Three Central Florida
DOJ says biker club engaged in murders, drug trafficking
members of the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club have been convicted on federal charges of murder and racketeering.
Three Central Floridabased members of the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club were convicted of murder and racketeering, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
A federal jury in Buffalo last week found David Pirk, 67 of Eustis, and Andre Jenkins, 39 of DeLand, guilty on several charges related to racketeering, murder and drug dealing. Jenkins was already sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 2014 “execution-style” killings of Daniel “DJ” Szymanski, 31, and Paul Maue, 38, who were shot in the back of the head.
Timothy Enix, 58 of Tavares, was convicted of RICO conspiracy, possession of firearms, using and maintaining premises for drug dealing and possession of firearms while drug trafficking. Enix ran the Florida and Tennessee chapters of the club, federal officials say.
Pirk, the national president of the club, is said to have wanted to turn the club into a so-called “1 percent club,” which means to participate in criminal acts such as drug and firearm trafficking and violence.
The DOJ said the three defendants “participated in, directly and indirectly, acts of murder, assault, robbery, kidnapping, drug trafficking, obstruction of justice and witness tampering.”
“The defendants and their associates transformed the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club into a vicious gang that terrorized the Buffalo area, engaging in senseless murders, brutal violence, robberies, and drug trafficking,” Acting Assistant Attorney General John P. Cronan said in a statement. “But after today’s verdict, the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club’s reign of terror is coming to an end.”
The Buffalo News reported Pirk faces a mandatory federal sentence of life without parole, while Enix could be sentenced between 30 and 50 years in federal prison.
Sentencing in the case was set for Sept. 25, prosecutors said.
In September 2014, Pirk told Jenkins, also known as Little Bear, to “take care of
it,” in reference to the murders of Paul Maue and Daniel “DJ” Szymanski, the DOJ said. The two were killed behind one of the gang’s clubhouses.
In an unrelated incident, Kingsmen Motorcycle Club members were involved in a fight with members of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club near Leesburg Bikefest last year. David Donovan, 41, and Marc Knotts, 48, were shot, and Donovan later died.
FBI Special Agent in Charge Gary Loeffert said the verdicts mean the “repeated and regular acts of violence so inculcated into the culture of the Kingsmen Motorcycle Club are over.”
“Motorcycle gangs have evolved over 70 years from bar-room brawlers to somewhat sophisticated criminals,” Loeffert said. “The Kingsmen’s leadership not only voiced a desire to turn its club into a “onepercenter” gang, it acted on that desire when Paul Maue and DJ Szymanski were killed. Those murders told everyone that the Kingsmen do not want to be aligned with the vast majority of riders who are law-abiding citizens.”