston arrested in November 2019 after local and federal law enforcement officers invaded the Grim Reapers club space at the former SheLounge strip club on Diamond Avenue.
At the time of the raid, Forston, a convicted felon, allegedly owned a Smith handgun.
Ten pounds of methamphetamine, 23 guns and $35,000 in money were seized in the raid, according to the then-U. S. Attorney Josh Minkler. Se estimates that drugs have a market of more than $250,000.
In February 2020, a federal grand jury indicted 17 other Indiana and Kentucky individuals, and added Forston, for allegedly operating the motorcycle club-affiliated methamphetamine trafficking ring.
Of the other 17 people charged, thirteen were from Evansville. When the indictments were announced, Minkler called the Grim Reapers motorcycle club a “criminal organization. “
More: 17 Accused in Alleged Drug Ring Affiliated with Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club
Central Holman IV, of Owensboro, Kentucky, alleges in federal court documents that he is the club’s primary methamphetamine supplier. distributors,” according to records.
Some of them are still ongoing.
In September, Holman pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison. He has since appealed his conviction, according to court records.
Grim Reapers’ clubhouse made headlines in early 2019 when a man opened fire on shoppers in April of that year, prompting members to battle it off with pool cues.
Cale Winternheimer, 47, allegedly drove a truck toward the club’s construction and was given a gun, according to police.
In September 2020, Winternheimer was convicted of mental illness and sentenced to nine years in state prison.
The Grim Reapers Motorcycle Club was founded in Louisville, Kentucky, in 1965, as an “outlaw” group, as it was not affiliated with the American Motorcycle Association.
History Lesson: The Grim Reapers Motorcycle Clubs
In the 1970s, a bankruptcy opened in Warrick County and invited “white men” who had a Harley Davidson to join, according to the club’s president, quoted in an April 11, 1981, Evansville Press profile.
Even then, they clashed with locals and police. In 1981, the Warrick County Sheriff’s Office raided the house’s riverside home.
The search reportedly exposed a small amount of marijuana, lots of beer and several weapons. But tariffs were withdrawn against 15 of the members.
The club moved to Evansville and became the owner of the former Exotic She Lounge on Diamond Avenue, turning it into a clubhouse that would be raided in 2019.
When prosecutors released the superseding indictment in February 2020, local and federal law enforcement claimed to have “dismantled” the Grim Reapers drug trafficking organization.
Houston Harwood can be reached at walter. harwood@courierpress. com with articles and questions. Twitter: @houston_whh.