Introduction to the Sin City Deciples
For four years, a blockbuster case has been unfolding inside a northwest Indiana courthouse, ripping the leather and chrome off one of America’s most violent biker gangs. The Sin City Deciples had thousands of members across the country, some connected to political figures and cops, prosecutors say — including a Gary police chaplain who admitted killing the son of a former Gary police chief.
Leadership and Crimes
Kenneth “Angel” McGhee, the club’s shot-caller for decades, was convicted of racketeering charges in 2023 in one of two criminal cases targeting 22 club members for murder, extortion, drug dealing and rape in Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Tennessee. McGhee, 76, is now locked up in Leavenworth, Kansas. Other club members also have gone to prison. More await trial or sentencing. McGhee was greedy, according to prosecutors, who say he siphoned dues from members across the country to keep for himself. Besides his expensive Harley-Davidson motorcycles, he drove two Bentleys. And agents from the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives seized $300,000 in cash from his Merrillville, Indiana, home in a 2021 raid.
The 2008 Bentley Continental GT that Kenneth McGhee drove.
Prosecutors say McGhee was ruthless, ordering beatings and shootings of friends and foes alike.
History of the Sin City Deciples
The Sin City Deciples gang was founded by McGhee’s brother in 1966 as an African American motorcycle club. But McGhee was in charge almost from the start. In a documentary film, he explained the incorrect spelling of Deciples, saying he didn’t want to use “Disciples” out of respect for the Bible. His ego was huge, prosecutors say. When his home was raided by ATF agents in 2021, they found a picture of him seated at the table in a replica of Leonardo da Vinci’s religious painting “The Last Supper.”
The 1-Percenter Club
The Sin City Deciples consider themselves a “1-percenter” club. Motorcycle clubs across the country, including the Hells Angels and the Chicago-based Outlaws Motorcycle Club, use the 1% tag to set themselves apart from the 99% of clubs that are law-abiding. These days, 1% clubs aren’t in the news like they were decades ago, but occasional violence and court cases still bring them back into the public eye at times.
Threat to Police Chief Sparks Investigation
Initial Probe
The federal investigation into the Sin City Deciples began in 2018. That was after ATF agents were alerted that one of the club’s members threatened the chief of a police department in a small northwest Indiana town, New Chicago, because his motorcycle got towed. During the investigation, political figures and law enforcement officials, including a Gary mayor, were spotted at the club’s events, an ATF agent later testified.
Indictments and Arrests
In 2021, 16 reputed members of the Sin City Deciples, including McGhee and his inner circle, were indicted on racketeering charges. In 2023, a second RICO indictment named six more club members, most who had moved into leadership positions after McGhee was arrested, prosecutors say. They say McGhee had worked to pump up the club’s membership, integrating the mostly Black club with white and Hispanic members.
Plea for Leniency
Last year, McGhee was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He had begged the judge for mercy, saying he attended college, had been a probation officer and special education teacher and did charitable work. Unmoved, prosecutor Michael Toth replied: “Respectfully, what we just heard was the unrepentant words of a lifelong criminal who used a motorcycle club for his own personal financial gain.”
Other Members and Their Crimes
Another member, Bernard “Pastor” Smith, has admitted he was a Gary police chaplain and that he killed two men, including the son of a former Gary police chief. Smith was once president of the club’s Gary chapter and a national board member, according to prosecutors. In 2023, Smith admitted in court that he was guilty of the charges he faced. During that hearing, Smith said he dealt drugs, extorted money from other biker clubs and killed two people, including Rodney Boone, son of the late Charles Boone, who in the 1970s was Gary’s first Black police chief.
The Sin City Deciples clubhouse in Gary in 2021.
Two Chicago-area men, Romairal Allen and Torrey Carter, are members who started a special unit in the club called the Misfits, whose mission was to travel with McGhee and protect him from rivals out to get him, prosecutors say. Allen was president of the gang’s Chicago chapter and became the leader of the national organization after the 2021 indictment, according to prosecutors.
Conclusion
The Sin City Deciples, one of the most violent biker gangs in the country, have been facing a significant challenge from federal authorities in Indiana
