President Trump’s Justice Department announced prison sentences this week for two Hells Angels Motorcycle Club members in a federal racketeering attempted-murder case.
The case is exactly the kind of violent, organized street intimidation that should end with federal consequences.
DOJ identified the defendants as David Lee Woodall, 47, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Jason Lee Hathaway, 48, of Columbia City, Indiana.
Both men had already pleaded guilty to Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering attempted murder against their rivals, the Pagan Motorcycle Club.
Hathaway received 51 months in prison. Woodall received 57 months.
Two Hells Angels Sentenced for Racketeering Attempted Murder
David Lee Woodall, 47, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Jason Lee Hathaway, 48, of Columbia City, Indiana, each previously pleaded guilty to Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR) attempted murder against…
— Criminal Division (@DOJCrimDiv) June 12, 2026
This was a federal organized-crime case, not some ordinary biker-bar fight.
The U.S. Department of Justice stated:
Two members of the violent outlaw motorcycle gang, the Hells Angels (HAMC), were sentenced this week for participating in a gang-related attempted murder.
David Lee Woodall, 47, of Fayetteville, North Carolina, and Jason Lee Hathaway, 48, of Columbia City, Indiana, each previously pleaded guilty to Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering (VICAR) attempted murder against their principal rivals, the Pagan Motorcycle Club (PMC). On June 10 and June 12, the court sentenced Hathaway to 51 months in prison and Woodall to 57 months in prison, respectively.
Once the HAMC assembled, they went out to the parking lot and confronted the same three PMC members, attacking them with hammers, brass knuckles and fists.
The attack was suspended only when a PMC member shot at the HAMC members, killing one of them. This occurred while other citizens were patronizing the Dairy Queen.
Several unrelated vehicles were damaged by the attack.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
According to DOJ, the attack happened in broad daylight at a Dairy Queen in Cumberland County, North Carolina, on July 22, 2023.
Hathaway allegedly rode in, threatened three Pagan members with a hammer, and shattered a victim’s vehicle window while trying to strike one of them.
Then he called for backup, and Woodall answered.
Read that again.
The beating only stopped because someone opened fire, and one of the attackers ended up dead while ordinary customers were inside the restaurant.
DOJ described the Hells Angels as a transnational violent outlaw motorcycle group that uses violence, threats, and intimidation to enforce its rules.
It also said members were operating under a standing order to attack, injure, and kill members of the rival Pagan club.
That is organized, premeditated violence.
That belongs in federal court.
The case also falls under Operation Take Back America, the federal initiative aimed at cartels, transnational criminal organizations, illegal immigration, and violent offenders.
Conservatives have spent years asking for exactly this kind of enforcement.
That means violent offenders tied to a public parking-lot attack getting real federal prison time.
The Hells Angels brand on a vest did not make these defendants untouchable.
Under President Trump’s DOJ, it made them targets for a racketeering case, and the government delivered.
What are your thoughts?
