November 6, 2019 — High-ranking Pagan’s Motorcycle Club member Michael (Montana) Barringer was indicted for felony aggravated assault, attempted murder and witness intimidation last week in state court out of Pennsylvania. According to state prosecutors in Pittsburgh, the 59-year old Barringer ordered the beating of Troy Harris, a former Pagan’s full-patcher who left the club on bad terms and joined another smaller club known as Sutars Soldiers. Harris was severely injured in the April 2019 attack. Barringer pleaded not guilty and Washington County Circuit Court Judge John DiSalle denied him bail, ordering him held without bond until trial. Per the indictment, Barringer is the Pagan’s national sergeant-at-arms, the third most powerful post in the club’s hierarchy. Harris suffered brain damage from the alleged coordinated assault at a Charleroi, Pennsylvania entertainment hall reportedly perpetrated by a group of almost a dozen Pagan’s Barringer dispatched to “teach him a lesson” back in the spring. In August, he allegedly sent retired police officer and Pagan’s associate, James (The Bear) Baranowksi to visit Harris and his wife at their home and persuade them not to cooperate with authorities in the investigation. Baranowski was paid $2,500 for the job, with the promise of a $1,500 bonus if Harris stopped talking to the cops. Besides, Barringer and Baranowski, ten other men – mostly Pagan’s – were arrested for the assault in July. The Pagan’s have been making waves the past year with an aggressive consolidation campaign on the country’s east coast. Upon New York Pagan’s boss Keith (Conan the Barbarian) Richter being elected to the club’s national presidency in late 2017, he declared his intentions of taking over the entire east coast region of the United States. Under Richter’s guidance and game planning, the club has been pushing into areas controlled by the rival Hells Angels, inciting violence and patching over smaller clubs to the Pagan’s family to gobble up more territory. Hugo (Zorro) Nieves, Richter’s Garden State-stationed Vice President appeared in front of the New Jersey Crime Commission last week and pleaded the fifth amendment at a proceeding convened to address the expansion effort, now being considered a pressing issue by local and federal law enforcement. Leaving the courthouse, Nieves told reporters the Pagan’s did not operate as a criminal enterprise. Founded in Maryland in the 1950s, the Pagan’s long maintained their powerbase in the state of a Pennsylvania. Former Pittsburgh Pagan’s boss Dennis (Rooster) Katona and current Philadelphia club boss Steven (Gorilla) Mondevergine both had runs as national president. Last year, Richter reinstalled Mondevergine as president of the Philly chapter — he had been ousted in a hostile takeover within the club back in the late 2000s.
