Outlaw Motorcycle Gang Leader and a Former Sheriff’s Deputy, Who Were Convicted in Drug Trafficking Conspiracy, are Sentenced

March 1, 2010 - LUBBOCK, TX—The leader of a motorcycle gang that is a support club of the Bandidos Outlaw Motorcycle Gang (OMG) and a former Hockley County, Texas, Sheriff’s Deputy, who were convicted in a massive methamphetamine trafficking conspiracy, were sentenced this afternoon, announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Bobby Duwayne Froman, a/k/a “Quick,” and Jose Jesus Quantanilla are two of the 28 defendants who were charged in July 2009 in a 110-count indictment with operating a major methamphetamine trafficking organization in West Texas, Arizona, and in the Modesto, California area. The cases against two of the defendants were dismissed, all of the remaining defendants in the case have pleaded guilty to their roles and have been sentenced or are awaiting sentencing.

U.S. District Judge Sam R. Cummings sentenced lead defendant Froman, to 20 years in prison. Froman, 54, pleaded guilty in December 2009 to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine. While Froman faced a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison, under the terms of his plea agreement which was accepted by the Court, he received a 20-year sentence. In addition, Judge Cummings ordered that Froman forfeit the following to the U.S.: (1) real property situated at 109 Cactus Drive in Levelland, Texas; (2) real property situated at 111 Cactus Drive in Levelland; (3) a 2003 Chevy truck; (4) a 2000 Harley Davidson motorcycle; and (5) $900,000 in U.S. currency, in the form of a money judgment.

Judge Cummings sentenced Jose Jesus Quintanilla, 39, of Smyer, Texas to 36 months in federal prison. He was allowed to self-surrender to the Bureau of Prisons at a future date. During the time of the offense, Quintanilla was a Deputy Sheriff for Hockley County; he has since resigned. He pleaded guilty in November 2009 to a misprision of a felony. Gordon Clark Bohannon, 53, of Levelland, who at the time of the offense was Hockley County Chief Deputy Sheriff, was also charged in the conspiracy. He pleaded guilty in December 2009; a sentencing date has not been set. Quantanilla admitted that he used his position to obtain sensitive law enforcement information and provided that information to the conspirators. He also acknowledged deterring legitimate law enforcement efforts in investigating the conspiracy and bringing its members to justice.

In October 2007, law enforcement initiated an investigation into the narcotics trafficking activities of Froman, who founded the Aces and Eights OMG. From January 2003 to early July 2009, defendants Bobby Duwayne Froman, Gordon Clark Bohannon, Charity Bell Barron, Jeffrey Paul Bayer, Clifford Leroy Clark, Earnest Gale Flowers, Sharon T. Froman, Billy Charles Fuller, Bradley Gene Gore, Danny Keith Gregory, Jason Gutierrez, Dennis Carl Hegwood, Gary Duane Hegwood, Kimberly Hull, Andrew Clay Hurst, Kenneth Ray Johnson, Teddy Ralph Johnson, Stephanie Renee McKee, Keith Allen Miller, Jamie Paul Nickell, Kristi Ann Quillen, Jose Jesus Quintanilla, Hector Ramos, Perry Dean Roberson, David Lee Russell, Steven Allen Savell, Toni Jo Petska-Wood, and Marvin Lee Whittington, conspired with each other and others to distribute and possess with intent to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine.

Froman recruited other conspirators, often members of the Aces and Eights OMG, to facilitate his methamphetamine trafficking. His co-conspirators transported large amounts of cash from the Lubbock and Levelland areas to Modesto, California, and surrounding locations, to purchase large quantities of methamphetamine. Specifically, defendants Jamie Paul Nickell, Clifford Leroy Clark, Jeffrey Paul Bayer, and others were recruited by Froman and, under his instructions, transported cash from Levelland to Modesto. In California they acquired multi-pound quantities of methamphetamine that they transported or intended to transport back to Levelland, from David Lee Russell, Gary Duwayne Hegwood, and others. Upon arrival in Levelland, Froman and his co-cospirators mixed the methamphetamine with adulterants and dilutants, divided it into smaller quantities, and sold it to various individuals in the West Texas area. Conspirators used several residences/locations in Levelland and Lubbock to hide, weigh, package for distribution and distribute the methamphetamine.

Some of the conspirators maintained the following residences to store, weigh, package and distribute the methamphetamine: (1) Froman’s residence on Cactus Drive in Levelland; (2) Bayer’s residence on North Highway US 385 in Levelland; (3) Gore’s residence on Elgin Avenue in Levelland; (4) Whittington and Petska-Wood’s residence on 53rd Street in Lubbock; and (5) Ramos’s residence on 91st Street in Lubbock County.

The investigation was conducted by the FBI, the Texas Department of Public Safety, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Marshal Service, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Hockley County District Attorney’s Office, the Levelland Police Department, the Lubbock Police Department, and the Lubbock County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys C. Richard Baker, Jeffrey R. Haag, and Denise Williams, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Lubbock are prosecuting the case.