Bikers sue Orange sheriff, say photos of them used illegally to fight gun bill
Outlaw bikers are suing the Orange County Sheriff’s Office for releasing their drivers-license photos in a political move to defeat a 2011 Florida gun bill, federalcourt records show.
In an attempt to alarm legislators in Tallahassee, Sheriff Jerry Demings’ thenchief lobbyist, Capt. Mike Fewless, handed out the bikers’ pictures to senators considering the bill that would allow anyone with a concealed-weapon permit to openly carry firearms.
The lawsuit claims Fewless violated the federal Driver’s Privacy Protection Act by distributing the photos, which are classified as “highly restricted personal information.”
“The root of this is the Orange County Sheriff’s Office stereotyping of bikers.
That is the problem we’re trying to correct,” said Tarpon Springs attorney Jerry Theophilopoulos. “When law enforcement breaks the law, they have to be punished, and this is our only avenue.”
The lawsuit filed Tuesday took more than three years to prepare while attempts were made to locate the seven motorcyclists Fewless publicly identified, Theophilopoulos said. Three of the seven bikers are represented in the lawsuit.
Capt. Angelo Nieves, the sheriff’s spokesman, would not comment on the lawsuit.
The photos were copies of drivers-license photos issued to seven members of the Mongols, Outcasts, Outlaws, Pagans and Warlocks motorcycle clubs who also held state-issued concealedweapon permits, records show.
The photos came from the files of the sheriff’s Intelligence Squad, an undercover unit that investigates motorcycle gangs, white-supremacy groups, organized crime and other nontraditional cases, records show.
None of the bikers had a felony conviction, which would have prohibited them from legally carrying firearms.
“I actually stopped by every one of you guys’ offices this morning and dropped off ... photographs of some biker outlaw gang guys that have concealed-firearm permits. Those are the ones we’re worried about carrying,” Fewless testified in 2011to the senators, according to the lawsuit. “Please defeat this terrible bill.”
At the time, Fewless was part of a team of Florida Sheriff ’s Association lobbyists who helped convince the state Senate to remove the open-carry provision in the 2011 gun bill.
The tactic upset Second Amendment advocates.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include Tracy Gil Osteen, an Orlando construction worker with one misdemeanor battery conviction. Sheriff’s records identified him as president of the Florida chapter of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club. Also named in the lawsuit were Leslie Baas and Doyle Napier; it’s unclear what motorcycle clubs they were members of.
Fewless obtained the drivers-license photos the night before the 2011 hearing when he asked Deputy John McMahon, an outlaw-biker expert, to send him photos of bikers linked to organized crime to sway the senators, records show.
“Are there any photographs that you can share with me so I can paint a different picture of the faces, you know, that are being portrayed up here in Tallahassee?” Fewless asked McMahon, according to the lawsuit.
McMahon emailed photographs and information on 17 bikers without asking about their intended use, according to an investigation by the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office.
Fewless was cleared of any wrongdoing after blaming McMahon for not telling him that distributing the photos was illegal, records show.
McMahon received a written reprimand from the Sheriff’s Office and later retired after 31 years of service.
“If we get any settlement or verdict against these two employees, the Sheriff’s Office will pay that,” said Theophilopoulos.