Members of a motorcycle club tried to pull the plug on the wiretaps used to convict them on drug charges, but the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last week the wiretaps were appropriate, and most of the convictions will stand.
Four people affiliated with the Sundowners motorcycle club were convicted on numerous methamphetamine and conspiracy charges in April 2000 after a lengthy undercover investigation.
In their appeal, the bikers argued that investigators didn't have proper cause to tap their phones and wire their Salt Lake clubhouse with microphones, and said any evidence gathered with the listening devices should be thrown out.
The appeals court said wiretaps should only be authorized when traditional investigation techniques have been tried unsuccessfully, won't work or are too dangerous.
Undercover agents had only limited success in getting information from the bikers, and other investigative methods yielded mixed results, so the lower court acted properly when it gave the OK for the wiretaps, the appeals court ruled.
The defendants also argued that prosecutors inappropriately played on negative stereotypes about motorcycle enthusiasts — information that made the defendants look bad but did nothing to prove they'd committed a crime.
The court ruled there was no evidence the jury had been influenced by the biker-related evidence.
The four serving terms are Amber Judd, Shauna Jensen, Charles Mirelez and Jefferey Johnson. Judd pleaded guilty. The others were convicted at trial along with Richard Knudsen, former president of the Sundowners' Salt Lake chapter, who has since died. They were sentenced to prison terms ranging from two to more than 15 years.
The appeals court did toss out two charges against Mirelez related to the drug ephedrine, an ingredient in methamphetamine that is available over the counter. The court ruled that ephedrine isn't the same as other controlled substances.
State officials brought charges in the Sundowners case too, which resulted in 40 convictions.
The Sundowners club is based in Ogden, and the group's leaders tried last month to get the Salt Lake City clubhouse back from federal authorities.
U.S. Magistrate Samuel Alba rejected their claim because the only title they had to the house was handwritten on the back of a Coors beer box.