After a two-month trial filled with testimony about murders and drug dealing, a federal jury found 10 members of the Outlaws motorcycle club - including its former international president - guilty of racketeering yesterday in U.S. District Court in Toledo.

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The jury, which deliberated for about four days, also found 12 of the 14 defendants guilty of conspiracy to participate in racketeering through their involvement in the infamous motorcycle club.

"We are very pleased with the verdict," David Bauer, head of Toledo's U.S. Attorney's Office, said. "Obviously, the jury took its time, weighed the evidence as to each defendant, and rendered its decision accordingly."

Joe Wilson, an assistant U.S. attorney who was lead prosecutor, said he could not comment until after the jury finished deliberating tomorrow about potential forfeitures of the defendants' property.

The trial began March 23 for a variety of charges, including racketeering based on acts including murder and drug dealing. Another 24 defendants are scheduled to stand trial in August as part of the same 101-count indictment.

U.S. District Court Judge David Katz has not scheduled sentencing on the 12 men found guilty yesterday.

James "Frank" Wheeler, the Outlaws' former international president, was the most high-profile defendant in the case. Wheeler, 61, of Indianapolis, was found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, and conspiracy to distribute drugs. He was found not guilty of a firearms conspiracy charge.

Wheeler already is serving a 16 1/2-year prison sentence based on a conviction in federal court in Tampa for racketeering and other crimes associated with the Outlaws. Jeff Helmick, one of Wheeler's attorneys, said his client will appeal his conviction because it violates the U.S. Constitution's prohibition against standing trial for a charge for which one has already been convicted or acquitted.

Mr. Helmick said the Tampa convictions essentially involve the same acts for which Wheeler was found guilty yesterday.

"We look forward to the court hearing, and the appeals court if necessary, Mr. Wheeler's double jeopardy claim," Mr. Helmick said. "We feel it's a strong argument."

During the trial, prosecutors portrayed Wheeler as the head of an enterprise in which some members sold drugs and had firearms as part of their drug trade. Wheeler was concerned enough about government informants infiltrating the motorcycle club that he used Jack Lee, one of the defendants, to run voice stress tests to detect possible snitches, prosecutors said.

Mr. Lee, of Fort Wayne, Ind., was found not guilty of conspiracy to commit racketeering, which was the sole count he faced. After the verdict was read, he said he shouldn't have been charged in the case.

"What I did was no different from what I've done for police or anybody else," Mr. Lee said.

Also acquitted on all charges was Thomas Cain, 59, of Oklahoma, who the jury found not guilty of conspiracy charges relating to racketeering, drug distribution, and use of a firearm in commission of a drug crime.

The rest of the defendants were found guilty of at least one charge:

●Glen D. Carlisle, 37, of Bucyrus, racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to distribute drugs, interstate transportation of stolen property, and possession of stolen property. The jury also found that Carlisle killed a man at a Dayton strip club in 2001 as part of the racketeering charge. He already is serving prison time for that crime after being convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

●Patrick J. Puttick, 52, of Dayton, conspiracy to commit racketeering.

●Robert W. Keeler, 58, of Fort Wayne, Ind., racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to distribute drugs, and five charges related to the unlawful use of a communications facility.

●Gary T. Hohn, 54, of Dayton, racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to distribute drugs, conspiracy to use a firearm in commission of a drug crime, possession with the intent to distribute LSD, and extortionate credit transactions.

●David J. Hannum, 61, of Dayton, conspiracy to commit racketeering and conspiracy to distribute drugs.

●Jason G. Fowler, 28, of Kentucky, racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to distribute drugs, and conspiracy to use a firearm in commission of a drug crime.

●Allen C. Lawson, 60, of Franklin, Ohio, racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, conspiracy to distribute drugs, and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.

●John P. Walker, 49, of Indianapolis, racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, and conspiracy to distribute drugs.

●Gregory A. Driver, 44, of Indianapolis, racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, and conspiracy to distribute drugs.

●David F. Mays, 38, of Indianapolis, racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, and conspiracy to use a firearm in commission of a drug crime. Prosecutors had accused Mays of killing Shannon Turner, his former girlfriend, as part of the criminal enterprise, but the jury found that the government did not prove that crime. Ms. Turner disappeared in 1997 and her body has never been found.

●Danny N. Garland, 41, of Indianapolis, was found guilty of racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, and conspiracy to distribute drugs.

Contact Dale Emch at:

daleemch@theblade.com

or 419 724-6061.

First Published June 2, 2004, 11:23 a.m.