ST. LOUIS (AP) - A member of a violent nationwide motorcycle gang was sentenced Tuesday to nearly seven years in federal prison for making pipe bombs intended for rival biker gangs.
Carlos Wesley Rose Sr., known as "PitBull," was president of the Kentucky chapter of the Wheels of Soul Outlaw Motorcycle Gang. He pleaded guilty to a racketeering charge in April, and was sentenced in U.S. District Court in St. Louis.
Rose is also a former corrections officer at the Kentucky State Reformatory in LaGrange, Ky. A Kentucky Department of Corrections spokesman said Rose stopped working at the reformatory in July 2011.
Federal prosecutors say Rose admitted to conspiring on two occasions to make pipe bombs to use against members of rival clubs in the Chicago area. Federal agents stopped his car and found explosives and a handgun. He admitted he was on his way to Chicago to deliver the items.
Prosecutors described the gang, based in Philadelphia with branches throughout the U.S., as well organized and extremely violent. Authorities say the gang distributed crack cocaine and heroin and committed robberies to raise money. They also blame the gang in at least three murder cases.
The investigation began in 2009 after Wheels of Soul members allegedly shot and killed a member of the rival Sin City Titans gang in St. Louis. The shooting came weeks after a meeting in which members were allegedly told the Mother Chapter had declared "open season" on the Sin City Titans.
In January 2011, a member the Wheels of Soul allegedly shot and killed a person in Chicago during an altercation with the rival Street Soldiers gang. And in March 2011, a member is accused of shooting three victims in the back as they fled from a party in Marion, Ohio, killing one and seriously wounding another.
Twenty-two people allegedly affiliated with Wheels of Soul were indicted last year in St. Louis. At least 11 of the defendants have pleaded guilty.